#Marin County Courthouse Rebellion

[ausetkmt]

Black August: Origins, History, and Signifigance

click the link for the Book, which is very much an antique collectors edition.

Black August: Origins, History, and Signifigance

click the link for the Book, which is very much an antique collectors edition.

Please know that BLACK AUGUST, IS OUR CELEBRATION OF REVOLUTION AND REVOLUTIONARIES

Activists are commemorating Black August. Here’s the history behind the month-long celebration | CNN

Activists and social justice organizations are celebrating the history of Black resistance this month in what’s known as Black August.

This year’s commemoration follows months of ongoing nationwide protests over systemic racism and the killings of Black people at the hands of police.

And no, it’s not a second Black History Month.

“During Black August, we honor Black freedom fighters, many of whom were killed by the state or imprisoned for defending Black lives,” Monifa Bandele with the Movement for Black Lives said in a statement to CNN.

“This month is a time to reflect and learn about the legacies of Black revolutionaries, while we rededicate ourselves to the protracted struggles against white supremacy, colonialism, capitalism, and imperialism. We study, plan, and pledge to continue the work and fight for Black liberation.”

Black August is a tradition that originated in California’s prisons in the 1970’s after the deaths of brothers Jonathan and George Jackson as well as other incarcerated Black men who sought freedom.

Here’s what you need to know about Black August.

George Jackson, an activist, died at a California prison on August 21, 1971.

He had received one year to life in prison in 1960 for allegedly stealing $70 from a Los Angeles gas station, according to a 1970 book review from The New York Times.

During his time behind bars, Jackson began studying the ideas of Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin, wrote Eric Cummins in “The Rise and Fall of California’s Radical Prison Movement.” He is considered one of the most outspoken voices on racism in the criminal justice system at the time.

In letters to his parents, his younger brother Jonathan, activist Angela Davis and others, Jackson articulated his frustration and rage over systemic racism and his imprisonment. The letters were ultimately published as a collection titled “Soledad Brother: The Prison Letters of George Jackson.”

Then in 1970, Jackson and two other incarcerated Black men were charged with the murder of a White prison guard. That same year, Jackson’s brother Jonathan was killed in a shootout with police outside the Marin County Courthouse after taking a judge hostage to try and secure his brother’s release, the Los Angeles Times reported in 2015.

On August 21, 1971, George Jackson, who was incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison at the time, used a gun to take a prison guard hostage and forced him to open several cells, according to the Los Angeles Times. Jackson was killed in the ensuing chaos as he and several other inmates attempted to escape from prison. Three guards and two other inmates were also killed.

A group of incarcerated people came together to commemorate the death of Jackson and other prisoners in what became known as Black August.

“So there was an idea that this could be a time that imprisoned people in the California prison system could use for reflection, study, and to think about how to strengthen their struggles,” said Rachel Herzing, an activist who advocates for the abolition of prisons, in a 2016 interview with True Leap Press.

“During the month, people wouldn’t use radios or television, would fast between sun up and sun down, and practice other measures of self-discipline. Eventually the commemorations during that month were taken up outside of prisons, too.”

Social justice organizers also point out that numerous other instances of Black resistance against systemic racism and state-sanctioned violence took place in August, including Nat Turner’s Rebellion, the March on Washington and the Watts Rebellion in Los Angeles.

August is also the birth month of Black nationalist leaders Marcus Garvey and Fred Hampton.

“Fifty years later, groups like Malcolm X Grassroots Movement and New Afrikan Independence Movement continue the Black August legacy of celebrations by amplifying our history of resistance and creating spaces for Black people to come together in community to recharge the revolution,” the Movement for Black Lives notes on its website.

Black August is separate from Black History Month in February, which is a federally recognized celebration that calls on all Americans to reflect on how African-Americans have shaped US history.

Carter G. Woodson, the son of former enslaved people, is largely credited with the February celebration. Frustrated with the absence of Black people from history textbooks, Woodson developed Negro History Week in 1926 in an attempt to write Black people into the nation’s history. He believed “the achievements of the Negro properly set forth will crown him as a factor in early human progress and a maker of modern civilization.”

