Anniversary of an assassination: George Jackson Lives!

From the Editors, People's Tribune, Vol.23 no.10, September 1996

Twenty-five years ago, on August 21, 1971, George L. Jackson, a 29-year-old leader of the Black Panther Party, died from multiple bullet wounds sustained during an alleged escape attempt from California's San Quentin State Prison.

In fact, as fellow inmates would later testify, Jackson died as he had lived, as a revolutionary struggling to save the lives of others.

The author of "Soledad Brother" and "Blood in My Eye" and a charismatic leader among prisoners and the oppressed generally, Jackson combined 10 years of participation in the prison struggle with the study and spreading of scientific socialism. In no small way, Jackson's persistent injection of anti-capitalist class consciousness into the movement was responsible for the emergence of a huge wave of prison struggles and uprisings across the country.

His assassination is said to have helped touch off the September 9-13, 1971 rebellion at Attica State Prison in New York, prompting the bloodiest suppression of an inmate uprising in U.S. history.

Today, as record numbers of Americans languish behind bars, as the political contours of America more and more resemble those he predicted with great foresight, George Jackson re-emerges as a towering figure in America's revolutionary legacy.

George Jackson lives!