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49-577: George Jackson met W. L. Nolen in San Quentin State Prison , where the pair co-founded the Marxist-Leninist Black Guerrilla Family (BGF) in 1966. Later, they were transferred, along with Drumgo and Clutchette, to Soledad Prison and housed in the O Wing, which was considered the worst part of the adjustment center. According to Jackson, in the O Wing: The strongest hold out no more than

98-496: A " Marxist-Leninist - Maoist - Fanonist ". As Jackson's disciplinary infractions grew he spent more time in solitary confinement , where he studied political economy and radical theory. He also wrote many letters to friends and supporters, which would later be edited and compiled into the books Soledad Brother and Blood in My Eye , bestsellers that brought him a great deal of attention from leftist organizers and intellectuals in

147-508: A Marin County courtroom at gunpoint, taking Superior Court Judge Harold Haley , prosecutor Gary W. Thomas , and three jurors hostage. In the ensuing shootout, Jackson and Judge Haley were killed, along with two inmates already in the courtroom, who had readily joined the attack; prosecutor Thomas was paralyzed and one juror was seriously injured. The guns that Jackson used were registered to political activist Angela Davis , who previously formed

196-583: A civil lawsuit that Jackson had filed against the California Department of Corrections . After the meeting, Jackson was being escorted by officer Urbano Rubiaco back to his cell when Rubiaco noticed a metallic object in Jackson's hair, later revealed to be a wig, and ordered him to remove it. Jackson then pulled a Spanish Astra 9 mm pistol from beneath the wig and said: "Gentlemen, the dragon has come"—a reference to Ho Chi Minh . It

245-687: A committee supporting the Soledad Brothers. Davis stood trial for alleged involvement in the kidnapping and was acquitted of all charges in June 1972. Jackson was the youngest of five children born to Lester Jackson and Georgia Bee Jackson. Raised in Pasadena, California , he attended St. Andrew's School from 1965 to 1967 for grades seven and eight, La Salle High School for ninth grade (1967–68), and then Blair High School for his junior school level study . Jackson worked closely with Angela Davis in

294-409: A corrections officer, John V. Mills, who was beaten and thrown from the third floor of Soledad's Y wing. This was a capital offense and a successful conviction would have put Jackson in the gas chamber . Mills was purportedly killed in retaliation for the shooting deaths of three inmates by Miller the previous year. Miller had not been charged with any crime, as a grand jury ruled his actions during

343-410: A couple of weeks. It destroys the logical processes of the mind, a man's thoughts become completely disorganized. The noise, madness streaming from every throat, frustrated sounds from the bars, metallic sounds from the walls, the steel trays, the iron beds bolted to the wall, the hollow sounds from a cast-iron sink or toilet. The smells, the human waste thrown at us, unwashed bodies, the rotten food. When

392-521: A gun and a wig, and was thereby responsible for the escape attempt and murders, occurred after he emerged from hiding for 13 years in order to stand trial. In San Francisco , proceedings were held in the Department 21 courtroom on the third floor of the Hall of Justice , the same courtroom in which Ruchell Magee would later be tried on charges related to the murder of Judge Haley. Spectators, including

441-473: A gun, in the hopes that he would be killed in the ensuing melee, allegedly because they saw his power as a threat to their control and authority. Inconsistencies in the stories, although common among eyewitnesses in many crimes, fueled the controversy and helped to set off an uprising at Attica Correctional Facility in New York three weeks later. Bingham's acquittal in 1986 on charges that he smuggled Jackson

490-404: A letter to his deceased brother, signing it: Cold and calm though. 'All right, gentlemen, I'm taking over now.' Revolution, George" Angela Davis , who purchased the guns used in the escape attempt, was later tried on several charges in connection with the escape. A jury found her not guilty on murder, kidnapping, and criminal conspiracy charges. On August 21, 1971, days before his trial in

539-474: A manuscript of his book Soledad Brother: The Prison Letters of George Jackson, and asked her to read it and asked for her help in improving it. On August 7, 1970, George Jackson's 17-year-old brother Jonathan P. Jackson burst into a Marin County courtroom with an automatic weapon , freed prisoners James McClain , William A. Christmas and Ruchell Magee , and took Judge Harold Haley , Deputy District Attorney Gary Thomas, and three jurors hostage to demand