In 1976, Negro History Week expanded into Black History Month.

Black August, which also came about in the 1970’s, specifically honors “political prisoners, freedom fighters, and martyrs of the Black freedom struggle,” according to the Center for Constitutional Rights, a progressive advocacy group.

“Black August is a call for reflection, study, and action to promote Black liberation,” Herzing told True Leap Press.

The singer Noname, who launched a book club last year that highlights works written by authors of color, is among those calling on people to engage with Black August.

She wrote on Twitter, “blk history month is beautiful but unfortunately like all black culture it has been co-opted by neoliberal captialist and we rarely learn about all the contributions black radicals have made in resistance against this settler colonial nation state.”

“we don’t learn about political prisoners who sacrificed their lives to fight against imperialism/colonialism. many of our revolutionaries are still incarcerated and are treated with specific repression because of their radical politics.”

click the link for the FREE BOOK DOWNLOAD , which is very much an antique collectors edition.

[movementlike4river]

Black August: Rest in Power Ruchell Magee 🖤

a year ago ruchell magee was released from prison, he died months after on oct 17th 2023. this is his story:

"Ruchell Magee was born an only child on March 17, 1939 in the small town of Franklinton, Louisiana. Across the Deep South, Jim Crow laws, white supremacist lynchings, KKK terror, segregation, and legal bias against Black people were common. In 1955, at the young age of 16, Ruchell was accused of aggravated attempted rape due to his relationship with a white girl in KKK territory. For context, Emmett Till was lynched, mutilated, and murdered in August 1955 for allegedly whistling at a white woman. Magee was given a completely bogus trial with an all-white jury who sentenced him to eight hard years in the notorious Angola State Prison, a former plantation. In 1962, the state deprived him of his inherited property and ordered that he leave Louisiana and go to Los Angeles.

Ruchell was finally allowed to leave Louisiana’s dungeons in 1963, so he headed to Los Angeles for a fresh start. Only six months later, Ruchell and his cousin Leroy were arrested as they sat with a man named Ben Brown in Brown’s car. Brown told police a far-fetched tale that Ruchell and his cousin had kidnapped him in a dispute over a $10 bag of weed, even though the cousins didn’t even have the car keys.

As the police arrested him, they beat him so badly that he had to be hospitalized for three days, but the injustices were only beginning. The racist Superior Court of Los Angeles County railroaded him with the trumped-up charge of kidnapping to commit robbery. There was extreme malpractice from both the prosecutor and the defense attorney, which came to a head with Magee’s lawyer pleading him guilty without his consent. Ruchell was unjustly imprisoned with a seven-years-to-life charge for this alleged crime. 

Ruchell strived to develop his mind in prison, where he learned the rich traditions of African history and liberation struggles. He took on the name “Cinque” because he felt a connection with the African freedom fighter Cinqué, who led a rebellion on the slave ship La Amistad. Magee won himself a second trial by pointing out that his indictment was improperly joined with his cousin’s case (among other improper acts). In 1965, Magee unfortunately faced the same judge that bound and gagged him in the first trial for making lawful objections. In Ruchell’s own words, the second trial “used fraud to hide fraud”, upholding the conviction and shooting his trial down.

Magee had gained a reputation in the prison system as a people’s lawyer by doing work like filing a lawsuit for the wrongful death of prisoner Fred Billingsley, who was beaten and tear-gassed to death in his cell in the San Quentin prison in February 1970. Ruchell’s work helped lead to a large settlement for the Billingsley family.

