Hello and welcome back to #Fuck12Friday! It has been a HECTIC week with the shooting of #LatrellAllen, so we're going to be taking a step back and do some history on #BlackAugust and the Black radical tradition. Follow along!
#BlackAugust is now a 41-year-old tradition, started in 1979 by Black people incarcerated in California. These folks wanted to begin a movement that honored the radical history of prison protest #Fuck12Friday
Why August? George Jackson, Black Panther and co-founder of the Black Guerilla Family. Jackson was incarcerated at age 18 and radicalized in prison. On August 21, 1971, Guards murdered Jackson at age 29 in a prison escape #BlackAugust #Fuck12Friday
Jackson read communist theory as a way to pass the time in his 7 years in solitary confinement. He contributed two of his own books to the radical tradition that remain influential today: "Soledad Brother" and "Blood in My Eye" #BlackAugust #Fuck12Friday
The year before #BlackAugust was founded, on August 1, 1978, fellow revolutionary Khatari Gaulden was killed at 32 due to the willful negligence of the California state prison guards. By then he had been incarcerated for the better part of 11 years #BlackAugust #Fuck12Friday
Before his death, Gaulden had been in discussions with his incarcerated comrades about creating something like #BlackAugust. Ultimately, the action ended up honoring him that next year #Fuck12Friday
Organizers identified historical events in the month of August tied to the struggle of incarcerated people. Things like the Haitian Revolution, Nat Turner's rebellion, the 1619 arrival of African slaves, and the 1963 March on Washington #BlackAugust #Fuck12Friday
Marcus Garvey's "Universal Negro Improvement Association" (UNIA), which would later become the heart of Black nationalist organizing, was formed in August 1914 #BlackAugust #Fuck12Friday
UNIA also held its 1920 international convention in August. The 25k delegates from 40+ countries established a "Declaration of Rights of Negro Peoples of the World" that you can read here historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5122/ #BlackAugust #Fuck12Friday
Also in August was the 1965 Watts Rebellion. LAPD stopped Marquette Frye for speeding. During the stop, a crowd formed, LAPD called for backup, and his mom arrived. The cops moved to arrest Marquette one of them drew a gun, so his mom fought back! #BlackAugust #Fuck12Friday
After the cops beat and arrested Frye and his mom, Black people in LA rebelled until 14k National Guard troops arrived. 4k people were arrested and there was widespread damage and looting. MLK noted the material deprivation that led to the rebellion #BlackAugust #Fuck12Friday
In August 1978, Philadelphia police tried to forcibly remove Black radical organization MOVE from their home. During the standoff, a cop was killed. Despite a lack of evidence, the "MOVE 9" were all convicted of murder #BlackAugust #Fuck12Friday
MOVE would gain notoriety 7 years later, when Philadelphia police bombed their home. You can read their account of the 1978 standoff here onamove.com/move-9/ #BlackAugust #Fuck12Friday
Importantly to us in Chicago, Chairman Fred Hampton of the Black Panther Party was also born in August. His ability to organize a revolutionary working-class Rainbow coalition was such a threat that CPD and the FBI assassinated him at 21 years old #BlackAugust #Fuck12Friday
Fred Hampton and the BPP were targets of the FBI’s COINTELPRO, a counterintelligence program, mainly aimed, according to Hoover, to “expose, disrupt, misdirect, discredit and otherwise neutralize” black radical organizations. #Fuck12Friday
Hampton’s commitment to fighting capitalist oppression was seen through his early practices of mutual aid with “Serve the People Programs,” including the well known and ongoing free breakfast for children program, as well as free medical clinics. #Fuck12Friday
Fred Hampton knew that racism and capitalism went hand in hand. His ability to create class solidarity and unite a rainbow coalition to fight capitalism with proletariat solidarity is celebrated in #BlackAugust #Fuck12Friday
Solidarity w/ ppl like Mumia-Abu Jamal is key. Mumia-Abu is a former Black Panther and political prisoner who’s been incarcerated for nearly 40 years #Fuck12Friday
Jamal writes “August is a month of meaning, of repression and radical resistance, of injustice and divine justice; of repression and righteous rebellion; of individual and collective efforts to free the slaves and break the chains that bind us.” #Fuck12Friday
As @mayafinoh wrote: "While Black August unapologetically centers Black political prisoners, the definition of who is and isn’t a political prisoner becomes less relevant when the violence of the prison system is laid bare." #Fuck12Friday
We know that the PIC is a system that upholds racial capitalism, designed to disenfranchise and exploit Black and poor people, so we must demand the dismantling of the entire structure #Fuck12Friday
As Finhoh concluded, "This year’s commemoration of Black August should be driven by Black folks calling for an end to white supremacy, capitalism, settler colonialism, misogynoir, transphobia, and the abolition of the police... #Fuck12Friday
"When Black organizers speak truth to power, refuse to settle for just police reform, dare to reimagine public safety, and invest in community-determined interventions, we are honoring the Black August tradition of breaking chains" #Fuck12Friday
"When Black organizers center the leadership of hyper-marginalized Black people — Black women, disabled, poor, incarcerated, queer, trans, and nonbinary people — and demand a new kind of Black radical unity, we are honoring the Black August tradition." #Fuck12Friday
The #BlackAugust tradition still thrives today. Incarcerated people in California still are being forced into solitary confinement just for celebrating the occasion. #Fuck12Friday
The August 2014 Ferguson protests were a notable recent contribution to #BlackAugust and so is the current uprising. Let's see what history we can make today #Fuck12Friday
The actions will not stop! Join us today in demanding #JusticeForLatrell and #JusticeForThemAll #Fuck12Friday #BlackAugust 
Shoutout to @CAARPRNow and the movement to free all political prisoners! #FreeThemAll
