In some ways Zayd Ayers Dohrn’s childhood was normal; his parents went to work and played with him in the park. Though in other ways it was anything but: moving between safe houses, fleeing in the night as the FBI moved in. His parents were the leaders of a violent revolutionary group called the Weathermen and then the Weather Underground, which the US government classed as a domestic terror group. They opposed the Vietnam war and racism in American society. They drew attention to their cause though bombing campaigns targeting government institutions from police stations to the Pentagon. The group were largely white college graduates, they worked with militant black organisations such as the Black Liberation Army to organise bank robberies and jailbreaks.
By the time Zayd was born his parents had been fugitives for several years. They taught him how to identify the FBI agents who were looking for them and how to lose a tail if he was being followed. For Zayd, as a small child, it was a game – but one with potentially serious consequences as his parents' activities could see them sent to prison for years. However, they wanted him to go to school and for him to do this they decided to hand themselves in.
Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Julian Siddle
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