Black August: It's Bigger
Than Hip Hop
This past for many symbolized the end of summer and its nostalgic sentiments of barbecues, open hydrants, street festivals, and vacations. For school children it marked the last weekend of freedom before returning the confines of school and for all of our fashionistas it was the last weekend of white. More important for a small population of us it also marked the end of Black August, a month of celebration, meditation, and disciplined fasting.
Significantly less celebrated than Black History Month, Black August has become renowned in New York as the annual hip-hop concert that the “conscious” and “political” community anxiously looks forward to every year. This year’s show, produced by Malcolm X Grassroots Black August Hip Hop Project, marked the 10th anniversary of the music celebration and the international hip-hop artist exchange that accompanies it. Laced with a star line up that included Common, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, dead prez, Saigon, DJ Scratch, Heavyhitter Beverly Bond, and the legendary DJ Scratch; this year’s show exceeded expectations as it took place at the Nokia Theater in Times Square. As big as the show was with its packed house and big name performers, Black August itself is still “Bigger Than Hip-Hop”.
The concept of Black August originated in the early 1970s by San Quentin inmates who were active members of the Black Guerilla Family and Black Panther Party. In the spirit of African tradition of honoring our ancestors, Black August celebrates those who gave their lives for the good of their people while rejoicing in our revolutionary accomplishments as forms of resistance and calling attention to the pain and struggle that we as Black people have endured. The month of August was intentionally chosen because of the countless events that took place at this time and it has a much more overt revolutionary tone than the more well known Black History Month of February.
Throughout history, August has been a time of resistance, birth, and rebirth. Significant dates of resistance include the start of the Underground Railroad, Nat Turner’s Rebellion, the Haitian Revolution, and the infamous March on Washington. It also reflects African American struggles, August is the month in which the first slaves arrived to Jamestown; Black Panther Party Field Marshall George Jackson, brother Jonathan Jackson, and comrade Khatari Gaulden were all murdered this month, and the MOVE organization was bombed by Philadelphia police in the August of 1978. Remarkably, August has also given birth to a long list of freedom fighters including Marcus Garvey, Dr. Mutulu Shakur (Black Panther and Tupac’s stepfather), Fred Hampton (Black Panther), and Russell “Maroon” Shoatz (Black Panther and founder of Black Unity Council). Founders concretely illustrated the seriousness and importance of this time by wearing Black armbands, exercising and meditating daily, fasting from sun up to sun down from both food and water, and being very strict about removing all distractions such as TV, liquor, and other drugs completely from their lives.
Knowing that Black August is not widely popularized among the masses, Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, Stress Magazine, and Youth for Jericho assumed the duty of spreading the story and legacy to today’s younger generation as they set out to achieve their goal “to bring culture and politics together and to allow them to naturally evolve into a unique Hip Hop Consciousness that informs our collective struggle for more a just, equitable, and equitable world.” (Black August Hip Hop Project Mission). Reviving hip-hop’s political message, the Black August Project has been successful at giving a wide range of hip-hop artists such as Keith Murray, Erykah Badu, Common, The Roots, and so on a platform to express their political support and promote the growth of hip-hop worldwide through the international hip-hop exchange program.
On August 26th, concert goers were there to represent for a good cause as they demonstrated with their pumped fists during Common’s set. To deliver the message first hand, M-1 brought out who he calls the O.G.s, the Original Gangstas. This group of freedom fighters included members of the Black Panther Party, Black Liberation Army, and Republic of New Afrika. As the former political prisoners passed the mic, they were conscious not to preach about heir personal contributions but instead to inspire the audience to carry the torch. One former Panther, Ashanti Alston, demanded the audience assume their duty to the fullest extent saying, “our political prisoners will not get out unless we have a movement 10 times as strong as we did in the 60s.”
In a time when mainstream and alternative media has spent a great amount of time mulling over whether or not hip hop is dead, it is rather interesting that the Black August Hip Hop Project and other grassroots projects that effectively use hip-hop are rarely mentioned. Instead it is often times the mainstream music and its obscene behaviour that is used to judge an entire culture that reaches far beyond even this country.