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588-568: A white con leaves here he's ruined for life. No black leaves Max Row walking. Either he leaves on the meat wagon or he leaves crawling licking at the pig's feet. In Jackson's letters from the prison he describes the attitude of the staff toward the convicts as both defensive and hostile, apparently out of pure malevolence. His account of life at the prison was used by the Soledad Brothers Defense Committee. On January 13, 1970, 14 black inmates and 2 white inmates from

637-512: Is a retelling of the last 14 months of Jackson's life. Jonathan P. Jackson Jonathan Peter Jackson (June 23, 1953 – August 7, 1970) was an American militant activist who died of gunshot wounds sustained during an armed invasion of the Marin County Civic Center . The action was initiated to demand the freedom of the jailed Soledad Brothers , including Jackson's brother George . At age 17, Jackson overpowered

686-728: Is not clear how Jackson obtained the gun. Bingham, who lived for 13 years as a fugitive before returning to the United States to face trial, was acquitted of charges that he smuggled a gun to Jackson. Jackson ordered Rubiaco to open all the cells and along with several other inmates, he overpowered the remaining correction officers and took them, along with two inmates, hostage. Five other hostages, officers Jere Graham, Frank DeLeon, and Paul Krasnes, along with two white prisoners, were killed and found in Jackson's cell. Three other officers, Rubiaco, Kenneth McCray, and Charles Breckenridge, were also shot and stabbed, but survived. After finding

735-466: The Aryan Brotherhood , killing all three. Following Nolen's death, Jackson became increasingly confrontational with corrections officials and spoke often about the need to protect fellow inmates and take revenge on correction officers, employing what Jackson called " selective retaliatory violence ". On January 17, 1970, Jackson, Fleeta Drumgo, and John Clutchette were charged with murdering

784-767: The Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians , recorded and released the album A Jackson in Your House in Paris, France, in 1969. A non-album single was released by Bob Dylan , " George Jackson ", about the life and death of Jackson. The song made the American charts peaking at No. 33 in January 1972. The ninth track of the 2011 Blue Scholars album Cinemetropolis is named for Jackson and references

833-552: The California Legislative Black Caucus pursued an investigation of Soledad Prison and released a report that tried to legitimize the committee and give it some credibility. Public reaction was mixed. By the middle of that month, Davis was leading the movement. Stender also arranged the publication of Soledad Brother: The Prison Letters of George Jackson , which was to contain various letters written by Jackson while in prison detailing his time spent in

882-807: The Soledad Brothers . Jackson and his attempted prison escape are the subjects of the first verse of the Joan Baez parody song, "Pull the Tregroes," on National Lampoon's 1972 album, Radio Dinner . Steel Pulse , an English reggae band from Birmingham wrote a song named "Uncle George" that contains a chorus of "Soledad Brother". The song comes from the band's album Tribute To The Martyrs , which also honours other Black civil rights activists including Nelson Mandela , Martin Luther King Jr. and Steve Biko . The 1994 song "Jettin'" by

931-629: The hip-hop trio Digable Planets references George Jackson as one of their black revolutionary heroes who died in prison. Ja Rule named his 2003 album Blood in My Eye after Jackson's book. Saxophone player Archie Shepp dedicated most of his album Attica Blues (1972) to the story of George Jackson ("Blues for Brother George Jackson") and the Attica prison riots that followed. Stephen Jay Gould wrote, in his 1981 book The Mismeasure of Man , of George Jackson's death in context of "statistically supported" social Darwinism . Quoting Gould about

980-419: The maximum-security section of Soledad Prison were released into a recreation yard. It had been several months since they were last released into the yard. The black prisoners were ordered to the far end of the yard, while the white prisoners remained near the center of the yard. Officer Opie G. Miller, an expert marksman armed with a rifle, watched over the inmates from a guard tower 13 feet (4 m) above

