Michael Koncewicz, “A Child of the Weather Underground Looks Back” | Jacobin

On June 3rd, 2026, IPK’s Associate Director Michael Koncewicz penned a book review of Dangerous, Dirty, Violent, and Young: A Fugitive Family in the Revolutionary Underground by Zayd Ayers Dohrn (W. W. Norton & Company, 2026) for Jacobin titled “A Child of the Weather Underground Looks Back.” Read the excerpt below, then click for the full article.

Bernardine and Bill’s commitment to the cause became even more complicated by their decision to build a family together years after they became partners. The second half of the book not only provides a vivid account of their life underground, but also Ayers Dohrn’s discovery that his origin story, that his birth in 1977 had changed everything for his parents, was a lie.

…Through his own research, Ayers Dohrn discovered that Bernardine supplied stolen IDs to radicals-turned-bank-robbers in the late 1970s. He also learned that Bill went as far as to participate in the mission that led to Assata Shakur’s escape from prison in November 1979. “Bill and Bernardine were still desperate to be part of something larger than themselves. Larger than their relationship. Larger, even, than our family,” writes Ayers Dohrn.

Why did Bill put his family at risk in 1979? “Because it mattered. Because the world needed it to happen,” he tells his son. He adds, “Every one of us finds ways to lie to our children.”

Read the full article here.

Photo Credits: David Fenton—Getty Images