Dhoruba Bin Wahad and the other elders reminded the audience of hip-hops power and its roots of being with the people, “This culture is yours. You have developed it from you and it is valid. It is not criminal or gangsta. But you need to hold 50 cents and all these negroes accountable or don’t buy their records,” As far as the infamous topic of hip-hop being dead, Ahmed Obafemi asserted, “If hip-hop was dying Black August is breathing life back into it.” As we look forward from the past 10 years, hopefully Black August will also breathe life back into the larger movement for freedom, justice, and liberation for Black people.
Below you will find some quotes from those who performed in regards to Black August.
What Does Black August Mean To You?
M-1: Black August is a revolutionary institution and tradition inside our community. It is evidence of the fact that our movement is alive and kicking and moving in and around the hearts of youth and hip-hop represents this. In New York, Black August has manifested itself in a phenomenal way in the form of a hip-hop concert that has been going on for 10 years. It is the extension of the highest dreams and aspirations of Field Marshall George Jackson and our esteemed "shero" Assata Shakur and our political prisoners and prisoners of war who have been suffering behind enemy lines for 30 and 40 years. It is a tool to fight back against the oppression we endure right now.
DJ Scratch: Black August is important for Black awareness. As far as hip-hop is concerned we are the new Martin Luther Kings and Marcus Garveys. We are the new leaders so we have to take responsibility for that and preach to the kids just like Run DMC preached to me. X-Clan preached to me. When somebody is in church and they say, “Don’t do this. Don’t do that,” the youth don’t listen but we can reach them through our music.
Rodstarz (of Rebel Diaz): Black August is an affirmation of a necessity to stand up against the system and honor our freedom fighters. As far as this specific event (Black August Concert) it brings artists that stand for something together all in one big concert to raise funds and bring awareness about our freedom fighters so we can get them liberated. This is a wake up cal for hip hop and the fact that we are doing this here in Times Square is a big thing because we are giving a medium of space for our freedom fighters to speak.
Why do you think it is important to use hip-hop as a tool to spread the message of Black August?
Saigon: It is very important. When you hear my album you will understand how much I try to do it with my music. It’s important because music is a weapon and rappers are leaders right now whether they want to be or not because the record companies are targeted towards the kids. Whoever controls the minds of your children, controls your future. I feel we have to use this music as a tool to empower the next generation to become strong Black men who will take care of our women, take of our kids, take care of our households. A lot of the music that is out there is the exact opposite talking about robbing, stealing, and drug dealing. It is detrimental.
Rodstarz: Hip Hop speaks for our youth. Our youth a lot of time always have a problem with authority figures such as teachers, police, and army recruiters talking down to them but hip-hop speaks directly to our youth. Hip-Hop has its origins in the streets. It comes from the conditions of poverty and it needs to be brought back there. This show is definitely a sign that hip-hop is still alive and well. Hip Hop is going to become a form of resistance. It already is a force of resistance internationally and why not here the very birthplace where it came from.
Queen Godis: Malcolm X said “By Any Means Necessary” and at that time it meant a lot of things. Now it means by any means necessary to get the message across so that it is effective and it plants seeds. Sometimes they hear it better with the beat sometimes they hear it better on the stage sometimes they hear better with some guitar behind it so by any means necessary take your word, your message and figure out what’s the best way to communicate it to whoever it needs to be spoken to.
What is your role as a DJ in terms of getting conscious music out there to the people.
DJ Scratch: My role is to play it. The goal of the DJ is to get a message across but you can’t just force fed somebody a message you gotta chop it up real fine.I’m going to force feed you in a way that you like it. It’s like feeding chopped onions to someone who doesn’t eat onions. I chop it up real fine. I’m going to play the beat for a song that you like that you hear on the radio like 10 times a day and then I’m going to take a conscious song and play it over that hot beat. I just slip it in there and you are going to keep dancing and after a while you are going to know that song and look for it. That is the goal of a DJ trying to get a message across.
How do you think hip-hop has changed from the Public Enemy X-Clan era?
DJ Scratch: It changed in a lot of different ways but as far as consciousness is concerned and getting messages across it doesn’t exist on a mainstream level anymore the way it did in the 80s and early 90s on a large scale. Now the conscious artists are in the underground and the mainstream tries to keep them in the underground. But then you are at events like Black August and you see it’s a packed house. Even still we need more support from the mainstream artists as well.
