
Last Podcast On The Left
"But the difference between the man Manson family and the Symbianese liberation army is that while Manson shaped his followers into what he wanted them to be the members of the SLA shaped their leader into who they wanted to follow." — Marcus Parks
"See these were people who had no real direction in life but still wanted to do some good in this world or at least their idea of being good because no bad guy in politics ever thinks of themselves as the bad guy." — Ben Kissel
"The Symbianese Liberation Army has selected the seven-headed cobra as our emblem because we realize that an army is a mass that needs unity in order to become a fighting force." — Quote from SLA manifesto
The episode traces the complex origins of the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA), beginning with individuals drawn to radical left-wing politics. It highlights figures like Willie Wolf, a Yale legacy with a penchant for revolutionary ideals, who became involved with the Black Cultural Association (BCA) at Vacaville prison. Here, he encountered Donald DeFries, who would later adopt the name Sincue Imtube (Sin) and become a central, albeit flawed, leader of the SLA. The narrative emphasizes the group's adherence to the principle that a non-white person must lead the revolution, a tenet that significantly influenced their recruitment and internal dynamics.
The formation of the SLA involved a disparate group of individuals, including former Vietnam veterans and disillusioned students, who coalesced around a shared ideology derived from texts like George Jackson's "Blood in My Eye." Their initial actions, including the murder of Oakland school superintendent Marcus Foster and his deputy Robert Blackburn, were intended to spark a wider revolution but instead resulted in widespread condemnation. The episode details the SLA's misguided justifications for these violent acts, their flawed propaganda, and their subsequent isolation from other revolutionary groups.
Ultimately, the podcast dissects how the SLA's belief system, their misinterpretations of revolutionary theory, and their internal power struggles led to increasingly desperate and poorly planned actions, culminating in the kidnapping of Patty Hearst. The episode underscores the chaotic and often self-destructive nature of the group, driven by a potent mix of ideological fervor, personal grievances, and a lack of practical strategy, all while adhering to a rigid, self-imposed structure centered around Sin.