After seven years of torture in California’s prison system, he took an opportunity for freedom when it came to him. On August 7, 1970, Ruchell Magee and William Christmas were among the witnesses for the trial of James McClain, who was on trial for assaulting a guard after the brutal Billingsley murder. Jonathan Jackson, the younger brother of prisoner and Black Panther Party Field Marshal George Jackson, attempted to free his brother and the rest of the Soledad Brothers by taking control of the courtroom in Marin County Courthouse. Jonathan announced that he was taking over and offered weapons to Magee, Christmas, and McClain. Even though he wasn’t aware of the plan at its start, he knew that this could be his last chance to escape slavery and get the world’s attention on his unjust conviction. The prison guards opened fire on the group as they left the building, killing Jackson, Christmas, McClain, and a judge and critically wounding Ruchell and a prosecutor.

Ruchell fought for his liberation while simultaneously fighting to expose the corrupt judicial system. He would have never been in the Marin County Courthouse courtroom if he received a fair trial in his 1963 case. Even throughout decades of abuses and injustices, Ruchell continuously offered his support as a people’s lawyer for other prisoners.

Ruchell urgently needs public support in 2023, especially because of his factual innocence, his age of 84 years old, and the risk of COVID-19 in California’s wretched prisons. He currently has two motions in the legal system - a request to Governor Gavin Newsom for commutation in California and a hearing in the Supreme Court. Ruchell is scheduled for a parole suitability hearing in July 2021, where he has the possibility of getting parole. 

In Ruchell’s own words, “Slavery 400 years ago, slavery today. It’s the same but with a new name.” Whether it was Africans fighting captivity in Africa, or Africans fighting captivity in California, oppressed people have the right to rebel! Free Ruchell “Cinque” Magee!

Freed Political Prisoner"

[bfpnola]

The revolution is now, and Black August calls upon us to recognize such. Announcements below:

For more educational posts like these, please check out our instagram @ bfpnola! We barely receive any interaction on our other platforms!

Click here for over 1,000 free social justice, mental health, and academic resources, including free textbooks, PDFs, movies, interviews, and more!

Better Future Program is looking for both virtual and in-person volunteers to help organize our resources, write image descriptions, prepare future workshops, and more. If you're interested, let us know.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION BELOW.

Black August

Trigger Warnings: Police Brutality, Death, Shooting Mention

Black August is honored every year to commemorate the fallen freedom fighters of the Black Liberation Movement, to call for the release of political prisoners in the United States, to condemn the oppressive conditions of U.S. prisons, and to emphasize the continued importance of the Black Liberation struggle.

Observers of Black August may fast, exercise, and even become more focused in their political studies, but the main goal is to impose discipline upon their daily lives as they celebrate and commemorate those who have fallen.

How did it all begin, though?

Condemned to a prison term of “1-to-life,” meaning prison administrators had complete and arbitrary control over the length of his sentence, 19-year-old George Jackson was convicted of armed robbery in 1961. He spent 11 years incarcerated, seven-and-a-half of which were spent in solitary confinement.

By 1970, imprisoned radical organizers, George Jackson, Fleeta Drumgo, and John Clutchette, were accused of killing a prison guard. These three were put on trial and became known as "the Soledad Brothers," named after the Soledad prison they were trapped within.

By this point, Johnathan Jackson, 17-year-old brother to George Jackson, realized that his kin would never be released. So, he staged an armed attack on the Marin County Courthouse to demand the Soledad Brothers' freedom, with the help of additional prisoners James McClain, William Christmas, and Ruchell Magee.

Unfortunately, Jonathan Jackson, McClain, and Christmas were all killed, while Magee was shot and re-arrested. Ruchell Magee, now 82-years-old, is currently one of the longest-held political prisoners in the world.

Just a year later, George Jackson was killed by a police guard.

In response to these deaths, the 1970s became a time overflowing with widespread, radical organizing and political struggle. Prisoners demanded an end to racist and violent treatment at the hands of prison guards, better living conditions, and increased access to education and adequate medical care. Tactics in these campaigns included lawsuits, strikes, and mass rebellions.

And so, in 1979, the inaugural Black August was celebrated right at the same prison George Jackson, James McClain, William Christmas, Ruchell Magee, and other radical organizers were all once held.