Tell us a little about the work you are doing to organize in the streets?
SupaNova Salom: Our organization is called Unify The Hood, Heal The Hood. Our aim is to bring social awareness to the brothas and sistas who are the struggle through so called gangs and bring it back to the original intent and purpose of community building and economic empowerment to the people. We reiterate the information in a language the kids can understand using the street culture the so-called G culture to link and make that alignment.
DJ Beverly Bond: Black Girls Rock is a youth mentoring program I started last year in reaction to the one sided imagery that I was constantly seeing. I feel like women of color are constantly being bombarded with images that have no balance. I’m not saying that other women don’t get that but Black women in particular only see themselves portrayed in glamour in one way. We were talking recently about the death of the black model and how Black models don’t exist anymore. Now the only time we see ourselves in the glamour world is when girls are taking it all off and getting down in the videos. It’s unfortunate that a lot of times it’s us who are pushing these images. I started Black Girls Rock because I know so many positive Black women who are doing their thing that you don’t see. One of our first campaigns we have is a role model campaign: “Don’t just look like a model, be one. Black Girls Rock Positive Role Models.” That is coming out in Fader this month. Last year in conjunction with VH-1 and Hip Hop Honors, I also launched the Black Girls Rock Awards to bring recognition to women of color and celebrate iconic women as well as someone who may be lesser known but is doing her thing. It’s going to be real good this year.
Dead Prez has been able to achieve a certain level of success that a many other “underground” and “conscious” artists have not been able to. You have been able to work with Jay-Z, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, Dave Chapelle, and other household names. Can you talk about that journey?
M-1: We have so far to go. The intention is to saturate the community with revolutionary politics. I appreciate you saying we have achieved certain success but I see as having so far yet to go. We are at war against the media propaganda system of the state that basically controls the people. It is the basic way that we are subjugated through certain types of oppression and it comes in all forms: hip-hop, magazines, even through dance. dead prez has a commitment to that. We would like to have each and every person be a part of the movement for oppressed people around the world in some form and fashion and if we can’t achieve that then we are short of our goal. Our goal is not to be hip-hop stars or television idols. The goal is to be able to carry on the messages that Marcus Garvey, Kwame Nkrumah, and Harriet Tubman set forth to accomplish and if we can do that through rap then we will. I am glad that some of our community has embraced the dead prez message and word but I think that we have a long way to go and I think at the end of the day we look forward to more support.
BLACK AUGUST DAYS OF IMPORTANCE
1st Monday: Independence Day-Jamaica
AUGUST, 1619: First slaves arrive to Jamestown settlement.
AUGUST, 1965: LA Watts Rebellion.
AUGUST, 1978: Khatari Gaulden, a comrade of George Jackson, member of San Quentin Six, Leader of Black Guerilla Family, and founder of Black August, is murdered.
AUGUST 1st: Independence Day- Dahomey; Emancipation Day- Barbados
AUGUST 1, 1834: Slavery is abolished in Britain.
AUGUST 1, 1962: Failed assassination attempt of Ghanaian President Kwame Nkrumah.
AUGUST 1-2, 1920: Universal Negro Improvement Association’s national convention meets in NYC.
AUGUST 2, 1850: Underground Railroad started.
AUGUST 7th: Independence Day- Ivory Coast
AUGUST 7, 1970: Jonathan Jackson is killed in an attempt to liberate his brother George Jackson from the Marin Court House.
AUGUST 8, 1950: Dr. Mutulu Shakur, current political prisoner and former Black Panther Party member, born. He renowned for his healing work as an acupuncturist and also his work his stepson TuPac Shakur on the Thug Life Codes.
AUGUST 8, 1978: MOVE family bombed in Philadelphia
AUGUST 10, 1829: Race riots in Cincinnati, OH. As a result more than a thousand Blacks leave for Canada.
AUGUST 15th: Independence Day- Republic of Congo/Brazzaville
AUGUST 17th: Independence Day- Gabon
AUGUST 17, 1887: Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Jr., world renowned Pan-African leader and founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association, is born.
