Black August

Black August is about Black power and liberation, honoring the rich history of community organizing, activism, advocacy, and care that sustain the fight for freedom. Black August is a time to uplift the struggle for an end to the prison industrial complex (PIC), a horrific and inhumane system that the state uses to enact violence upon Black and other marginalized people. In our commitment to human rights, the National Lawyers Guild commemorates Black August alongside the generations of Black freedom fighters who continue to pave the way to a world where all people are free. These ongoing legacies are an essential part of any future where human rights are valued and respected.

Resist: Unconquered Still ⁠— NLG Mass Incarceration Committee’s Black August Resource List

Comrades, please join us in celebrating Black liberation and uplifting the human rights of prisoners. Engage these materials in any particular order in community or alone. Please join NLG’s Becoming Abolitionists reading group, support Jailhouse Lawyers Speak, and check out our playlist at the link below!

FILMS
I Am Not Your Negro
Judas & the Black Messiah
Eyes to the Prize: On Hallowed Ground
A Great and Mighty Walk
Betrayal At Attica
Black Power Mixtape
Concerning Violence
Summer of Soul
Exterminate All the Brutes
Time

PODCASTS
Being Seen
Mother Country Radicals

BOOKS
Purnell, Becoming Abolitionists
Davis, Freedom is a Constant Struggle
Cooper, Eloquent Rage
Morrison, Song of Solomon
Michael Williams, Stay Woke
Coates, We Were 8 Years In Power
Jones, 1619 Project

ARTICLES
The Black Art of Escape
The Case for Reparations

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