Black August is a time to remember freedom fighters, political prisoners, and the fight against colonial oppression. It’s relevant today because we are still decolonizing our own American heads. There is something wrong when in 2021 at the state level, America’s Black population is six times more likely to be jailed than America’s White population (prisonpolicy.org). This is a remnant of American colonial racism. People of color do not commit six times more crimes than White people.
This affects us all because whatever happens in America’s Black community echoes into America’s Latin community. And regardless of your heritage, as Americans, we are all in this together.
Black August
[Editor Kíko Keith: As I leaned into my journey into the Latin world, I noticed that February and August were important months in African Diasporic communities, but didn’t know why. February is the Feast of Our Lady of Candelaria, the patron saint of Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain and the African Diaspora. Below is why August is important.]
Black August was started in 1979 when Black prisoners got together in California’s San Quentin State Prison to remember the deaths of Jonathan P. Jackson (August 7, 1970) and his brother George Jackson (August 21, 1971). Jonathan was killed in an assault on a California court with the intent to free his brother. That was wrong, but his brother George was jailed for one year to life for stealing $70 from a gas station. George was radicalized in prison and killed in an escape attempt.
But August has a long history in both African American and Latin communities.
The first group of enslaved Africans in the United States was brought to Virginia in August, 1619. The New York Times; “1619 Project” (nytimes.com) is remarkable journalism about the African American experience. It explains why so many things about contemporary America are the way they are.
August is also important because the Haitian Revolution began in August 1791. This great humanitarian achievement was the only time in history that a people freed themselves from human slavery and founded a nation. This watershed moment was the beginning of the end of human slavery. Before that Europeans believed they were superior and being human slavers was just following their imagined natural order. But after Africans and Creoles in chains defeated one of the most powerful European militaries of the day, that idea could no longer be held true. It’s a little ironic that the Haitian Revolution began on August 21, 1791 and George Jackson was killed on August 21, 1971. You can’t make this up.
The British banned human slavery in most of their colonies with the Slavery Abolition Act of August 1833.
There is another strange Black August set of coincidences on August 28:
- St. Augustine of Hippo, a philosopher whose writings greatly influenced Christianity, died on August 28, 430. He wasn’t Black. He was a Berber from what is now Algeria, but he was African.
- 14-year old Emmett Till was lynched in Drew, Mississippi on August 28, 1955. His courageous mother held his funeral with an open casket so people could see what had been done to her son. It shocked America, like the lynching of George Floyd shocked America.
- Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. made is iconic “I Have a Dream” speech on August 28, 1963.
- Barack Obama, America’s first Black president, accepted the Democratic Party nomination for president on August 28, 2008. (Just found that Jameelah Nasheed reported on several of these connections for Teen Vogue. I’m glad I’m not the only one to see them).
- Chadwick Boseman, the talented actor best known for his role as the Black Panther, died on August 28, 2020.
Colonial Racism Should Have No Place in America
American racism is a remnant of English colonial racism which is that if you aren’t White, Anglo-Saxon, English, then you are a Black soul-less devil worshiper who can be treated worse than an animal in the name of god and country. That English concept includes French, Welsh, Scottish, and Irish which proves the stupidity of the whole thing (Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland are part of Great Britain). This is the exact opposite of the teachings of the English and European god.
But many Americans still think like this. It’s just wrong. Policing in the United States began as slave patrols, and many police still assume that people of color are all criminals. That’s wrong.
Putting so many people in jail is a bad idea. It destroys the fabric of entire communities and causes social problems across the generations. It ends up creating circumstances that put more people in jail. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy that is not necessary.
Furthermore, jail is crime school. People get put in the system for little things, but come out hardened criminals with bad records and good connections. After they struggle with employment and housing for the rest of their lives. The only people who benefit are the people who run the jails. It’s a huge waste of money and human capital. And in some states, human slavery still exists in the judicial system as forced labor. Once you take off your rose-colored glasses, it’s hard to believe a lot of what you see.
Racism is a projection of self-hatred. Ironically, the most racist Americans tend to be the most religious ~ even though hatred is the exact opposite of religious teachings. We are making progress especially among the young, but in some ways, we have hardly progressed in the last 150 years.
We are supposed to be “The Land of the Free.” So let’s be free. This August, we choose Freedom!