AUGUST 17, 1995: Mumia Abu Jamal, political prisoner, journalist, and former Black Panther Party member, is scheduled for execution and granted a stay due to mass resistance.
AUGUST 18, 1971: Republic of New Afrika raided by Mississippi Police and FBI agents.
AUGUST 21, 1831: Nat Turner leads a slave rebellion in Southampton County, VA with 70 slaves. Moving plantation to plantation they killed 60 Whites before being stopped.
AUGUST 21, 1971: George Jackson, Field Marshall of the Black Panther Part, is murdered by prison guards at San Quentin Prison.
AUGUST 22, 1791: Haitian Revolution begins with a slave revolt led by Toussaint l’Overture. In 1804 Haiti was established as the first Black Republic in the world after defeating both Britain and France.
AUGUST 22, 1989: Huey P. Newton, Black Panther Party founder, is murdered.
AUGUST 24, 1943: Russell “Maroon” Shoatz, current political prisoner, founder of the Black Unity Council, and former member of the Black Panther Party was born.
AUGUST 25, 1967: FBI circulates internal order to “disrupt” Black Liberation groups.
AUGUST 22, 1843: Henry Highland Garnett gave his “Call to Rebellion” speech at the National Negro Convention urging slaves to turn against their owners.
AUGUST 25, 1883: “A Call for Equality in Religion and Education” is published in the Cleveland Gazette.
AUGUST 27, 1963: W.E.B. DuBois passes away in Ghana.
AUGUST 28, 1963: Martin Luther King, Jr., leads historic march on Washington and delivers the “I Have A Dream” speech.
AUGUST 30, 1797: Gabriel Prosser and Jack Bowley lead a slave revolt near Richmond, VA with a thousand slaves under their command.
AUGUST 30, 1948: Fred Hampton, Sr. is born. He would go on to become the Chairman of the Illinois Black Panther Party. He was assassinated at 21 by the FBI and COINTELPRO via the Chicago Police Department as he slept next to his pregnant wife.
AUGUST 31st: Independence Day- Trinidad and Tobago.
AUGUST 31, 1962: Fannie Lou Hamer organizes a voting trip for disenfranchised residents of Mississippi. She is later harassed by police, fired from her job, and sent death threats from the KKK.
Significantly less celebrated than Black History Month, Black August has become renowned in New York as the annual hip-hop concert that the “conscious” and “political” community anxiously looks forward to every year. This year’s show, produced by Malcolm X Grassroots Black August Hip Hop Project, marked the 10th anniversary of the music celebration and the international hip-hop artist exchange that accompanies it. Laced with a star line up that included Common, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, dead prez, Saigon, DJ Scratch, Heavyhitter Beverly Bond, and the legendary DJ Scratch; this year’s show exceeded expectations as it took place at the Nokia Theater in Times Square. As big as the show was with its packed house and big name performers, Black August itself is still “Bigger Than Hip-Hop”.
The concept of Black August originated in the early 1970s by San Quentin inmates who were active members of the Black Guerilla Family and Black Panther Party. In the spirit of African tradition of honoring our ancestors, Black August celebrates those who gave their lives for the good of their people while rejoicing in our revolutionary accomplishments as forms of resistance and calling attention to the pain and struggle that we as Black people have endured. The month of August was intentionally chosen because of the countless events that took place at this time and it has a much more overt revolutionary tone than the more well known Black History Month of February.
Throughout history, August has been a time of resistance, birth, and rebirth. Significant dates of resistance include the start of the Underground Railroad, Nat Turner’s Rebellion, the Haitian Revolution, and the infamous March on Washington. It also reflects African American struggles, August is the month in which the first slaves arrived to Jamestown; Black Panther Party Field Marshall George Jackson, brother Jonathan Jackson, and comrade Khatari Gaulden were all murdered this month, and the MOVE organization was bombed by Philadelphia police in the August of 1978. Remarkably, August has also given birth to a long list of freedom fighters including Marcus Garvey, Dr. Mutulu Shakur (Black Panther and Tupac’s stepfather), Fred Hampton (Black Panther), and Russell “Maroon” Shoatz (Black Panther and founder of Black Unity Council). Founders concretely illustrated the seriousness and importance of this time by wearing Black armbands, exercising and meditating daily, fasting from sun up to sun down from both food and water, and being very strict about removing all distractions such as TV, liquor, and other drugs completely from their lives.
