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The Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) was an American-based
terrorist group that committed several murders and acts of violence
in the early to mid 1970s. The word "Symbionese" is
thought to be derived from symbiosis, a term used in biology
to denote mutually beneficial interaction between different species;
apparently the founders of the SLA had different human races
in mind when coining the term.
On February 4, 1974, Patty Hearst, heiress to the Hearst newspaper
fortune, was abducted by the SLA and held captive in a closet.
After alleged mental, physical, and sexual abuse, Patty joined
the SLA and shocked the country when she dramatically participated
in a bank robbery on April 15, 1975. Go to: Symbionese
Liberation Army.
"SLA" became a household word; and the image of
Patty Hearst posed before the icon of the SLA: the seven headed
hydra, became one of the defining icons of the era. (In Classical
mythology, the hydra was a marsh serpent of many heads, each
of which, when cut off, would grow back as two).
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