How can you get involved in Black August?

Well, for one, you can find local mutual aid groups to support your community directly. Mutual aid refers to the reciprocal exchange of goods and services, which therefore increases collective power. You can read more on our post: Mutual Aid & Anarchy: What is it and Should I Participate? (@bfpnola).

You could also check out the achievements and struggles of the Black Panther Party and the Rainbow Coalition. Find out more under our Community-Based Liberation: 1960s to Now post (@bfpnola).

Educate yourself on past rebellions, what it means to be radical in the 21st century, how the revolution is all around us, not just through singular events but in all the community organizing that came before.

The revolution is now, and Black August calls upon us to recognize such.

Black August Readings:

A Primer: Black August and Its Importance to Black Resistance and Survival, Destiny Keys

The Revision and Origin of Black August, Kiilu Nyasha

Study, fast, train, fight: The roots of Black August, Joe Tache

Black August in LA: Month of Meaning and Resistance, Julia Wallace and Tre Kwon

Resistance: The Meaning of Black August, Bilal Ali

Black August 575, Spirit House

Kumasi speaks: What is Black August?, Kumasi

The Black Joy Mixtape, Amber J. Phillips and Jazmine Walke

Black Joy Experience, Liberation House

1964 Freedom Summer/ Freedom Rides, Bruce Hartford

Black August Books:

Soledad Brother: The Prison Letters of George Jackson

Blood In My Eye

The Melancholy History of Soledad Prison; In Which a Utopian Scheme Turns Bedlam

Comrade George; An Investigation into the Life, Political Thought, and Assassination of George Jackson

Destructive Generation

Who Killed George Jackson?

Live from Death Row

Afeni Shakur: Evolution of a Revolutionary

Fire This Time: The Watts Uprising And The 1960s

Resisting State Violence: Radicalism, Gender, and Race in U.S. Culture

Children of Virtue by Toni Adeyemi

The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Conjure Women by Afia Atakora

The Salt Eaters by Toni Cade Bambara

Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick by Zora Neale Hurston

Naming our Destiny by June Jordan (Poetry)

Black Art and Culture in the 20th Century by Richard J. Powell (Non-Fiction)

The Best of Simple by Langston Hughes (Fiction)

This Child’s Gonna Live by Sarah E. Wright (Fiction)

Black August Movies:

Black August (film)

Murder of Fred Hampton

From Somewhere in the World

Beasts of the Southern Wild

The Assailant

Marley documentary (Film by Kevin MacDonald)

Daughters of the Dust (Julie Dash)

Toni Morrison The Pieces I Am

I Am Not Your Negro

The Spook Who Sat by The Door

The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution

Let the Fire Burn

"Do what must be done, discover your humanity and your love in revolution.”

--- George L. Jackson, Soledad Brother & Radical Revolutionary

For over 1,000 free social justice, mental health, and academic resources, visit: betterfutureprogram.org

Building a better and brighter global future for marginalized youth through education, awareness, and unity.

--- @reaux07, Founder

[fuckyeahmarxismleninism]

On August 7, 1970 – 50 years ago – Jonathan Peter Jackson the 17-year old brother of George Jackson, brought 3 guns into the Marin County Hall of Justice, where Judge Haley was presiding over the trial of San Quentin prisoner James McClain. He drew weapons from his satchel, and with the assistance of McClain and 2 prisoners who were witnesses for McClain, Ruchell Magee and William A. Christmas, took Judge Haley, Deputy District Attorney Gary Thomas and 3 female jurors hostage. Upon exiting the courthouse, Jackson and the other kidnappers attempted to flee with the hostages in tow. Police and prison guards opened fire on the van Jackson was driving. At the end of the shootout, Jackson, Haley, McClain and Christmas were dead and McGee and Thomas were seriously injured. 

The kidnapping was meant as a tool to negotiate the freedom of the Soledad Brothers, 3 Black prisoners (George Jackson, Fleeta Drumgo, and John Clutchette) who were charged with the murder of a prison guard at Soledad Prison in California.