Knowing that Black August is not widely popularized among the masses, Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, Stress Magazine, and Youth for Jericho assumed the duty of spreading the story and legacy to today’s younger generation as they set out to achieve their goal “to bring culture and politics together and to allow them to naturally evolve into a unique Hip Hop Consciousness that informs our collective struggle for more a just, equitable, and equitable world.” (Black August Hip Hop Project Mission). Reviving hip-hop’s political message, the Black August Project has been successful at giving a wide range of hip-hop artists such as Keith Murray, Erykah Badu, Common, The Roots, and so on a platform to express their political support and promote the growth of hip-hop worldwide through the international hip-hop exchange program.
On August 26th, concert goers were there to represent for a good cause as they demonstrated with their pumped fists during Common’s set. To deliver the message first hand, M-1 brought out who he calls the O.G.s, the Original Gangstas. This group of freedom fighters included members of the Black Panther Party, Black Liberation Army, and Republic of New Afrika. As the former political prisoners passed the mic, they were conscious not to preach about heir personal contributions but instead to inspire the audience to carry the torch. One former Panther, Ashanti Alston, demanded the audience assume their duty to the fullest extent saying, “our political prisoners will not get out unless we have a movement 10 times as strong as we did in the 60s.”
In a time when mainstream and alternative media has spent a great amount of time mulling over whether or not hip hop is dead, it is rather interesting that the Black August Hip Hop Project and other grassroots projects that effectively use hip-hop are rarely mentioned. Instead it is often times the mainstream music and its obscene behaviour that is used to judge an entire culture that reaches far beyond even this country.
Dhoruba Bin Wahad and the other elders reminded the audience of hip-hops power and its roots of being with the people, “This culture is yours. You have developed it from you and it is valid. It is not criminal or gangsta. But you need to hold 50 cents and all these negroes accountable or don’t buy their records,” As far as the infamous topic of hip-hop being dead, Ahmed Obafemi asserted, “If hip-hop was dying Black August is breathing life back into it.” As we look forward from the past 10 years, hopefully Black August will also breathe life back into the larger movement for freedom, justice, and liberation for Black people.
Below you will find some quotes from those who performed in regards to Black August.
What Does Black August Mean To You?
M-1: Black August is a revolutionary institution and tradition inside our community. It is evidence of the fact that our movement is alive and kicking and moving in and around the hearts of youth and hip-hop represents this. In New York, Black August has manifested itself in a phenomenal way in the form of a hip-hop concert that has been going on for 10 years. It is the extension of the highest dreams and aspirations of Field Marshall George Jackson and our esteemed "shero" Assata Shakur and our political prisoners and prisoners of war who have been suffering behind enemy lines for 30 and 40 years. It is a tool to fight back against the oppression we endure right now.
DJ Scratch: Black August is important for Black awareness. As far as hip-hop is concerned we are the new Martin Luther Kings and Marcus Garveys. We are the new leaders so we have to take responsibility for that and preach to the kids just like Run DMC preached to me. X-Clan preached to me. When somebody is in church and they say, “Don’t do this. Don’t do that,” the youth don’t listen but we can reach them through our music.
Rodstarz (of Rebel Diaz): Black August is an affirmation of a necessity to stand up against the system and honor our freedom fighters. As far as this specific event (Black August Concert) it brings artists that stand for something together all in one big concert to raise funds and bring awareness about our freedom fighters so we can get them liberated. This is a wake up cal for hip hop and the fact that we are doing this here in Times Square is a big thing because we are giving a medium of space for our freedom fighters to speak.
Why do you think it is important to use hip-hop as a tool to spread the message of Black August?
Saigon: It is very important. When you hear my album you will understand how much I try to do it with my music. It’s important because music is a weapon and rappers are leaders right now whether they want to be or not because the record companies are targeted towards the kids. Whoever controls the minds of your children, controls your future. I feel we have to use this music as a tool to empower the next generation to become strong Black men who will take care of our women, take of our kids, take care of our households. A lot of the music that is out there is the exact opposite talking about robbing, stealing, and drug dealing. It is detrimental.
