Arm the spirit : a woman's journey underground and back / by Diana Block.

Before Part one there is a poem, dated 1995, entitled, "Now I can Tell You to Tony."

The title is derived from the following by Fidel Castro (1971), quoted in the author's introduction:
"We must arm our spirits.
When the spirit is armed, the people are strong."

Includes bibliographical references (pages 380-389) and index.

Part one Claim no easy victories -- Escape -- Fugitive deconstructions -- New world coming -- Riding the tempest -- A single spark can start a prairie fire -- Venceremos -- Claim no easy victories -- Chimurenga -- Repression breeds resistance -- This is the time

Part two With eyes not yet born -- America's most wanted -- Risking a somersault in the air -- No hay camino -- With eyes not yet born -- Interrogating surrender -- Return -- Light will always be showing -- Reconstructing memory -- The fire inside -- Can't jail the spirit -- A luta continua - epilogue

"Diana Block's Arm the Spirit is a stunning piece of work with pitch-perfect voice and strong writing. She gives voice to many of us who took up the vocation of revolution and who have remained true to the vision of a radically transformed world."--Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, author of Blood on the Border -- from the back cover

In June 1985, Diana Block, her two-week old son and five companions--all of them active in the struggle for Puerto Rican independence--fled L.A. after finding a surveillance device in their car. Facing the possibility of arrest because of her militant activities, Diana spent the next decade living underground, on the run from the FBI, raising two children and juggling security, solidarity and motherhood. In a perfect demonstration that the personal is political, Diana's memoir offers unique insights into the reasons why many people took up arms against the U.S. government in the 1960's and 1970's in response to racism, male supremacy and war. The book also traces Diana's political development on either side of her time underground, offering a fresh look at the history of the 1970's and an analysis of the social terrain of the 1990's when she resurfaced and tried to reintegrate into a very different world. Relayed with emotional depth and a poetic style, Arm the Spirit brings a woman's perspective to a subject typically dominated by heroic, male discourse. The book paints a vivid, complex picture of underground life and its many challenges. What is it like to raise children who don't know their mother's real name and birthday? How does it feel to see your own history distorted on an episode of America's Most Wanted? Which aspects of underground life are terrifying, which are stultifying, and which ultimately strengthen the spirit and will to resist? A captivating tale of struggle and solidarity - told from the inside." -- from the back cover.

"Diana Block has been an activist for forty years. She has written for political journals and women's magazines and currently edits The Fire Inside, the newsletter of the California Coalition for Women Prisoners." -- from the back cover.

Gift of Karen Wald.