Black August

On this edition of From the Vault, we turn the clock back to 1993 when Pacifica Radio devoted an entire day to recognize Black August, the annual commemoration of the liberation struggles of African Americans that began with the killing of prisoner George Jackson on August 21, 1971. The 1993 Black August producers, in conducting interviews and listening to recordings from Pacifica Radio Archives, focused on the treatment of prisoners and the human rights abuses related to solitary confinement in California penal institutions. Highlights from two-decade-old special include an interview with Georgia Bea Jackson (George Jackson’s mother) and selections of George Jackson in his own voice. We’ll also speak with Paige St. John, a writer with the Los Angeles Times covering prison issues, on the contemporary human rights issues in correctional institutions.


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