Rodstarz: Hip Hop speaks for our youth. Our youth a lot of time always have a problem with authority figures such as teachers, police, and army recruiters talking down to them but hip-hop speaks directly to our youth. Hip-Hop has its origins in the streets. It comes from the conditions of poverty and it needs to be brought back there. This show is definitely a sign that hip-hop is still alive and well. Hip Hop is going to become a form of resistance. It already is a force of resistance internationally and why not here the very birthplace where it came from.
Queen Godis: Malcolm X said “By Any Means Necessary” and at that time it meant a lot of things. Now it means by any means necessary to get the message across so that it is effective and it plants seeds. Sometimes they hear it better with the beat sometimes they hear it better on the stage sometimes they hear better with some guitar behind it so by any means necessary take your word, your message and figure out what’s the best way to communicate it to whoever it needs to be spoken to.
What is your role as a DJ in terms of getting conscious music out there to the people.
DJ Scratch: My role is to play it. The goal of the DJ is to get a message across but you can’t just force fed somebody a message you gotta chop it up real fine.I’m going to force feed you in a way that you like it. It’s like feeding chopped onions to someone who doesn’t eat onions. I chop it up real fine. I’m going to play the beat for a song that you like that you hear on the radio like 10 times a day and then I’m going to take a conscious song and play it over that hot beat. I just slip it in there and you are going to keep dancing and after a while you are going to know that song and look for it. That is the goal of a DJ trying to get a message across.
How do you think hip-hop has changed from the Public Enemy X-Clan era?
DJ Scratch: It changed in a lot of different ways but as far as consciousness is concerned and getting messages across it doesn’t exist on a mainstream level anymore the way it did in the 80s and early 90s on a large scale. Now the conscious artists are in the underground and the mainstream tries to keep them in the underground. But then you are at events like Black August and you see it’s a packed house. Even still we need more support from the mainstream artists as well.
Tell us a little about the work you are doing to organize in the streets?
SupaNova Salom: Our organization is called Unify The Hood, Heal The Hood. Our aim is to bring social awareness to the brothas and sistas who are the struggle through so called gangs and bring it back to the original intent and purpose of community building and economic empowerment to the people. We reiterate the information in a language the kids can understand using the street culture the so-called G culture to link and make that alignment.
DJ Beverly Bond: Black Girls Rock is a youth mentoring program I started last year in reaction to the one sided imagery that I was constantly seeing. I feel like women of color are constantly being bombarded with images that have no balance. I’m not saying that other women don’t get that but Black women in particular only see themselves portrayed in glamour in one way. We were talking recently about the death of the black model and how Black models don’t exist anymore. Now the only time we see ourselves in the glamour world is when girls are taking it all off and getting down in the videos. It’s unfortunate that a lot of times it’s us who are pushing these images. I started Black Girls Rock because I know so many positive Black women who are doing their thing that you don’t see. One of our first campaigns we have is a role model campaign: “Don’t just look like a model, be one. Black Girls Rock Positive Role Models.” That is coming out in Fader this month. Last year in conjunction with VH-1 and Hip Hop Honors, I also launched the Black Girls Rock Awards to bring recognition to women of color and celebrate iconic women as well as someone who may be lesser known but is doing her thing. It’s going to be real good this year.
Dead Prez has been able to achieve a certain level of success that a many other “underground” and “conscious” artists have not been able to. You have been able to work with Jay-Z, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, Dave Chapelle, and other household names. Can you talk about that journey?
M-1: We have so far to go. The intention is to saturate the community with revolutionary politics. I appreciate you saying we have achieved certain success but I see as having so far yet to go. We are at war against the media propaganda system of the state that basically controls the people. It is the basic way that we are subjugated through certain types of oppression and it comes in all forms: hip-hop, magazines, even through dance. dead prez has a commitment to that. We would like to have each and every person be a part of the movement for oppressed people around the world in some form and fashion and if we can’t achieve that then we are short of our goal. Our goal is not to be hip-hop stars or television idols. The goal is to be able to carry on the messages that Marcus Garvey, Kwame Nkrumah, and Harriet Tubman set forth to accomplish and if we can do that through rap then we will. I am glad that some of our community has embraced the dead prez message and word but I think that we have a long way to go and I think at the end of the day we look forward to more support.
