BLACK AUGUST ARCHIVES
is a multimedia archive that is dedicated to documenting, collecting, and preserving hxstories of freedom fighters and radical light. A liberatory archive in content and structure, Black August Archives seeks to digitize and disseminate material related to the prison movement, most notably the prisoners' movement of the 1960s and 70s. The archive ultimately works to disseminate these hxstories in order to educate our communities and impact future trajectories of liberation.
Inspired by the life and legacy of prison activist and fallen freedom fighter George Jackson as well as the activism of his fallen successor Khatari Gaulden, the archive gets its name from the commemoration of resistance known as Black August. Originating in the California Department of Corrections in August of 1978, Black August remains a movement dedicated to freeing all political prisoners and educating those on the outside of the true nature of the United States prison industrial complex.
Black August is a time to study, reflect, strategize and educate anyone who will listen. In honor of these hxstories and our current political prisoners, Black August Archives will attempt to combat predominant narratives surrounding prison movements by digitizing material from the hidden, community-based archive.
Photo of George Jackson, with arm around and holding hand of woman. San Quentin Prison, 1970. Property of UCSC Special Collections and Archives. Used under fair use clause for research and educational purposes.
Black August Archives is an ongoing project that is curated with care, in collaboration with members of the Black August community and a personal archive located in Davis, CA that we are currently working to digitize and upload for public view.In embracing all perspectives and by directing attention to primary sources, the archive works to spread these lost hxstories of resistance in order to enact necessary liberatory memory work.
From the Archive: Photo of rally for the Attica Brothers in Buffalo, New York.
"We must prove our predictions about the future with action." -George Jackson