She received a Juris Doctor from the University of Chicago Law School in 1967 and went to work for a front for the Communist Party in New York, the National Lawyers Guild. Bernardine Dohrn was one of the regional leaders of the Students for a Democratic Society in the late 60’s and a recognized leader of the Weather Underground later on.
In a war council convened in Flint, Michigan in December 1969, Dohrn raised three fingers simulating a fork, and rallied the troops while referring to the Charles Manson’s killings of Sharon Tate and the rest of the people in her house at the time: “Dig It. First they killed those pigs, then they ate dinner in the same room with them, they even shoved a fork into a victim’s stomach! Wild!” Today, she calls it a joke. But what sane individual who is not a sociopath would joke about a mass murder like that?
An FBI file on the Weather Underground states that as an organizer of the Venceremos (We will triumph) Brigades she had “numerous” contacts with the Cuban United Nations Mission 6 East 67th Street at Fifth Ave Manhattan, NY regarding travel to Cuba by many members of the SDS. Her point of contact used to be Jose Raul Viera Linares. Several members of that particular Cuban delegation have been arrested for spying in the United States.
According to the FBI records, she traveled to Cuba in July 1969 to meet with representatives from the Cuban regime, and from members of the Vietnamese intelligence community. It is believed by the FBI that Cubans revolutionaries were willing to train American voluntaries in explosive making techniques as well as guerrilla’s tactics. Later on, she traveled to Budapest, again, to meet with representatives of North Vietnam.
On May 21, 1970, she declared war against the United States with a communiqué signed by her. “LSD and grass, like the herbs and cactus and mushrooms of the American Indians and countless civilizations that have existed on this planet, will help us make a future world where it will be possible to live in peace.
In the mid 70's, she realized that even though violent struggle is the way of the "true revolutionary", there are smarter ways to destroy an enemy. So, she started advocating the economical and political subversion of hte system. That is not to say that she renounced violence, just that she put it away for a while until the time arrive to continue the violence.
"Bernardine Dohrn, Clinical Associate Professor of Law and Director and founder of the Children and Family Justice Center, is a child advocate who teaches, lectures and writes about children’s law, juvenile justice, the needs and rights of youth, and international human rights. The Center is a holistic children's law center and a national policy center for the comprehensive needs of adolescents and their families, providing critical analysis and knowledge about youth law and practice, matters associated with the administration of justice, and the preparation of professionals who advocate for children. The CFJC is a clinical center of the Bluhm Legal Clinic, preparing law and social work students by representing adolescents in three strategic areas of children’s law: juvenile and criminal justice; school discipline and education law; and immigration and asylum law involving children and women." Northwestern Law. Bernardine Dohrn. 2009. Northwestern University. 11 March 2009 http://www.law.northwestern.edu/faculty/profiles/BernardineDohrn/