Sojourner Truth Black August special on George Jackson

Today on Sojourner Truth we bring you our Black August Special featuring George Jackson. George Jackson was born in Chicago Illinois. He was one of five children. He was arrested in Northern California 1961 when he was 19 years old for allegedly attempting to rob a gas station at gun point for $600. He was sentenced to 1 year to life in prison and he spent the next 11 years in prison, most of those years were in solitary confinement. While in prison George became a revolutionary, an organizer and an author. He along with fellow prisoner W.L. Nolan founded the Third World Coalition and founded the San Quentin Prison chapter of the Black Panther Party. He was becoming well-known in radical circles in the US and internationally. He was dubbed a trouble-maker for his revolutionary views and activities by prison authorities. In 1970 W.L. Nolan was killed by a prison guard, this after Nolan had planned to file a lawsuit against the superintendent in the prison where he was held. George Jackson and two other prisoners, Fletta Drumgo and John Clutchette were later accused of killing a prison guard in retaliation for Nolan’s murder. They became known as the Soledad Brothers and were cause-celebrities of the Black and other radical movements. They gained the support of Angela Davis who visited George Jackson while he was in prison. A month after his brother Jonathan Jackson and two other prisoners were killed attempting to free prisoners, George Jackson was killed in 1971 by prison guards. In response to George’s murder the New York State based Attica Prison uprising took place just weeks after George’s murder. 1,500 prisoners released a manifesto with their demands and controlled the prison for four days. The then governor of NY ordered that the prison be stormed by law enforcement and 29 prisoners were killed, none of the prisoners were armed with guns. Today George Jackson is remembered as a revolutionary who fought for his freedom and the freedom of others. His two books include Blood in My Eye and Soledad Brother: The Prison Letters of George Jackson. To this day, we are told that any prisoner in California found with even the name George Jackson anywhere on his person or in his cell is disciplined. We will hear reflections on George Jackson from Dr. Angela Davis, James Baldwin, Sundiata Tate, Walida Imarisha and Rachel Herzing featured in the Freedom Archives 99 Books digital series.