[News] Black August Statement - the Jackson Family

[News at freedomarchives.org]

Public Statement Concerning Black August Events

 From The Family



This year marks the 26th anniversary of Black August, an event that was 
first organized in 1978 as a memorial to both commemorate the tremendous 
sacrifices of Jonathan and George Jackson, Khatari Gaulden, Nat Turner, 
Assata Shakur, and celebrate the revolutionary actions of these radical 
figures as well as provide a platform for a future generation of continuing 
resistance. For oppressed peoples all over the planet and their allies, the 
torrid month of August is to fuse our reflection and rage, courage, 
conviction, and ACTION. 98 degrees in the shade!

The Black August movement was set off by the counter-totalitarian 
organization founded by George Jackson, the Black Guerrilla Family, out of 
the need to create an above ground expression of the shared convictions 
that led those of us with the requisite courage at the appropriate 
historical moment to fight and sometimes die during definitive acts - 
historically linking Turner’s Southampton rebellion in 1831 and the Marin 
Courthouse 1970 takeover.

As the leader of a Prisoner’s Rights Movement during the Sixties, George 
Jackson inspired a multi-racial class-based movement of resistance within 
the US prison system that culminated in the San Quentin, Attica, Angola, 
Joliet, Folsom, and Reidsville rebellions. The politics of that movement 
extend far beyond prison walls as well. The BGF was a revolutionary 
organization in opposition to the US government and the ethnic divisions 
and economic subjugation upon which it thrives, fighting in solidarity with 
ALL inner city people, ALL oppressed peoples of the 3rd world, and 
confronting the kind of oppression that occurs every day today – from Abner 
Louima to Rodney King, to the 107 unarmed civilians killed in DC and PG 
county alone in the past decade, to the general condition of the 
intolerable slums that surround nearly every city in the 21st century 
world. The BGF also inspired other revolutionary formations, including the 
Weather Underground, the east coast BLA, and countless international 
groups. The BGF established the Black August festival as way to resist the 
capitalist culture's attempt to simply criminalize acts of revolutionary 
anti-capitalist resistance such as the August 7 Takeover and subsequent 
acts of armed rebellion, along with the men and women who carry them out.

Today Black August festivals are held in cities around the world, and there 
is an independent film in post-production. The family of George and 
Jonathan, along with many of those who fought alongside them, are proud 
that the legacy of the two brothers has lived on. That said, the Family is 
concerned about the DOZENS of men and women that fought alongside the 
brothers who are still living today, including movement elders like 
Nicaraguan national Hugo Pinell, August 7th actor Ruchell Cinque Magee, 
exiled revolutionary and writer Assata Shakur and many others. Most remain 
behind bars, others are in dire circumstances today. Despite advancing age 
and poor health these political detainees are no closer to coming home 
today than in 1970. Instead the government is bringing new cases against 
aged revolutionaries both for insurrectionary acts allegedly committed 
decades ago, as well as ‘new’ acts of resistance. The U.S. prison 
population was under 250,000 when the brothers fought and died, today it is 
2.6 million and includes 1 in 3 Black men. In its thirst for "law and 
order" the state has grown ever more repressive in its tactics since the 
brothers fought and died.!

The line between commemoration and exploitation is far too often porous, 
entertainment to often passes for radical intervention. The Family feels it 
is essential to know precisely how the resources collected in the names of 
the two revolutionary brothers are being used. In order to mend the 
factions between the first generation of revolutionaries, and navigate the 
minefield of missteps, some of which were already made in the past, it is 
necessary that the Family have the decisive international voice in the 
planning for Black August, which was first and foremost created to provide 
resources for political prisoners and their families, as well as to raise 
political consciousness in disenfranchised communities.

It is WRONG and INAPPROPRIATE for those who had little actual connection 
Jonathan and George and the revolutionary movement they founded to seek to 
commercialize that legacy solely for personal gain, as some have done, 
simply because they have a ideological or political affinity, while the 
social conditions grow worse daily and the revolutionaries who fought with 
the brothers endure living burials. The Family and friends of the two 
brothers call on those of us who are people of conviction to come together 
to assure that those taking on the work of organizing in the name of Black 
August honor the spirit of resistance it was created in.

Blessings from the Family should be given for any festival, conference, and 
event using the Black August Movement or the Jackson Family name in the 
coming years. All currently operating festivals should also want to do so.



Contact: blackaugustmovement at yahoo.com or call your local OG


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