Linda Evans (activist)

Evans began her life as an activist by organizing demonstrations at Michigan State University during 1965. In 1967, Evans became a member of the East Coast chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). She stated that she became interested in the civil rights movement after getting attacked by police during a demonstration at the Pentagon. "When I first became a political activist, I was a pacifist. I had never experience real violence in my own life and naively hoped that it changed." Evans demonstrated her interest in anti-racism movements by supporting various groups championing Black, Native and Puerto Rican liberation causes. Evans' leadership role in SDS began after a conference held on July 15, 1969, at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York. At this she announced that she would be traveling with six other anti-war activists to Hanoi to participate in the release of three U.S. pilots who were being held as prisoners of war. At this conference, she also read a statement from SDS which declared the organization's support for the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam. Soon after Evans return from Hanoi, SDS held various conferences so that she could relate her experiences in Hanoi. During these conferences Evans stated that "SDS is on the side of North Vietnam and the National Liberation Front", called out the U.S. as the aggressor, and spoke of the "extremely humane treatment" given to captured American GIs. Two of these conferences were notable for their high attendance. One took place at St. Joseph's Episcopal Church in Detroit on August 11, 1969, Evans was released on a $75,000 bond. After Evans was released from prison in 1970, she moved to Texas where she continued to participate in radical causes. ==Weather Underground Organization and M19CO==

Evans became involved in Weatherman, a group that derived from SDS. She organized and led many Weatherman actions. Following the Greenwich Village townhouse explosion that killed three Weatherman members (Ted Gold, Diana Oughton, and Terry Robbins), Evans was one of the Weatherman members who chose to go underground in 1970. During her membership in the Weather Underground Organization, Evans provided safe housing for members of the Weather Underground Organization and by providing funding for their assumed identities. She generated these funds through her participation in various robberies. Evans also participated in the May 19th Communist Movement, a group that included some former members of the Weather Underground Organization. The FBI was able to arrest them because of a tip they received from ex-Weatherman Larry Grathwohl, who was working as an undercover informant for the FBI. At the time of her arrest, Evans was wearing a wig and glasses to disguise herself. On March 20, 1987, she was found guilty of all charges and was sentenced to 40 years in prison. While incarcerated at the Federal Corrections Institution in Dublin, Evans advocated for an AIDS educational program for women and lesbian inmates. Evans advocated for inmates' rights, claiming that "When I was in jail in Louisiana we were able to win a jail house lawyer's legal suit forcing the jail to give women glasses and false teeth". ==Life since prison==

Along with her partner, Eve Goldberg, Evans travels around the United States advocating for lesbian and female inmates' rights. Evans is involved with the activist organization the Center for Third World Organizing. In March 2002, she helped convene a conference with other formerly incarcerated people, entitled "Tear Down the Walls," in an attempt to gain support for giving amnesty to people she identified as political prisoners, claiming that "These political prisoners of war are women and men incarcerated because of their involvement in political activities which challenged the unjust nature of the U.S socioeconomic system." stating that "Being a lesbian has always been an important part of the reasons why I am a revolutionary – even before I was self-conscious about how important this is to me" and "Because I experience real oppression as a lesbian and as a woman, I am personally committed from the very core of being to winning liberation for women, lesbians, and all oppressed people." ==See also==

• The Prison Industrial Complex and the Global Economy, with Eve Goldberg • Statement from Women Political Prisoners on the Takeover of KPFA, July 14, 1999 ==Notes==