1029-876: The Mills murder. Born in Chicago, Illinois , Jackson was the second son of Lester and Georgia Bea Jackson's five children. He spent time in the California Youth Authority Corrections facility in Paso Robles due to several juvenile convictions including armed robbery, assault, and burglary. In 1961, he was convicted of armed robbery – for stealing $ 70 at gunpoint from a gas station – and sentenced to one year to life in prison. During his first years at San Quentin State Prison , Jackson became involved in revolutionary activity. He

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1078-809: The Monterey County grand jury for first-degree murder . The Soledad Brothers Defense Committee was formed by Fay Stender to assist in publicizing the case and raising funds to defend Jackson, Drumgo, and Clutchette. Among the several celebrities, writers, and left-wing political activists that supported the SBDC and their cause were Julian Bond , Kay Boyle , Marlon Brando , Jane Fonda , Noam Chomsky , Lawrence Ferlinghetti , Allen Ginsberg , Tom Hayden , William Kunstler , Jessica Mitford , Linus Pauling , Pete Seeger , Benjamin Spock , and Angela Davis . In June 1970, California State Senator Mervyn Dymally and

1127-824: The Soledad Brothers Committee and Davis eventually considered Jackson to be like a blood brother. George Jackson includes passages in his 1971 book, Blood in My Eye, which he attributes to his brother Jonathan. These passages figure prominently in the development of the elder Jackson's theory of revolutionary praxis. Jackson had worked extensively in attempting to free the Soledad Brothers. Angela Davis had said about Jackson's activities in her autobiography, "Jonathan only wanted to talk about George. All of his interests, all of his activities were bound up in some way with his brother in Soledad." George Jackson had recommended to Davis that his brother do work for

1176-471: The Soledad Brothers Defense Committee. Jackson was considered a talented writer and the committee was in need of good writers. Jackson labored diligently in writing and producing material for the release of the Soledad Brothers. On August 7, 1970, Jackson brought a satchel containing three firearms, registered to Davis, into the Marin County Hall of Justice, where Judge Haley was presiding over

1225-461: The U.S. and Western Europe. He amassed a following of inmates, including whites and Latinos, and most enthusiastically with other black inmates. In January 1969, Jackson and Nolen were transferred from San Quentin to Soledad Prison . On January 13, 1970, corrections officer Opie G. Miller shot Nolen and two other black prisoners (Cleveland Edwards and Alvin Miller) during a yard riot with members of

1274-425: The aftermath of a prison fight. The same year, he published Soledad Brother: The Prison Letters of George Jackson , a combination of autobiography and manifesto addressed to an African-American audience. The book became a bestseller and earned Jackson personal fame. Jackson was killed by prison guards in 1971, during an escape attempt in which three prison guards and two inmates were killed. He never went to trial for

1323-490: The court report stated that 1-48 pages of the testimony were recorded and they were only given 1-46 pages of testimony. After Jackson's death, on March 27, 1972, the two surviving Soledad Brothers—Clutchette and Drumgo—were acquitted by a San Francisco jury of the original charges of murdering a prison guard on the grounds that the state had failed to completely prove its case. George Jackson (Black Panther) George Lester Jackson (September 23, 1941 – August 21, 1971)

1372-492: The governor claimed that this dedication was "a significant indicator that Williams is not reformed and that he still sees violence and lawlessness as a legitimate means to address societal problems." " Soulja's Story " is a song by rapper 2Pac (Tupac Shakur), released on the 1991 album 2pacalypse Now , which makes reference to the Marin County Civic Center attacks . Shakur was the nephew of Black power revolutionary and fugitive, Assata Shakur . The 2007 film Black August

1421-408: The guard's killing, the 29-year-old Jackson allegedly launched a riot at San Quentin with a 9 mm pistol . There is controversy over the course of events that led to Jackson's obtaining of the firearm. Prison officials alleged that Stephen Bingham , the attorney who replaced Fay Stender as Jackson's attorney, visited Jackson. Bingham was alleged to have smuggled Jackson a pistol and an Afro wig. He

