Black August and the continued fight for Black Liberation: Statement by National SDS

What is Black August?
Black August is about resistance. It is an annual commemoration of our political prisoners including those who lost their lives during the 1970s in the gulags of California, along with the hundreds who are currently languishing under torturous conditions and being denied their basic human rights across the United States.

It is a month of disciplined study, physical training, and political education rooted in the revolutionary tradition of Black resistance. Born inside the concentration camps of the California prison system in 1979, Black August was initiated by incarcerated freedom fighters and members of the Black Guerilla Family at San Quentin to honor the lives and sacrifices of fallen revolutionaries.

This observance was forged in the crucible of state violence. It marks the assassinations of George Jackson, a revolutionary writer and field marshal of the Black Panther Party, killed by prison guards on August 21, 1971, and his brother Jonathan Jackson, murdered in a courthouse shootout on August 7, 1970, while attempting to free political prisoners.

A History Forged in Resistance
Black August reclaims a month steeped in the blood and fire of Black liberation. It calls us to remember:

1. The Haitian Revolution (August 1791)— the only successful slave revolt in history, which birthed the first Black republic
2. Nat Turner's Rebellion (August 1831) — a courageous uprising against the brutal institution of slavery
3. The Watts Uprising (August 1965)—a rebellion against systemic racism, police brutality, and economic inequality
4. The births of revolutionary leaders like Marcus Garvey and Fred Hampton, and the legacy of organizers like Harriet Tubman, whose Underground Railroad work began in August

As the imprisoned freedom fighter Mumia Abu-Jamal said:
"Their sacrifice, their despair, their determination and their blood has painted the month for all time"

Black August demands we understand the continuity of struggle. The system that enslaved Africans for centuries was not abolished but instead transformed. As political prisoner Ruchell Magee, released after 67 years of unjust captivity, stated: "Slavery 400 years ago, slavery today. It's the same but with a new name". The prison- industrial complex, the racialized judicial system, and the economic exploitation of Black communities are not remnants of the past they are the present-day manifestations of the same oppressive structures our ancestors fought against.

Black August teaches us that resistance is our legacy. We have always fought back. From the plantations to the prisons, from the streets to the courts, Black people have never accepted our oppression. This month is a call to study that history, to honor those who gave their lives, and to prepare ourselves for the ongoing struggle. Black August reminds us that we stand on the shoulders of freedom fighters who gave their lives so that we might continue the fight. Their blood has painted the month of August for all time.
Now, it is our turn.

The fight for Black liberation is the fight for all humanity. Freedom is not given. IT IS TAKEN! National SDS calls upon all of our chapters to commemorate Black August by committing ourselves to the fight for black liberation and fighting alongside groups like NAARPR as well as fighting to defend the gains black students made on campuses like access to education.