Written by a California prisoner
August 2005
George Jackson: the name alone brings an avalanche of emotions to the minds and hearts of many. George Jackson, in this writer's opinion, is the greatest prisoner to ever live behind walls; he is one of the greatest Afro-Amerikan men in history. An influential figure in the Afro-Amerikan civil rights movement, not to mention one of the great revolutionary/intellectual minds of recent history.
The brother George was 18 years of age when he received his one year to life sentence. He caught his after being convicted of a gas station robbery in which seventy dollars was stolen. Because of the amerikan injustice system the brother/comrade was forced to spend nearly half of his life behind bars in California's currupt prison system.
Despite spending seven years in solitary confinement George still found ways to make his impact felt inside and outside of the prison walls. To quote my sister/comrade Elaine Brown, "the indeterminate sentence and the determined man were a volatile combination". Brother George began to understand and see the injustices of Amerika and its judicial system. He then set out to change it, and would do so by any means necessary. So what George began to understand, he preached. He awakened a kind of conscious spirit in his fellow inmates that had not been seen before. He showed them how Amerika's prisons were full of poor minorities, especially Afro-Amerikans. In 1971 more than 50 percent of prisoners were black; that was five times the population ratio of Afro-Amerikans in this country at that time.
Brother George taught the other prisoners that they were part of a larger class of people who had been targeted and oppressed by the imperialistic ways of this country. He got others to join him in changing their condition. He organized and educated them around demands for prison reform. He simultaneously showed them that in the end prisons could not be changed. Change could only come from a full-scale revolution, an armed revolt against the system.
Many of the few rights we as prisoners do exercise are directly linked to the reforms that brother George fought for. In the mean time George began to touch the outside world as he became internationally acclaimed with his words of fire in his books "Blood In My Eye" and "Soledad Brother".
It wouldn't be long before tragedy struck. In 1969 a group of black prisoners from Soledad's infamous segregated O-Wing section had been placed on the exercise yard with a group of white inmates. A fight broke out as predicted and three black inmates were killed along with one injured white inmate, due to the bullets of Soledad's prison officials.
Three days later a legal ruling was passed justifying the murders of the Afro-Amerikan inmates. In retaliation for this act of injustice, a prison guard was beaten to death. George Jackson along with Fleeta Drumgo and John Clutchette were charged with the murder. This became the infamous case known as "The Soledad Brothers".
On August 7, 1970, George's younger brother Jonathan Jackson attempted to liberate the Soledad Brothers from their chains and confinement. Jonathan seized the Marin county court house and duck-taped the barrel of his shotgun to the face of the judge while taking him hostage. He and his hostage were promptly assassinated while attempting to escape the scene of this heroic act of brotherly love.
Due in part to the Soledad guard incident, George would now serve the maximum of his indeterminate sentence. He would now go to the notorious adjustment center located in San Quentin. He would continue to fulfill his duty as the field marshal of the Black Panther Party. He continued to build prison chapters all over the country, and contribute articles to the party's newspaper.
But this would not last. As in the cases of our fellow comrades brother Fred Hampton, Bunchy Carter, and John Huggins and Malcolm X, the rise of a so-called black messiah must be stopped by any means. On August 21, 1971, our beloved brother and comrade in struggle was assassinated by prison officials at San Quentin.
The first shot hit his leg and then while laid out on the ground he was shot a second time in the head. Nearly one year to the day of George's younger brother Jonathan's murder, George lay there in a puddle of his own blood, murdered. Despite originally being from southern California (LA) George's funeral was held in Oakland where nearly ten thousand people showed up to pay their respects.
George was a beautiful man in every sense of the word. He lived his life for the people and affected countless lives in the process. He left behind a legacy of empowerment and unity. He fought for a united Afro-Amerikan stance against inequality and poverty. Not a street or a region of California that no one owns.
George did not discriminate or limit himself. He set out to unify us as a whole to revolt against this racist unbalanced system and change it for the better for generations to come. In the words of my brother, comrade, and friend Khalid Muhammad, "George Jackson and others fought and died to end discrimination and segregation not so that we can discriminate and segregate ourselves".
It's time to take a deep, honest look at ourselves and weigh out what we have done to honor and what we have done to destroy the beautiful legacy of all the fallen comrades. The Hadith of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) states: "one of you truly believes until he wishes for his brother what he for himself". We must learn to unite and help each other. This is the only way to honor the legacy of all those who sacrificed their lives for the struggle.
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