1470-415: The hostages into a rented van. Responding San Quentin prison guards fired on the van that Jackson was driving as they attempted to escape. During the shootout, Jonathan Jackson, Christmas, McClain, and Judge Haley were killed, while Magee and Deputy District Attorney Thomas were seriously injured. Jackson's son, Jonathan Jackson Jr., was born eight and a half months after his father's death. A monument on

1519-586: The jury hostage to secure the freedom of the "Soledad Brothers". Jackson, McClain, Haley, and a prisoner named William Christmas were killed as they attempted to drive away from the courthouse. Haley died due to the discharge of a sawed-off shotgun that had been fastened to his neck with adhesive tape by the abductors. Thomas, prisoner Ruchell Magee, and one of the jurors were wounded. Two days after his brother's death, in George Jackson's last letter in his collection of letters written while in prison, he wrote

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1568-539: The keys for the Adjustment Center's exit, Jackson along with fellow inmate and close friend Johnny Spain escaped to the yard where Jackson was shot dead from a tower and Spain surrendered. Three inmates were acquitted and three (David Johnson, Johnny Spain, and Hugo Pinell) were convicted for the murders. The six became known as the " San Quentin Six ". There is some evidence that Jackson and his supporters on

1617-558: The legacy of failed science which supported racial bigotry and physiognomy : "George Jackson ... died under Lombroso 's legacy, trying to escape after eleven years (eight and a half in solitary) of an indeterminate one-year-to-life sentence for stealing seventy dollars from a gas station." Jackson's life, beliefs and ultimate fate were the topic of one of the many audio tapes recorded at the Jonestown commune in Guyana during 1978. In

1666-460: The maximum-security wing, allegedly saying, "This is it, gentlemen, the Dragon has come!" In the ensuing melee, three guards were killed, as were two prisoners suspected of being snitches, before George Jackson rushed out into the yard where he was shot and killed by a guard. Other people involved in the case believe Jackson's death was a setup by prison authorities, who conspired to supply Jackson with

1715-646: The outside had planned the escape for several weeks. Three days before the escape attempt, Jackson rewrote his will, leaving all royalties as well as control of his legal defense fund to the Black Panther Party . Jackson's funeral was held at St. Augustine's Episcopal Church in Oakland, California , on August 28, 1971. Several notable artists and entertainers have dedicated their work to Jackson's memory or created works based on his life. The avant-garde jazz group Art Ensemble of Chicago , affiliates of

1764-413: The press, were separated from the proceedings by a $ 15,000 floor-to-ceiling barrier constructed of metal, wood, and bullet-proof glass. Throughout the trial, there were attempts to annul the proceedings on technicalities. There were complaints on behalf of the defendants that they were not informed of the scheduled court hearing, specifically in a letter from George Jackson on June 13, 1970. They also claimed

1813-419: The prison fight as justifiable homicide . In the aftermath Jackson, Drumgo, and Clutchette became known as the Soledad Brothers and activists worked to get the three acquitted whom they viewed as being political prisoners and accused based on their race. The activists also wanted to bring attention to the disproportionate rates at which people of color were being incarcerated compared to white people and to

1862-473: The prison throughout the trial. On August 7, 1970, George Jackson's seventeen-year-old brother Jonathan held up a courtroom during the trial of prisoner James McClain , charged at the time with the attempted stabbing of a Soledad guard at the Marin County Civic Center . Jonathan Jackson, after having armed McClain, temporarily freed three San Quentin prisoners, and took Superior Court Judge Harold Haley , Deputy District Attorney Gary Thomas, and three women on

1911-527: The recreation yard during the shooting. In Soledad Prison, inmates heard the grand jury's ruling on the prison radio. Thirty minutes later, prison guard officer John V. Mills was found dying in another maximum-security wing of the prison, having been beaten and thrown from a third-floor tier of Y Wing, George Jackson's cellblock, to the television room below. On February 14, 1970, after an investigation into Mills' death by prison officials, George Lester Jackson, Fleeta Drumgo and John Wesley Clutchette were indicted by