BLACK AUGUST DAYS OF IMPORTANCE
1st Monday: Independence Day-Jamaica
AUGUST, 1619: First slaves arrive to Jamestown settlement.
AUGUST, 1965: LA Watts Rebellion.
AUGUST, 1978: Khatari Gaulden, a comrade of George Jackson, member of San Quentin Six, Leader of Black Guerilla Family, and founder of Black August, is murdered.
AUGUST 1st: Independence Day- Dahomey; Emancipation Day- Barbados
AUGUST 1, 1834: Slavery is abolished in Britain.
AUGUST 1, 1962: Failed assassination attempt of Ghanaian President Kwame Nkrumah.
AUGUST 1-2, 1920: Universal Negro Improvement Association’s national convention meets in NYC.
AUGUST 2, 1850: Underground Railroad started.
AUGUST 7th: Independence Day- Ivory Coast
AUGUST 7, 1970: Jonathan Jackson is killed in an attempt to liberate his brother George Jackson from the Marin Court House.
AUGUST 8, 1950: Dr. Mutulu Shakur, current political prisoner and former Black Panther Party member, born. He renowned for his healing work as an acupuncturist and also his work his stepson TuPac Shakur on the Thug Life Codes.
AUGUST 8, 1978: MOVE family bombed in Philadelphia
AUGUST 10, 1829: Race riots in Cincinnati, OH. As a result more than a thousand Blacks leave for Canada.
AUGUST 15th: Independence Day- Republic of Congo/Brazzaville
AUGUST 17th: Independence Day- Gabon
AUGUST 17, 1887: Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Jr., world renowned Pan-African leader and founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association, is born.
AUGUST 17, 1995: Mumia Abu Jamal, political prisoner, journalist, and former Black Panther Party member, is scheduled for execution and granted a stay due to mass resistance.
AUGUST 18, 1971: Republic of New Afrika raided by Mississippi Police and FBI agents.
AUGUST 21, 1831: Nat Turner leads a slave rebellion in Southampton County, VA with 70 slaves. Moving plantation to plantation they killed 60 Whites before being stopped.
AUGUST 21, 1971: George Jackson, Field Marshall of the Black Panther Part, is murdered by prison guards at San Quentin Prison.
AUGUST 22, 1791: Haitian Revolution begins with a slave revolt led by Toussaint l’Overture. In 1804 Haiti was established as the first Black Republic in the world after defeating both Britain and France.
AUGUST 22, 1989: Huey P. Newton, Black Panther Party founder, is murdered.
AUGUST 24, 1943: Russell “Maroon” Shoatz, current political prisoner, founder of the Black Unity Council, and former member of the Black Panther Party was born.
AUGUST 25, 1967: FBI circulates internal order to “disrupt” Black Liberation groups.
AUGUST 22, 1843: Henry Highland Garnett gave his “Call to Rebellion” speech at the National Negro Convention urging slaves to turn against their owners.
AUGUST 25, 1883: “A Call for Equality in Religion and Education” is published in the Cleveland Gazette.
AUGUST 27, 1963: W.E.B. DuBois passes away in Ghana.
AUGUST 28, 1963: Martin Luther King, Jr., leads historic march on Washington and delivers the “I Have A Dream” speech.
AUGUST 30, 1797: Gabriel Prosser and Jack Bowley lead a slave revolt near Richmond, VA with a thousand slaves under their command.
AUGUST 30, 1948: Fred Hampton, Sr. is born. He would go on to become the Chairman of the Illinois Black Panther Party. He was assassinated at 21 by the FBI and COINTELPRO via the Chicago Police Department as he slept next to his pregnant wife.
AUGUST 31st: Independence Day- Trinidad and Tobago.
AUGUST 31, 1962: Fannie Lou Hamer organizes a voting trip for disenfranchised residents of Mississippi. She is later harassed by police, fired from her job, and sent death threats from the KKK.