This moment, like so many others, represents one of the influential Black Liberation Movement events and asks us to further study historic strugglers – Angela Davis, George and Jonathan Jackson, The Soledad Brothers, The San Quentin Six, Ruchell Magee, and organizations like the Black Panther Party.  Our lessons must include prison resistance, political prisoners, state violence, and insurgency.

[the-final-straw-blog]

The Right To Rebel Against Slavery: The Case of Ruchell Cinque Magee

This week, you'll hear Ruchell Magee speak about his struggle over 57 years to be heard in the California court system and appeals to US Federal courts. Ruchell is the lone, surviving prisoner-participant of the August 7th, 1970 Marin County Courthouse Rebellion, lead by Jonathan Jackson and including prisoner rebels William Christmas and James McClain. Ruchell took the name of Cinque (aka Sengbe Pieh), the Mende man who justified for his right to resist unjust enslavement aboard the slave ship Amistad in 1839. Over the years Ruchell has become an accomplished jailhouse lawyer, helping many other prisoners and yet still languishing in prison.

For the hour, Ruchell talks about his case and strategy, the George Floyd Uprisings, corruption of the racist US legal system. We’ll also hear from Claude Marks, former political prisoner from the Puerto Rican independence movement and co-founder / director of the Freedom Archives in San Francisco, which in August 2020 memorialized the 50th anniversary of the Marin County Courthouse Rebellion.

More info on Ruchelle at https://prisonersolidarity.com

Check out this episode!

[delta7of96]

Black August: Marin County Courthouse Rebellion | Colorlines

[nessequals7]

❤️🖤💚 What is Black August??? ✊🏿 Black August originated in the concentration camps of California to honor fallen Freedom Fighters, Jonathan Jackson, George Jackson, William Christmas, James McClain and Khatari Gaulden. Jonathan Jackson was gunned down outside the Marin County California courthouse on August 7, 1970 as he attempted to liberate three imprisoned Black Liberation Fighters: James McClain, William Christmas and Ruchell Magee. Ruchell Magee is the sole survivor of that armed rebellion. He is the former co-defendant of Angela Davis and has been locked down for 40 years, most of it in solitary confinement. George Jackson was assassinated by prison guards during a Black prison rebellion at San Quentin on August 21, 1971. Three prison guards were also killed during that rebellion and prison officials charged six Black and Latino prisoners with the death of those guards. These six brothers became known as the San Quentin Six. To honor these fallen soldiers the brothers who participated in the collective founding of Black August wore black armbands on their left arm and studied revolutionary works, focusing on the works of George Jackson. In the month of August the brothers did not listen to the radio or watch television. Additionally, they didn’t eat or drink anything from sun-up to sundown; and loud and boastful behavior was not allowed. The brothers did not support the prison’s canteen. The use of drugs and alcoholic beverages was prohibited and the brothers held daily exercises because during Black August emphasis is placed on sacrifice, fortitude and discipline. Black August is a time to embrace the principles of unity, self-sacrifice, political education, physical training and resistance. For more on Black August you can DM me or check out @mxgmnational (at Diaspora) https://www.instagram.com/p/CDeFH6MDi-R/?igshid=dzmw9563bmv8

[itsblackasme]

