Honor the legacy of Black AugustSupport Workers World

The month of August holds special meaning for the Black Liberation struggle. This August marks the 405th anniversary of the arrival of the first ship of Africans brought in chains to the shores of the British colony of Virginia in 1619. This August marks 246 years of the enslavement underlying the establishment of the U.S. colonial state — with its injustices, brutality and institutionalized crimes against humanity. The legacy of enslavement continues today in this white-supremacist, capitalist society.

But August is also a time to commemorate the Black Resistance Struggle, from the Haitian Revolution of 1791-1804 to the Nat Turner Rebellion in 1831, from the Fugitive Slave Law Convention of 1850 to the Underground Railroad that ran from the late 18th century to 1865, from the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters in 1925 to the March on Washington in 1963, the Watts Uprising in 1965 and the National Prison Strike from Aug. 21-Sept. 9 in 2018.

In August 2023, Workers World hailed the release of Ruchell “Cinque” Magee, the longest-held U.S. political prisoner. A people’s campaign won his freedom, which was short-lived, as he died that October at 84. A hero in the Black Liberation Movement, he participated in the August 1970 Marin County Courthouse Rebellion.  

Freedom fighters who were born in August include Marcus Garvey, Fred Hampton and Russell Maroon Shoatz, while several died in that month, including W.E.B. Du Bois, Huey P. Newton and Jonathan Jackson. Jackson was killed Aug. 7, 1970, while attempting to free the imprisoned Soledad Brothers, including his brother, Black Panther Party leader George Jackson. On Aug. 21, 1971, prison guards executed George Jackson. His assassination was a spark that led to the heroic Attica Prison Rebellion in September 1971.

WW continually writes about the Black Liberation Movement and its heroes. Our weekly Tear Down the Walls section supports political prisoners — past and present. 

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