By Any Means Necessary
Black August Resistance: Building the Tradition Kwame-Osagyefo Kalimara
Black August Resistance celebrates the honor, dignity and respect of Afrikan peoples’ movement com-bating white supremacy, colonialism, neocolonialism and imperialism. This August represents 40 years of recognition of the contributions of Afrikan prisoners in advancing the Black Liberation Movement in the United States Empire. It also represents a vital ideological connection between mass incarceration, enslavement and varied forms of genocide of Afrikan peoples. This narrative begins with the political consciousness of prisoners who have transformed themselves from criminal to revolutionary. Detroit Red became Malcolm X/El Hajj Malik Shabazz, one of our best-known examples of personal and political transformation. In the late 1960s and early 1970s in the prisons of California, George Jackson, a prison activist and co-founder of the Black Guerrilla Family (BGF), electrified the political landscape of America with the publication in 1970 of his book Soledad Brother: The Prison Letters of George Jackson. It codified his political thought and development. Readers felt Jackson’s passion, integrity and commitment to the creation of a just society. It has been described as his “manifesto!” That same year, Jackson and two other prisoners were charged with the murder of a guard stemming from a prison rebellion. In 1966 Jackson met W.L. Nolen, a BGF co-founder, who introduced him to the ideologies of Marx and Mao, of whom he credits his redemption. In 1969 both were transferred from San Quentin to Soledad Prison. On August 7, 1970 George Jackson’s younger brother Jonathan, in an action akin to Cinque seizing the Amistad (1839), sought to liberate Black Liberation Fighters James McClain, William Christmas and Ruchell Magee from the Marin County California courthouse. Unfortunately, the only New Afrikan survivor was Ruchell Magee. Deputy District Attorney Gary Thomas was paralyzed and one juror was wounded. Magee’s co-defendant was Angela Davis who purchased the guns used by Jonathan. Davis was acquitted of murder and other related charges on June 4, 1972. Magee remains today in confinement at the California Men’s Colony State Prison in San Luis Obispo, California. George Jackson himself was assassinated on August 21, 1971 by San Quentin prison guards in order to stop the prison organizing and its impact on the movement outside the prison industrial complex. Khatari Gaulden is one of the prison activists who developed the Black August resistance commemoration, honoring George and Jonathan Jackson and others. He argued that fasting, study and education during the month of August would help instill self-discipline amongst those honoring the commemoration. The fast was designed to remind us of the sacrifices of our ancestor freedom fighters, as well as encouraging non-participation in corporate enterprises. Gaulden was murdered on the San Quentin Prison yard August 1, 1978. In late 1979 the New Afrikan Independence Movement began to observe and practice Black August, which it gleaned from the prisons of California. The Black August Organizing Committee, the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement and other formations teach and practice fasting during the month of August from sunrise to sunset, refraining from drinking liquids and eating food. Breaking the fast is to be a shared meal among comrades and/or family. Other examples of fasting are not listening to the corporate radio and watching corporate television. Traditionally a “Peoples’ Feast” is held on August 31st to honor the fallen sheroes and heroes and to acknowledge the collective sacrifices necessary for our people’s self-determination and sovereignty globally.
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