After the nationwide organization Students for a Democratic Society ( SDS ) disintegrated in 1969 , 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 &ndash; two days later , the SLF was formed , largely composed of students and radicals coming out of organizations ( like the SDS ) that had recently disbanded . The exact impetus for Lerner seeking a new organization is somewhat vague . The founding of SLF came less than a month after SDS 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
1968 Democratic National Convention
1968 Democratic National Convention
Seattle Liberation Front