Fascism - An excerpt from “Blood in My Eye”
George Jackson
:)
George Jackson :)
Written and curated by Z - an incredible community organizer and reading club member :)
Published in 1972, “Blood In My Eye” is a collection of writings by George Jackson, a political prisoner and a Black freedom fighter. He finished the writings shortly before prison guards murdered him in August 1971. George had been convicted over a decade prior at age 18 — taking $70 from a gas station resulted in a conviction with an indeterminate sentence - one year to life.
While California kept him imprisoned, he read extensively, learning history and economics, discovering Marx, Lenin, Mao, Engels, Trotsky, and developing a strong material analysis and solidarity lens that he shared with his comrades incarcerated alongside him.
Blood in My Eye considers more broadly questions of armed struggle, communism, and Black revolutionary thought, or put simply “it is a book about taking the revolution that George worked and died for inside prison out into society at large.”
“Settle your quarrels, come together, understand the reality of our situation, understand that fascism is already here, that people are already dying who could be saved, that generations more will die or live poor butchered half-lives if you fail to act. do what must be done, discover your humanity and your love in revolution. Pass on the torch. Join us, give up your life for the people.”
George Jackson recognized his position as a member of the lumpenproletariat, and remained uncompromising in his approach to a revolutionary future; his view of the world from within the carceral system illuminated the depth of racism in the U.S., and its overlap with capitalist exploitation.
Behind bars he organized sit-ins against segregated cafeterias and taught martial arts to other inmates to fight back against the ever-present, abusive prison guards. He worked with the Oakland chapter of the Black Panthers to recruit members that were incarcerated, and he often highlighted the political consciousness of his comrades that were behind bars.
His work at organizing prisoners across race gained the attention of prison guards, wardens, and the FBI. The state falsely accused him (along with Fleeta Drumgo and John Clutchette), collectively known as the “Soledad Brothers,” of murdering a guard in retaliation to that guard’s murder of three Black people that were incarcerated (W. L. Nolen, Cleveland Edwards and Alvin Miller) at Soledad Prison in January 1970.
His younger brother, Jonathan Jackson, a high school student in Pasadena, staged a raid on the Marin County courthouse with a satchelful of handguns, an assault rifle, and a shotgun hidden under his coat, all registered to Angela Davis. Educated into a political revolutionary by George, Jonathan invaded the court during a hearing for three Black San Quentin inmates, not including his brother, and handed them weapons. As he left with the inmates and five hostages, including the judge, Jonathan demanded that the Soledad Brothers be released within thirty minutes. In the shootout that ensued, Jonathan was gunned down. Of Jonathan, George wrote, "He was free for a while. I guess that's more than most of us can expect." The state murdered Jonathan on August 7, 1970 at the Marin County Courthouse. He was 17. The sole accomplice that survived, Ruchell Magee, was imprisoned for over 50 years (released in July 2023); a manhunt for Angela Davis began, she was tried and ultimately found not guilty; the Weathermen (a militant leftist organization of students) bombed the courthouse in October 1970 in retaliation for the murders of Jonathan Jackson and his comrades.
His first publication, Soledad Brother, compiles letters he wrote between 1964 and 1970, most of which he spent in the most stringent forms of solitary confinement. George dedicated Soledad Brother to Jonathan, and many letters between them can be found within Blood in My Eye, as well as correspondence with Angela Davis.
But wait - (as always) there’s more!
First up we have an rare 16-mm video documentary called “Work Print” made in 1971–1972, and includes interviews with George Jackson, Georgia Jackson (George and Jonathan Jackson’s mother) and Angela Davis, while she was still in the Marin County Courthouse Jail—before her acquittal. The other prisoners have not been identified and the film has no credits.
Secondly we have a quick 8 minute audio interview where George Jackson describes in detail how fascism operates in America.
Sources:
Transcribed Excerpts - Thank you to the Internet Archive for having a solid transcription of the text which I couldn’t find elsewhere.
“Work print” by unknown film maker - Shout out to the Freedom Archives for discovering this and hosting it in their vimeo!
https://vimeo.com/100361380
“Fascism” audio recording - Shout out to the Freedom Archives once again for being an incredible source of revolutionary material.
https://99books.freedomarchives.org/audio/george-jackson-on-fascism/