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George Jackson

George Jackson was arrested in 1957 for stealing $70 from a gas station and was sentenced to 1 year to life. Jackson ended up being incarcerated for 14 years until he was murdered by prison guards inside San Quentin Prison in 1971. During his 14 years of imprisonment, Jackson became of the seminal figures and thinkers of Black Power and the Black Liberation Movement.

Documents

BBC Report: George Jackson BBC Report: George Jackson
Call Number: PM 023Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ipsProducers: BBCProgram: George JacksonCollection: George Jackson
BBC Report, Iron Box: The Prison Life and Death of George Jackson, on Jackson after assassination, good Jackson actuality, Fay Stender, early blues music, Inez Williams, Doris Maxwell (Clutchette's mother), Elsa Knight Thompson on prison, Frazel Sheldon, public defender Sonoma County, Robert Charles Jordan 1966 suit for cruel and unusual punishment
Interviews with Soledad Brothers Interviews with Soledad Brothers
Date: 8/17/1970Call Number: PM 058Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ipsProducers: Dave Stevens, PA Director of KPFKCollection: George Jackson
Interviews with Fleeta Drumgo, John Cluchette and George Jackson about prison, their histories, Jonathan Jackson and the Marin County Rebellion. George Jackson on his early history, talks abaout reading and studying inside, racism in prison, Jonathan Jackson’s death and the possibility of his own death. Interview with George is most substantive of the three. John Cluchette on the first Soledad incident, political views of prison, on George and Jonathan Jackson Fleeta Drumgo on his political views of prison. Gets cut off at the end.
Interview with George Jackson’s lawyer and former fellow inmate/comrade Interview with George Jackson’s lawyer and former fellow inmate/comrade
Call Number: PM 104Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ipsCollection: George Jackson
Track 1: Interview with John Thorne, George Jackson’s lawyer, about his relationship with George. Describes George as a selfless leader, always bringing in lawyers to discuss the cases of fellow inmates. Talks about George’s solidarity with other movements, his dedication to struggle for freedom, his ultimate discipline and preparedness for attack. Discusses some of the letters between George and Angela Davis about fascism within the United States. Track 2: Interview of Popeye Jackson, former fellow prisoner of George’s in San Quentin and Soledad prisons, discussing the impossibility of the State’s case for assassinating George Jackson. Discusses the repressive conditions of the adjustment center and the many revolutionaries abused within solitary confinement. Reads a letter from Fleeta Drumgo about his treatment in the case of his death.
The Deaths at San Quentin August 21, 1971 The Deaths at San Quentin August 21, 1971
Call Number: PM 186Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ipsProducers: Patrick Meyers, David StephensCollection: George Jackson
A report on the events of August 26, 1971, five days after the deaths at San Quentin, when attorneys were allowed inside the prison for the first time since the uprising. Account of the events at the pre-trial hearings for the two surviving Soledad Brothers (John Cluchette and Fleeta Drumgo) in which attorneys attempted to have the prisoners removed from San Quentin and held in SF County Jail for the duration of the trial due to severe beatings by the prison guards. Police and court security guards began beating audience members as a mini-riot broke out. Contains footage from the courtroom. Response by Assemblyman Willie Brown to the State Dept. of Corrections report on the events of August 21st and the censorship of “revolutionary materials” being sent to the prisoners through US mail.
KPFA Radio News Summary and Update on the San Quentin Six Trial. KPFA Radio News Summary and Update on the San Quentin Six Trial.
Date: 1/1/1976Call Number: KP 218BFormat: Cass BProducers: KPFACollection: George Jackson
Attorney for David Johnson, Frank Cox, filed an affidavit regarding Melvin Cotton Smith's role as a paid informant for the L.A. police department. The news summary gives a good and detailed history of the events surrounding George Jackson's death up to the circumstances involving the San Quentin Six. Included is information on James Carr, COINTELPRO, and the ideological split between Eldridge Cleaver and Huey P. Newton in the Black Panther Party. Contains excerpt of a recording of George Jackson talking three months before his murder, excerpts of an interview with Eldridge Cleaver in exile from Paris, and a telephone interview with Bob Gardner who witnessed the 1970 shootings of W. L. Nolan, Alvin Miller, Cleveland Edwards at Soledad Prison.