1960-419: The release of the "Soledad Brothers". Police killed Haley, Jackson, Christmas and McClain as they attempted to drive away from the courthouse. Eyewitness testimony suggests Haley was hit by fire discharged from a sawed-off shotgun that had been fastened to his neck with adhesive tape by the abductors. Thomas, Magee and one of the jurors were wounded. The case made national headlines. Angela Davis , who owned

2009-508: The scene as seeing three of his brothers having been "murdered [...] by a pig shooting from 30 feet above their heads with a military rifle." Following the incident, thirteen black prisoners began a hunger strike in the hopes of securing an investigation. On January 16, 1970, a Monterey County grand jury convened, then exonerated Miller in the deaths of Nolen, Edwards, and Miller with a ruling of " justifiable homicide ". No black inmates were permitted to testify, including those who had been in

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2058-478: The socioeconomic factors that led to their imprisonment in the first place. The Soledad Brothers Defense Committee was formed by Fay Stender and had many famous activists, celebrities, and writers join and support the committee. Among these activists was Angela Davis . Davis while working with the committee would eventually become a leader of the committee and become a close friend of Jackson. Jackson and Davis corresponded over letters frequently and Jackson had sent

2107-700: The tape in question, Jim Jones touches on several issues relating to Jackson, most notably Jones' firm belief that Jackson's death was a racist assassination. His admiration for the Black Panther activist on the tape is as clear as his disgust that one of his followers, Willie Malone, could think he was remotely in the same league as Jackson, and that it was "punks" like Malone who had sold Jackson out. Stanley Williams dedicated his 1998 book Life in Prison in part to George Jackson. In Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger 's response to Williams' appeal for clemency ,

2156-400: The trial of San Quentin inmate James McClain . Once inside Judge Haley's courtroom, Jackson drew a revolver and, aided by McClain and Black Panther inmates Ruchell Cinque Magee and William Arthur Christmas , took Judge Haley as well as Deputy District Attorney Gary Thomas and three female jurors hostage. They encouraged responding journalists to document their actions as they loaded

2205-570: The weapons used in the hostage taking, was later acquitted of conspiracy, kidnapping, and murder. A possible explanation for the gun connection is that Jonathan Jackson was her bodyguard . Magee, the sole survivor among the attackers, eventually pleaded guilty to aggravated kidnapping and was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1975. Magee was imprisoned for over 60 years. He was released in 2023 under California's compassionate release law passed that year. On August 21, 1971, Jackson met with attorney Stephen Bingham at San Quentin prison to discuss

2254-498: The yard. A fist fight ensued and Miller opened fire on the prisoners below. No warning shot was fired. Three black inmates were killed in the shooting: W.L. Nolen and Cleveland Edwards died in the yard, while Alvin Miller died in the prison hospital a few hours later. A white inmate, Billy D. Harris, was wounded in the groin by Miller's fourth shot, and ended up losing a testicle. In a letter from June 10, 1970, George Jackson described

2303-464: Was an American author, revolutionary, and convicted felon. While serving an indeterminate sentence for stealing $ 70 at gunpoint from a gas station in 1961, Jackson became involved in the Black power movement and co-founded the prison gang Black Guerrilla Family . In 1970, he was one of three prisoners known as Soledad Brothers , charged with the murder of correctional officer John Vincent Mills in

2352-589: Was described by white prison officials as egocentric and anti-social . In 1966, Jackson met and befriended W. L. Nolen , who introduced him to Marxist and Maoist ideology. The two founded the Black Guerrilla Family in 1966 based on Marxist and Maoist political thought. In speaking of his ideological transformation, Jackson remarked: "I met Marx , Lenin , Trotsky , Engels , and Mao when I entered prison and they redeemed me." In his 1972 book Blood in My Eye , Jackson describes himself as

2401-402: Was purported to have given a wig to Jackson in which to hide the gun. However, Bingham was found not guilty of this charge in an ensuing trial in 1986. Prison officials had claimed that as Jackson was attempting to leave his meeting with Bingham, a gun protruded from a wig he was wearing and Jackson was asked to show the object. With a gun in hand, Jackson released an entire floor of prisoners from

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