The Center for Constitutional Rights defined 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.”
On August 21, 1971, Black Panther George Jackson was assassinated by a prison guard in San Quentin, California; the details surrounding Jackson’s death remain disputed. A year prior, in August of 1970, the younger brother of George, Jonathan Peter Jackson, died at 17 from gunshot wounds, following what some at the time called the “Courthouse Slave Rebellion,” where Jonathan, along with three others entered the Marin County Courthouse with guns, taking hostages and eventually being involved in a shootout. The death of George Jackson, who had started the San Quentin Prison chapter of the Black Panther Party and was also the author of two books, along with his brother Jonathan has left a lasting mark on the Black Liberation movement and continues to empower and inspire those who know their stories.
August is a significant time for Black people for a number of reasons. In late August, 1619, the first group of enslaved Africans were brought to Virginia. In August of 1833, the Slavery Abolition Act was put in place, abolishing slavery in the majority of British colonies, resulting in more than 800,000 enslaved Africans in the Caribbean, South Africa and Canada becoming free. Op-ed columnist for Teen Vogue Jameelah Nasheed outlined why August 28, in particular, is a significant date in Black history. On August 28, 2008, America’s first Black president, then-Senator Barack Obama accepted the Democratic Party nomination for president. Several decades prior, on August 28, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his “I Have a Dream” speech. In 1955, August 28 was the date that 14-year-old Emmett Till was brutally murdered by a group of white men in Mississippi.
Nasheed went on to explain in her Teen Vogue article the significance of August 28, explaining that around this time, Colin Kaepernick led his first peaceful protest by remaining seated while the national anthem played at an NFL game. The end of August is also the time when Hurricane Katrina made landfall in 2005; the neighborhoods that experienced the most significant and extensive hurricane damage were Black neighborhoods in Louisiana. On August 28, 2020, Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman passed away. Boseman is known for his iconic portrayals of Black figures such as Jackie Robinson, James Brown and Thurgood Marshall.
In Ferguson, Missouri, on August 9, 2014, police officer Darren Wilson shot and killed Black unarmed teenager, Michael Brown, sparking protests across the U.S. Most recently, on August 5, 2023, a fight broke out along a Montgomery, Alabama riverfront after a group of white boaters attacked a Black riverboat co-captain for doing his job. The riverboat co-captain, who has been identified as Damien Pickett, asked a group of white boaters to move their boat so that the Harriott II Riverboat could dock; after several failed attempts to get the boaters to move, they viciously attacked Pickett. Upon seeing this attack, a group of Black people came to Pickett’s defense, in a moment that many have called an example of Black resistance in the face of historic Black-targeted violence.
There is never a wrong time to learn and study global Black history and to read about Black freedom fighters who have and continue to push for Black resistance and liberation. Black August is the perfect time to reflect on this history and is also an invitation to interrogate the unconscious and internalized anti-blackness that we each hold. What are some ways to honor Black August and to address anti-blackness head on?
Learn Black History
There have been repeated attempts to stifle, erase and rewrite Black history. In Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis is barring an Advanced Placement course on African American studies from being taught because it somehow violates state law. Also in Florida, it was recently announced that the state’s Black history curriculum will now include lessons on how enslaved people “benefited” from slavery. According to an Education Week analysis, since January of 2021, 44 states have introduced anti-critical race theory bills or taken steps to limit its teaching and other topics related racism and sexism. Take steps to learn about Black history in the U.S. and beyond and share resources such as books, articles, movies, and podcasts with others to facilitate their learning. Some great resources include: Assata, The New Jim Crow, The Wretched of the Earth, Black History Bootcamp, How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, and Small Axe.
Center Black People
In the book Caste, written by Pulitzer prize-winning writer Isabel Wilkerson, she explains that in the U.S., a racial hierarchy system exists where Black Americans experience the most severe forms of oppression and marginalization. Thinking about America as a hierarchy system, any attempts to achieve equity, justice, and liberation require the centering of the most harmed population: Black Americans. How have we contributed to the harm of the Black American community? How are we centering the needs of the Black community? What policies do Black Americans need and how can you use our power, privilege and access to amplify these needs?
Think about, for example, how can you support causes like the reparations movement and bills like HR 40. Centering the needs of Black people first requires you to recognize the ways that Black communities have been historically marginalized and disenfranchised—an understanding of history is paramount. Commit one action each day to centering Black people whether it’s through the media you consume and the creators you uplift or by seizing opportunities to amplify Black employees in your workplace.
Understand: Anyone can be Anti-black
Lastly, when interrogating our anti-blackness, it’s important, for both white folks non-white folks, to remain vigilant about addressing the ways that anti-blackness has been normalized in our communities. Often, conversations about anti-blackness focus on the Black-white binary: the ways in which Black people have been harmed by white people. This is an important conversation but there isn’t enough conversation about the ways that non-white communities also propagate anti-blackness and how Black people also behave in ways that are anti-black. Black August invites us to think about the ways that our internalized oppression can lead to anti-black behaviors; recognition of the ways that anti-blackness manifests allows us to address and mitigate our own anti-blackness and interrupt the anti-blackness we witness on a regular basis.
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