Editing Seattle Liberation Front (section)

==Formation==
After the nationwide organization [[Students for a Democratic Society (1960 organization)|Students for a Democratic Society]] (SDS) disintegrated in 1969, [[Michael Lerner (rabbi)|Michael Lerner]], an instructor newly arrived in Seattle from [[Berkeley, California]], felt compelled to start up his own local group.  He kick-started his efforts by inviting [[Jerry Rubin]], a notable counterculture figure, to speak on the University of Washington campus on January 17, 1970 – two days later, the SLF was formed, largely composed of students and radicals coming out of organizations (like the SDS) that had recently disbanded.<ref name="Walt Crowley 1995">{{Cite book|last=Crowley|first=Walt|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/45731115|title=Rites of passage : a memoir of the sixties in Seattle|date=1995|publisher=University of Washington Press|isbn=0-295-98056-7|location=Seattle, Wash.|oclc=45731115}}</ref> The exact impetus for Lerner seeking a new organization is somewhat vague.  The founding of SLF came less than a month after SDS [[Weather Underground|Weatherman]], which had staged violent street demonstrations during the latter half of 1969, announced that it was going underground to adopt a strategy of random acts of bombing, arson, and other sabotage.  It has not been explained whether or not Lerner was seeking a new organization prior to Weatherman's underground turn.  One of the SLF's first actions was to hold a demonstration in support of the [[Chicago Seven]], a group of radicals charged with inciting riots at the [[1968 Democratic National Convention]].