#TheSoledadBrothers #GeorgeJackson #BloodInMyEye #themanchild_JonathanJackson #BPP✊🏿#APTTP✊🏿 ❤️HAPPY🖤BLACK🖤AUGUST💚 Black August became known as a collective observance of all occurrences of police brutality across the country beginning with the death of George Jackson on August 21, 1971. In 1961, Jackson was sentenced to one year in San Quentin Prison for armed robbery. One year turned into ten as Jackson was subjected to repeated disciplinary infractions from confrontations with the warden and guards, who would purposely agitate Jackson. After being transferred to Soledad Prison, Jackson's good friend and Guerrilla Family co-founder, W.L. Nolen, was shot to death by a guard during a yard riot. Soon after, Jackson began to organize prisoner efforts to retaliate against guards for violence against inmates. In 1970, Jackson and two other comrades killed a guard, giving Jackson a murder charge. On August 7, 1970, Jackson's younger brother, Jonathan Jackson, along with three former inmate comrades, took hostages at Marin County courthouse and demanded the release of Jackson. Jonathan was killed in the process. On August 21st, Jackson smuggled a gun into the prison and led an inmate rebellion that resulted in the deaths of five C.O's and four inmates, including George Jackson, who was shot to death by a tower guard. The month of August is commemorative of radical resistance of injustices perpetrated by the "justice system." We continue to work at holding this corrupt and broken system accountable for the oppression of OUR people across the country. Other noteworthy August occurrences: Philly MOVE bombing Initiation of the Underground Railroad Start of the Haitian Revolution March on Washington LA riots Million Man March Ferguson riot Micah X Rebellion (at Sacramento, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/B0uUHF1hDaTi8tq7_gjt-HqsXCeYW9T5ziuToc0/?igshid=1k11x57kvtgoc

[ftpmovement]

BLACK AUGUST DEFINED

Over the past several years, there have been numerous events - “barbeques”, “strip club promos”, “car washes” and all types of madness in the name of Black August.  Many have come to the conclusion that Black August is an additional Black History Month, while others utilize it as a “holiday” or celebration to promote and endorse various forms of Black capitalism. Unfortunately, many of our people are clueless as to what true power is so they are motivated by the illusion of power.  Minister Huey P. Newton, co-founder of the Black Panther Party stated, “Power is the ability to define phenomenon and make it act in a desired manner”. And therein lies the foundation of Black August – Black August is about resistance. It is an annual commemoration, rather than celebration, of our political prisoners – those who lost their lives during the 1970s in the gulags of California, along with the hundreds who are currently languishing under torturous conditions and being denied their basic human rights across the United States.

In 1979, the concept of Black August manifested outside the gates of San Quentin State Prison, in a response to a number of assassinations, state sponsored executions, and deaths related to the denial of medical treatment. One such case was that of Khatari Gaulden, a disciplined and principled leader in the Black Prison Movement who became the last man to suffer a Black August inspired death. On August 1, 1978, Khatari was playing football in the San Quentin adjustment center prison yard, when he tripped and hit his head on a pipe sticking out of the side of a brick wall. Khatari was taken to the infirmary with a severe head injury and held there for hours. The doctors in the infirmary knew immediately that they could not help him and that Khatari should be taken to a public hospital.  However, the prison refused him the much needed medical care, stating they didn’t have “enough security to transport him”. Khatari Gaulden would lay in the prison infirmary long enough for authorities to see he was gravely ill, before a decision was made to transport him to Ross Hospital in Marin, California for a brain scan. After several additional hours of not being attended to, he was transferred to San Francisco General where he made his transition.  

During the tenure of his 11-year imprisonment, Khatari Gaulden’s leadership, courage and accountability made him legendary, and he quickly became one of the most hated targets by the California Department of Corrections. For years, up until Khatari Gaulden’s death, the prison paid-off a number of inmates to kill him, and also hired fellow convicts to file bogus charges in an attempt to set him up for more time. They were unsuccessful. Many believe the prolonged medical treatment, which ultimately led to his demise, was the prison’s opportunity to “legally” neutralize him.  

Along with Khatari Gaulden’s death, the roots of Black August date back to 1970 with the murders of three young men on the yard of Soledad Prison. These men, 21-year-old W.L. Nolen, 23-year-old Alvin “Juggs” Miller, and 21-year-old Cleveland Edwards, were involved in an altercation with members of the Aryan Nation when corrections officer Opie G. Miller, an expert marksman, opened fire and wounded the young men. The Brothers were left on the prison yard for 20 minutes until they all bled to death. According to witnesses, inmates made efforts to carry the wounded inmates off of the yard and were forced at gunpoint to cease their attempts. Four days after the murders, a prison guard was beaten and thrown from a prison tier to his death.

