Black August commemorated: A teach-in to educate and inspire

Organizer and activist Renée Johnston leads a teach-in to mark Black August on Wednesday, August 23, 2023, in Montclair. (Courtesy of Susan Gordan)

MONTCLAIR, NJ–When Renée Johnston received an invitation from the Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) to direct a teach-in about Black August, she was excited to convene fellow New Jersey-based organizers for an evening “about education and purpose.” Through her outreach, a small group of leading activist organizations–unified by their belief in abolition and commitment to organizing–gathered in Montclair on Wednesday, August 23, to learn. Ensconced in an intimate gathering space beneath a restaurant for nearly three hours, attendees deepened their knowledge of the plight of the Black political prisoner in the United States of America. 

As informal meetings for the discussion of a particular subject, usually pertaining to political issues, teach-ins are integral to organizing efforts. They raise awareness and serve as forums for learning, combating ignorance with information, context, and community. To spearhead last week’s teach-in, Johnston utilized a guide provided by BAP, an anti-imperialist, anti-war human rights organization founded by African-American activist Ajamu Baraka.

Although she is not a member, Johnston appreciated that BAP, in her words, “laid out a clear and concise method for understanding Black August, alongside information that would be useful for the action plan with regard to current political prisoners.”

It was this appreciation of BAP’s outreach efforts that led Johnston, a self-described individual organizer who focuses her efforts on awareness of unjust policing in New Jersey and nationwide, to take on BAP’s call to action and arrange the teach-in.

Liberation rooted in revolt

During the meeting, Johnston delivered a lecture and presented two supplementary videos on the radical tradition of Black August. Sparked by the August 21, 1971 slaying of outspoken revolutionary George Jackson, the month-long commemoration was founded eight years later by Black men incarcerated in California prisons as both a remembrance and a mandate. Attached to a lineage of Black resistance in August—including the Haitian Revolution, Nat Turner’s Rebellion, the March on Washington, and the Watts Riots—Black August encouraged inmates to adhere to principles of unity, self-sacrifice, political education, physical training, and resistance.

Political prisoners, defined as persons imprisoned for their political activity contrary to that of the government, lie at the core of Black August. Still today, members of the Move organization and Black Panthers, such as Mumia Abu-Jamal, remain incarcerated since the late 1970s and early 1980s for their participation in the Black liberation struggle against the brutalizing forces of white supremacy, capitalism, and American imperialism. 

“To me, the importance of Black August is the spotlight it places on our political prisoners,” said José Monzon of the Black Alliance for Peace-Jersey City, “Many members of the Black Liberation Movement in the 60s and 70s were incarcerated by the state to send a message to the rest of the Black struggle and other organizers. What is an even greater tragedy is that many of them still remain behind bars decades later.”

Monzon emphasized that “Black August is an important part of the Black freedom struggle because it’s a month where we study, fast, train and fight to refocus our energy and attention on freeing our political prisoners and bringing them home.”

A call for political action

After Johnston’s presentation, attendees took up a prolonged and fervent discussion spanning one year-to-life sentencing, the irrelevance of innocence, the importance of rigorous political education, and Abu-Jamal’s imprisonment and writings. Nearing 9 p.m., Johnston encouraged redirection to the development and implementation of an action plan “that would enable organizers to continue their work with the incarcerated as well as address the need for interaction with political prisoners.” 

Among the attendees were a pair of members of Montclair Beyond Policing, a local organization that regularly facilitates the writing and mailing of letters to the imprisoned, among other initiatives in the Montclair community. They impressed upon the others the need to support incarcerated individuals through regular communication. Greg Pason was one of the Montclair Beyond Policing members at the teach-in.

“Black August connects us to so much history and so many struggles,” Pason said, “With the attacks on the teaching of peoples’ history, specifically Black history, events like the August 23rd Black August teach in, in Montclair, are important and I'm so glad it happened. Renee Johnston brought people together, and everyone learned something.”

Before leaving the teach-in, attendees agreed to write letters to incarcerated individuals, a campaign in which all members of the public can participate. More information can be found on the Montclair Beyond Policing website. Those who would like to learn more about the Black Alliance for Peace can visit them online, as well.

As September beckons, the public is encouraged to remember that the lessons of Black August extend beyond the confines of a calendar. When paying homage to and seeking inspiration from their sacrifice, fortitude, and discipline, it is essential to center and acknowledge the humanity of political prisoners year-round. 

In a 1970 review of The Prison Letters of George Jackson for the New York Times, Julius Lester wrote, “...prisons do not rehabilitate. They destroy… [but] George Jackson refused to be destroyed.” New Jerseyans are taking action not to allow the prison-industrial complex to continue ravaging fellow human beings without intervention, and, as the August 23 teach-in demonstrated, education and compassion are critical to the continuation of the movement.