David Gilbert: A Lifetime of Struggle

A rare opportunity to go behind prison walls for a discussion with David Gilbert, a lifelong anti-imperialist activist and former member of the Weather Underground Organization. David is now serving a life sentence in prison for activities in support of the Black Liberation Movement. He explains why he joined the movement, what led him to go underground, and frankly discusses the strengths and errors of the movement and the WUO. Countering media distortions, David speaks from his own experience about a time of tremendous social upheavel and lessons for today. David Gilbert is among the longest held anti-imperialist prisoners in the world. As a teenager David began working against the Vietnam war and for Black civil rights, and later became a leader of the Columbia University student strike and Students For A Democratic Society. He was an organizer at a time of great social upheavel. In 1969, 120 cities burned in Black uprisings, and in the same period 400 campuses organized student strikes against the Vietnam War. In the 1970s he joined the Weather Underground Organization and worked underground for more than a decade. He was arrested in 1981. ALong with others, he was convicted on a conspiracy charge for his participation in a Brinks truck hold-up aimiing to raise funds for the Black Liberation Army. David is serving a sentence of 75 years to life, without possibilty of parole. In prison for more than 20 years, David has continued his work for social justice. Very early, he called attention to the AIDS epidemic in oppressed communities in the U.S. and organized prisoner peer education programs on AIDS. He is an advocate for the rights of prisoners, a prolific writer and a devoted father and friend. The video was edited in March 2002 by Claude Marks and Lisa Rudman. Based on an interview done in July of 1998 at Great Meadows Prison, Comstock. New York with Sam Green and Bill Siegel. Camera: Federico Salsano. 28 minutes