Editing Symbionese Liberation Army (section)

=== Background: Venceremos prison visits ===
The SLA formed from people who met during prisoner outreach programs supported by the group [[Venceremos (political organization)|Venceremos]], active in the [[Palo Alto, California|Palo Alto]] area, and the [[Black Cultural Association]] in [[Vacaville Prison]], about 45 miles from Berkeley. Student volunteers from [[University of California, Berkeley]], some recruited by graduate student and professor [[Colston Westbrook]] from his classes in African American linguistics, were encouraged to conduct prisoner outreach at Vacaville. 

Initiated in 1969 by black inmates, the volunteer program was intended to have college students help educate inmates in a variety of classes and prepare them for life after prison. It also sponsored cultural events that were open to community attendees. This program attracted chiefly white student activists, including those who promoted discussions of political and social justice issues.

The idea of a South-American–style [[Urban guerrilla warfare|urban guerrilla]] movement, similar to the [[Tupamaros]] movement in [[Uruguay]], combined with [[Régis Debray]]'s theory of [[urban warfare]] and ideas drawn from [[Maoism]], appealed to a number of people, including [[Patricia Soltysik]], ''alias'' "Mizmoon".{{citation needed|date=November 2017}}