Empty the prisons and free us all: Black August
By Mia Rimmer
In the season of motion, it is crucial to sharpen our toolkit to effectively meet the emerging conditions around us. The current landscape of our struggle calls us to examine the critical role of prison abolition in service of our global freedom. Black August thus comes as timely discipline— channeling summer heat as the fire propelling us towards collective liberation.
Roots of Black August
Black August was born in 1979, from the Black Guerilla Family detained in San Quentin State Prison. They set out to honor the life of BGF Founder and Soledad Brother George Jackson, as well as his younger brother Jonathan Jackson. The month-long commemoration 1) honors Black political prisoners killed by the state, 2) uplifts the Black radical tradition, and 3) highlights the oppressive conditions faced by our comrades on the inside.
Black August directly calls us to do the following:
STUDY
TRAIN
FAST
FIGHT
Black August is not a holiday, nor a second Black History Month – it is a memorial. It is a commitment. Black August summons all people who dream of liberation to participate, bringing clarity to our fight for a better world.
Different Arms of the Same Beast
It is crucial to take up this robust approach, as our enemy manifests itself in as many forms as it can. Black August reminds us that prison abolition is an imperative step to dismantling oppressive systems everywhere.
The Black Liberation Movement is no stranger to the targeted arm of the carceral system.
More and more, the current administration pulls off the veil of imprisonment as a weapon of subjugation against everyday citizens. We see detention and deportation rates disproportionately affecting Haitian immigrants. We hear stories from the inside of unsafe drinking water, medical neglect, expired food, and other life-threatening conditions. We witness incarcerated laborers exploited by the state to produce our goods and fight climate catastrophe. We watch the school-to-prison pipeline prey on the youth in our city.
The study of political prisoners illuminates incarceration’s role not just locally, but also worldwide in suppressing people’s movements. The interconnected nature of prison abolition to global liberation is a crucial point for Khalida Jarrar, political prisoner many times over under Israeli occupation:
“The imaginary possibilities of breaking forms of prison subjugation are real and tangible. This can be achieved through dismantling the oppressive colonial system that created it, of which ‘prisons’ are one of its tools…Dismantling colonial and settler servitude is a crucial stage for humanity and for those who have suffered from its effects for decades, and who continue to reject and resist it to this day.”
The horizons we struggle towards require many intentional and rigorous efforts. Black August grounds us in the truth that freedom for our political prisoners unlocks freedom for us all.
Principled Practice
Check the following resources for ways to deepen your connection to the prison abolition struggle.
Milwaukee Alliance Film Screening, “The FBI’s War on Black America”
08/26, 6PM at African American Women’s Center
Blood in my Eye by George Jackson (free online PDF)
Soledad Brother by George Jackson (free online PDF)
If They Come in the Morning by Angela Davis and other political prisoners (free online PDF)
Assata by Assata Shakur (free online PDF)
Captive Genders: Trans Embodiment and the Prison Industrial Complex anthology (free online PDF)
“Freedom is Coming: Shattering Slavery and Emptying Prisons” by Khalida Jarrar
Prison Radio is an independent multimedia production studio producing content for radio, television, and films for 30 years and distributing throughout the world. They stream high-quality audio material to media outlets and the general public in order to add the voices of people most impacted by the prison industrial complex.
Milwaukee Freedom Fund is advocating for the end of the cash bail system in Wisconsin and part of a larger movement to end pretrial detention.
Midwest Books to Prisoners is an all-volunteer 501(c)(3) not for profit book store and organization based in Chicago. Their goal is to directly support inmates by furthering their educational goals. Since 2004 they have been accepting requests from any and all incarcerated people, and mailing them reading material that corresponds to their areas of interest free of charge.