George Jackson, Fleeta Drumgo and John Cluchette –known as “The Soledad Brothers” – were accused and charged with the retaliation. George Jackson, who was arrested at the age of 17, was serving time after being sentenced to 1 year to life in prison for allegedly robbing a gas station of $70. George was a close comrade of W.L. Nolen and was well on his way to becoming a recognized writer, freedom fighter and cultural icon.  Shortly after the murders of inmates Nolen, Miller and Edwards, and the charges brought upon the Soledad Brothers, George Jackson released his first book_, “Soledad Brother: The Prison Letters of George Jackson.”  He was quickly thrust into the international spotlight. Jackson, a recognized prison leader and organizer studied and shared revolutionary philosophies and politics. In addition, he developed and taught his team a bastardized martial arts fighting system. Huey P. Newton later drafted George Jackson as Field Marshal of the Black Panther Party.

On August 7, 1970, George Jackson’s 17 year-old brother, Jonathan Jackson, entered the Marin County Courthouse armed with several guns, including a M1 carbine, demanding the release of the Soledad Brothers. Jonathan passed guns to James McClain (who was on trial for stabbing another guard), William Christmas, and Ruchell McGee. Jonathan announced to the court officers, “Ok, gentlemen we will be taking over from here”.  Taking hostage Judge Harold Haley, Deputy District Attorney Gary Thomas and juror Maria Elena Graham, the 4 men hopped into a van and attempted to escape when police opened fire on the vehicle. In the aftermath Jonathan Jackson, William Christmas, James McClain and Judge Harold Haley were all dead. The guns, which were allegedly bought by and given to Jonathan Jackson by freedom fighter Angela Davis, made her a fugitive hunted by the FBI. President Richard Nixon declared Angela Davis a “dangerous terrorist”.  

One year later, August 21, 1971, 29-year-old George Jackson was assassinated by San Quentin Prison guards after they claimed he smuggled a pistol under an afro wig, returning to quarters after a visit with his lawyer. This government sponsored assassination sent a ripple effect across the globe. George Jackson’s murder set off a rebellion in which three prison guards were killed. Six brothers were accused, and labeled “the San Quentin 6”. Jackson’s assassination had such an impact, that it is said to have ignited the Attica Prison Rebellion, which took place 2 ½ weeks later at the Attica Correctional Facility in New York.

These are only a few key reasons why we have continued to commemorate Black August Resistance for 39 years since its inception. It is important that we keep the spirit of Black August Resistance alive and well in its proper context. And we must be clear, Black August is not a fad or just an event; it is a practice.  Each year, in the State of California, over 300 inmates are placed on lock down if they are caught with any literature or paraphernalia pertaining to Black August.  On August 5, 2016, the FBI’s National Gang Intelligence Center put out an anti-resistance propaganda memo, with a fabricated warning that Black August was gang activity and to watch out for “increased violence” and “ambushing of police officers in dark alleys”. The memo serves as a form of propaganda used as an age-old scare tactic by the FBI for almost a century, going back to its Palmer Raids in 1919, and its counterinsurgency plan of the 1960s known as COINTELPRO. But in the words of poet Maya Angelou “Still we rise”.

During the month of Black August there are a number of events happening around the globe.

_ _Kalonji Jama Changa is the East Coast Coordinator for the Black August Organizing Committee (BAOC). 

[kullmack]

Watch "Hit the Floor - Marin County Courthouse Rebellion - Black August" on YouTube

[serious2020]

Freedom Archives The 50th Anniversary of the August 7th Marin County Courthouse Rebellion

Freedom Archives The 50th Anniversary of the August 7th Marin County Courthouse Rebellion

Freedom Archives The 50th Anniversary of the August 7th Marin County Courthouse Rebellion — Read on freedomarchives.org/projects/the-50th-anniversary-of-the-august-7th-marin-county-courthouse-rebellion/