“Embrace the principles of unity, self-sacrifice, political education, physical training and resistance,” –Sundiata Tate, San Quentin Six Veteran, Political Prisoner, Survivor
In August, we invite you into the collective study and take action with us in preparation for the resistance ahead. Black August is upon us- a month coined 50 years ago as a commemoration of Black political prisoners we have lost to the genocidal efforts of the US regime, those who are still forced to live their lives in cages, and of the resistance that continues to blaze bright today.
We honor the lives of Jonathan Jackson, George Jackson, and the thousands of freedom fighters who laid down their lives for our freedom and who were in turn thrown in cages and solitary confinement. It is in their spirit that the prison uprisings of the 1970s were born and specifically the Attica Uprising of 1971 which resulted in four days of demands, deaths, and struggle as incarcerated people fought for better living conditions.
As we fight to dismantle the prison and police system, and as we fight to transform the conditions of poverty, patriarchy, and system racism that aids in our imprisonment, we must also ensure our people locked away are able to live in their full humanity and dignity. Period.
Black August comes from this lineage of resistance and resilience. Whether it be the prison uprisings throughout California and the South or other moments of freedom manifestation from the Haitian revolution in 1804 to the uprisings in Ferguson in 2016. The national visibility of Black August must be attributed to the work of the 1979 Black August Organizing Committee (BAOC) and the work of The Malcolm X Grassroots Movement (MXGM) who in the early 90s fought for political prisoners in Cuba through the “Black August Hip Hop” benefit concerts.
How to join us in Black August Commemoration:
As The Rising Majority, we invite you to join the thousands of freedom fighters commemorating Black August. The tradition of Black August includes the five principles of unity, self-sacrifice, political education, physical training, and resistance.
We invite you to:
-Be inside of political and cultural study. Capitalists and white supremacists dominate the narrative about why conditions are the way they are. They blame us for our poverty, us for our assaults, and us for our imprisonment instead of racial capitalism, white supremacy, and patriarchy. In order to change the world, we must constantly reject those narratives, study political texts, and remain curious and questioning. For Black August, Rising Majority’s member favorite reads are:
–Participate in communal activities to strengthen our physical and mental being. The journey to liberation requires our bodies and minds to be aligned. Here are some activities Rising Majority’s staff will be participating in:
Fasting safely from sunrise to sunset.
For some, fasting is not a healthy or appropriate choice. For those of us where that is the case, we will be eating mindfully or as our body needs.
Participating in group exercise in the park and virtually
Frequent Meditation
–Take Action. Political prisoners remain isolated from the world and their families, oftentimes under grueling physical and mental conditions. We have an opportunity to ease our incarcerated families’ conditions by participating in letter-writing campaigns.
August is a month of clarity and sharpening ourselves for the resistance. As covid variants threaten the temporary relief from the pandemic and we continue to see police and military threaten our safety, there couldn’t be a better time to be in collective resistance and resilience.
“The intent among those of us who commemorated and practiced Black August was to educate ourselves, our families, and communities about the conditions of our family and community members in prison and to create revolutionary consciousness and encourage the spirit of resistance among themselves and our communities.” – Mama Ayanna.
In deep political struggle,
Nikita Mitchell
Sent via ActionNetwork.org. To update your email address, change your name or address, or to stop receiving emails from The Majority, please click here.
This website uses cookies to provide and improve its services. By continuing to use this website, you consent to our use of cookies. If you do not consent, please view our Cookie Policy for more information.Dismiss