Black August (2007) Online

Statement on Black August the movie:

To say the movie was a sham would be too much like lending it credibility through negation. The production of this movie is a direct attack on the true origins of the original concepts of Black August as put forth by those sincere and steadfast revolutionary individuals who died standing firm within California's concentration camps. The many brothers left in isolation behind the walls who still live half lives due to their commitment to collective revolutionary ideals have no connection to or input in any aspect of this concoction.

The character of comrade George set him above even these because his knowledge, intricate understanding and practice put him on par with leaders and movements from around the world. This movie does him no justice! George Jackson never had emotional outbursts of immaturity or temper tantrums. While he walked within those walls he never raised his voice in undisciplined anger. There were no one sided ass whippings given to comrade George the entire time he was in prison. Whenever he was shackled with thirty pounds of chains being escorted from one place to the other, he always walked in an upright and dignified manner so that all who saw him knew the chains were meaningless and weighed nothing to him. He did not walk with a swagger or strut because he considered it demeaning and undignified and beneath the character of any who considered themselves conscious.

George never told anyone that he threw a prison guard off a tier to his death. Likewise he never told anyone that he ordered his younger brother Jonathan to go and carry out the actions at the Marin county courthouse that led to his death.

Probably the biggest piece of fiction put out by the state and glamorized by the movie is the gun under the Afro wig. With the type of security and scrutiny George was subjected to on a regular basis, he could not have sneaked an extra pencil back to his cell. Each time a high power security individual is escorted from one place to another in prison there is a series of routines that are always observed. George would have been strip- searched several times going to and coming from any visit no matter who the visitor was. Strip searches involve a lot of bending over and spreading your butt cheeks while naked. Bending over and running your fingers through your hair vigorously in front of guards is all part of making sure not even small amounts of drugs are smuggled in by concealing them in your hair. It is virtually impossible to balance something shaped like a gun and weighing several pounds underneath a wig while bending over or walking handcuffed under the watchful eye of sadistic guards looking for any excuse to kill you. We must question the rationale of anyone putting this theory before the public as fact or entertainment.

We would encourage all those involved in the making of this movie who know in and of themselves that it is untrue, to speak out and let others know from you. If left as it is it will become another urban myth believed to be based in fact. In closing please know that no member of Black August had anything to do with the making of the movie or condoned its making. We do in fact condemn it as falsehood and an insult to all that we stand for. Please recognize it for what it is propaganda of the adversary. A true accounting of our history is forthcoming.

(Some Spoilers) The movie "Back August" is named after the bloodiest prison brake in the California state prison San Quentin's history.

On Saturday August 21, 1971 six people, three guards and three convicts, were slashed shot and beaten to death in an aborted break-out of San Quentin lead by career criminal and militant black activist George Jackson. Jackson himself didn't get far being shot by a prison guard sniper in his leg with the bullet somehow going, after ricocheting on impact, up the left side of his body, like that of an M-16 assault rifle, and ending up smashing into his brain killing him. We last see Jackson as the movie goes into freeze-frame laying on the ground dead with his right hand extended in a grotesque looking black power salute.

The movie only covers George Jackson's short , who died at age 29, and violent life from January 13, 1970 to his death some 19 months later. On January 13, 1970 on the exercise grounds of Soledad prison a fight broke out between members of the Black Guerrilla Family and White Aryan Nation. With prison tower guard O. G Miller opening fire to stop the fighting three members of the Black Guerrilla's were gunned down and killed. One was W.D Nolen a fellow inmate and close friend of Jackson who introduced the young man to radical Marxism.

Three days later prison guard John V. Mills was attacked beaten and thrown to his death from a third floor catwalk in retaliation for the Soledad killings. Arrested for Mills murder ware convicts Fleeta Drumgo John Clutchette and George Jackson. The three were to later become, because of Jackson's writings, known as the Soledad Brothers.

While in solitary confinement Jackson wrote a slew of letters to his mother in Oakland that soon found their way to Batam Books in New York City. Even though Jackson's letters were crudely written and loaded with grammatical errors they hit the spot in how political prisoners, that Jackson called himself and his fellow black brothers behind bars , are being treated by the law enforcement and legal systems in America. Jackson spent his time in solitary not only writing but keeping himself in shape. Doing as many as 1,000 fingertip push-ups every day Jackson's forearms became so muscle-bound that he couldn't put them through the steel bars in his cell when he was to be manacled for his daily supervised half hour walk in the prison's exercise yard.

The eye-opening and thought provoking letters had Batam send one of its proof writers David Dryer to see George Jackson in getting his OK to publish them. Grudgingly agreeing to let Batam publish his letters in a book called "Soledad Brothers" George Jackson became a literary sensation overnight. In the end the fame that Jackson got from his writings lead to him making himself a martyr for his cause, Black Liberation. This celebrity status had Jackson go on the road that lead to what was to become Black August, or Saturday,on August 21, 1971 at San Quentin.

