The Center for Constitutional Rights defines Black August as a time designated to commemorate and honor “the freedom fighters, especially those inside the walls of our sprawling prison-industrial complex, who, with their vision, tenacity, and deep love for our communities, are leading us toward the horizon of abolition.” Originally started in the 1970s by California prisons, Black August is a way to “honor the lives and deaths of Black political prisoners killed by the state, bring awareness to prison conditions, and to honor the radical tradition of Black resistance against anti-Black state violence systemic oppression.” Source:https://ccrjustice.org/home/press-center/ccr-news/what-black-august-and-why-it-such-significant-time
The movie covers the last 14 months of George Jackson's life as well as the conditions in California's prison industrial complex. George Jackson would spend 11 years incarcerated (7 of which were in solitary confinement) for a $70 gas station robbery crime in 1960. He was 18 years of age when the sentence of one year-to-life was handed down to him.
Poet and playwright Claudia Rankine and her husband John Lucas create “situation videos,” short films illustrating Rankine's poetry. This video, called "Stop and Fisk," featured Rankine's poem about “policing of the black body.”
Discussing whether Blacks can receive true justice in American courts, prisons, or in post-prison life, this special Black Journal episode examines America's judicial system from a Black perspective.
Black power means fighting for our justice, now and forever. And that's what #BlackAugust is all about commemorating. Watch Brittany Packnett Cunningham and Danielle Moodie discuss the legacy of activism in #BlackAugust and the ongoing struggle for Black liberation on #UnpackThat's series finale.
