August 9, 2020
Black August was coined to bring attention to the wrongful death & imprisonment of George Jackson, an inmate and prisoner’s rights activist. He was given a year to life prison sentence based on a false accusation of stealing $70 in the 1960s. There were many other riots erupting across America at this time calling out injustices targeted at the African-American community. One of the most memorable that occurred was the Watts Rebellion or the Watts Uprising. This riot aimed to end police harassment and discrimination in many sectors of their lives. This led to the National Guard arriving, 34 deaths, over a thousand injured, and a five-day war in Los Angeles. Based on the news today, we can see that we aren’t treated any better, we are merely taught to believe we are being treated better.
Assata Shakur, the godmother to the famous rapper Tupac and prime figure in the 1970’s Black Liberation Party, similarly went through the same experience as George Jackson. Assata Shakur had been accused of murdering a New Jersey state trooper during a shootout on the New Jersey turnpike. Rather than rot in prison for a crime she knew she would be convicted with regardless of evidence due to being a black woman in the ’60s, she decided to escape to Cuba and fled as soon as possible. Assata and many other activists are the reason black liberation has been paved for the rest of us. UC Merced’s BSU will be incorporating her autobiography Assata: An Autobiography as well as the novels of many other activists in our book club coming to our members this fall because the fight for our liberation should be celebrated every month in an enriching way.
Azameet Gebremariam, Communications Director
UC Merced