The money and fame that Jackson got from is writing "Soledad Brothers" could have gotten him the legal help that would have easily overturned his conviction on a $70.00 gas station robbery in 1960 that had him serve, like Jackson said, over one year behind bars for every $10.00 he stole. Always maintaining that he was Innocent of prison guard Mills murder Jackson getting so caught up with his own popularity, in and out of prison, refused to plead innocent to Mills murder just to keep his revolutionary image in tact.

What I feel was the real reason for Jacksons death wish was the death of his younger brother 17 year-old Jonathan who, together with two fellow Black Guerrilla Family members, was gunned down at the Marin County Civic Center in San Raphael on August 7, 1970. Jonhatan tries to get his big brother George freed by taking hostages right out of a courtroom at the center. Jonathan together with his fellow kidnappers William Christmas and James McCain as well as the presiding judge in the courtroom Harold Haley were killed as well as a number of jurors wounded in the wild and deadly police and kidnappers crossfire.

With his kid brother Jonathan, who George affectionately called Man-Child, gone Jackson just gave up on life in and out of prison and that lead to his ill conceived breakout a year later; Where he ended up dead with his brains blown out by a sniper's bullet.

P.S George Jackson was to go on trial for the murder of John V. Mills, just three days after his death in San Quentin, on August 24, 1971. A trial that many in the legal profession as well as fellow black activists were sure he would have won his freedom with the help of the money as well as nation wide, mostly positive, publicity that he got from his best selling book "Soledad Brothers". By then Jackson got so caught up with his both bad a** image as well as guilt for his brother Jonathan death that freedom as sweet to him as if was before all this happened wasn't all that appealing to George anymore.

This is a must see for everyone, for whites to see the pain and desperation that racism caused, and African Americans to commiserate with the injustice the previous generation endured. Educational and well made. It doesn't matter that it was a low budget film; one hardly notices it. The pain and emotions come through well to the viewer. Without seeing films like this, it is difficult to appreciate the suffocating sense of desperation that comes from a biased court system, penalizing the color of your skin. Nothing beats reading "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" to experience the exquisite pain and suffering millions went through. Incidentally the film Malcolm X was an utter, utter disaster in this respect. Spike Lee turned it into a run of a mill Hollywood entertainment film and nothing comes across of the intense injustice and desperation that lead men to risk their lives in an open struggle, which makes this film all the more successful: low budget thus lower pressure to make a profit rather than get the message through.

in point form; if you are interested in liberal politics than this is a must see movie that i only wish would have had a bit bigger budget. but the historical facts and message are there and well done.Gary Dourdan as the revolutionary figure , and Darren Bridgett as the non-involved observant do a great job to express and give real thoughts to the feature's well defined objective: that of class seen throw socialist( NOT communist) perspective.

if you are familiar with the real facts then this will touch you in a sense or another. there are a bit too many "slow" parts but in-between there are quiet a few witty dialogs as well. it only gets 6 stars from me because, as i said, probably due to low budget, the production is not well done, and i would consider this more as a sort of documentary based on biographies.

being Caucasian myself i feel the need to add that this is something that concerns all American classes regardless of color since it has many realistic application. this is very revolutionary, yet overall not violent, and a must see if you like American recent history as well.

After watching Black August, I felt like I'd sat through one of the key speeches by the late, great Martin Luther King. This is a very angry film, mostly raging against outrages committed on blacks by corrupt whites in power at a time when racial segregation and profiling was still commonplace... the 60's and 70's. But unlike the noted pacifist Mr King, the central character here George Lester believes the only solution is through force.

A member of the notorious Black Panthers, he is stuck behind bars on trumped up charges... but still manages to correspond with his armed gang, even encouraging his younger brother to participate in their violence. He is also a very eloquent scribe, and wants a lot of material he's written to be published to help spread the word of 'the cause'. To this end, he enlists the help of a slightly nerdish white book publisher, and the two regularly meet at visiting time exchanging stories. But certain people, i.e every law official in the USA, doesn't want his scrawlings to hit the market... afraid that it may implicate any number of them...

And it's no surprise, as virtually every Caucasian police officer here is depicted as either being a heartless racist, or a brainless redneck. This being entirely financed for an ethnic minority audience, I guess a little imbalance was going to creep in, but this feels slightly too artificial in construction. Still, at least it guarantees we cheer for all the right people... and the tale is an engrossing one, 'based on real events' apparently. In addition, it was funny seeing all the fashions of the era on display, from oversized Afros to giant Elton John-esque specs.

So yea, I'm not really one for protesting in such a large scale way... mainly because I think it hardly ever does any good. But this was an enjoyable experience for the most part, even if 'certain facts have been changed to suit the injured party's agenda'... 6/10