In 1974 , the book '' Prairie Fire : The Politics of Revolutionary Anti-imperialism '' was created as an ideological statement by various members of the underground group Weatherman Underground . The publication was created in six parts : " Arm the Spirit , " " Vietnam , " " On the Road : Impressions of US History , " " Imperialism in Crisis : The Third World , " " Imperialism in Crisis : The Home Front , " and " Against the Common Enemy " . The book 's preparation was a 12-month process , written collaboratively and adopted as the collective statement of the Weather Underground . Mark Rudd stated that the book " was an attempt to influence the movement that we had abandoned back in 1969 . It tried to reach many thousands of New Leftist and former New Leftists by saying " ' Do n't despair , we 're all part of the same thing ' " . Bill Ayers explains that '' Prairie Fire '' " was an attempt to sum up our thinking since the ' Weatherman ' paper and especially since the townhouse . Through it we hoped to consolidate our political organization and to forge unity with progressive activist " . Ayers is referring to the 1970 Greenwich Village townhouse explosion which killed 3 members of Weatherman , Diana Oughton , Theodore Gold , and Terry Robbins . The book was a call to organize . It was Weatherman 's attempt to ask the questions that all revolutionary groups faced and to apply the lessons of former revolutionary groups to the present fight against imperialism . By creating this book , the Weatherman Underground required help from the aboveground community to distribute the book ; participants in this work included Van Lydegraf and Jennifer Dohrn . Over 40,000 copies were distributed . Discussion groups were created to discuss the issues that arose from the book . This above ground organizing is how the Prairie Fire Distribution Committee was created , which in 1975 became the Prairie Fire Organizing Committee
Greenwich Village townhouse explosion
Greenwich Village townhouse explosion
Prairie Fire Organizing Committee