I many times
have drawn from George Jackson in my posts/articles, but no amount of lil citations
or lonely articles can do his political contribution real justice. His knowledge
is critical in our current period of a never-ending war waged all over the
world against us Black folk. He always drew on the best of Malcolm X in his blistering
critiques of the bankrupt left and Black opportunists that would become our Black
misleadership class.
But perhaps the greatest gift Jackson gave to me
personally was his deep knowledge of strategy and organization. Throughout “Blood
in My Eye” you can find entire sections dedicated to urban guerrilla warfare (much
needed right now) and political organization. Jackson came to the conclusion
that a revolutionary movement required three elements: an above ground
organization that carries out political work, an independent media, and an
underground organization committed to creating crises for the establishment. Hum……..Tea
Party!
He went further
and emphasized the necessity of ideology and demands. DEMANDS!!
According to
brother George, without either, those attracted to the struggle for justice
will merely become "Amerikans" again after each demonstration,
protest, or political activity. For Jackson, the revolutionary task was to
develop soldiers for freedom, while "Amerikans" are at any given
moment subject to performing duties as soldiers for the racist American Empire.
Get it? Hum…………………………….
Jackson's
organizational skills and revolutionary ideology inspired the mutinous prison
movement of the 60's and 70's. When Jackson was murdered, the majority of Attica
prisoners fasted in tribute to his life. (Majority) A week later, they conducted
a heroic rebellion for dignity behind the walls, and later state sanctioned massacred.
(Assassinated) For you youngsters this is popularly known as the Attica
Rebellion. That was then, this is motherfuckin now. Most Black folk who live in
America have never heard of George Jackson. His work has been continually repressed
by imperialism along with the ideas that his struggle represented.
Current
conditions in America certainly reflect much of what Jackson wrote in his essay
"After the Revolution Has Failed." In this chapter, Jackson concludes
that a combination of reform and repression set back the revolutionary struggle.
This same analysis remains important today. Rapid technological changes,
austerity, stop and frisk, mass police surveillance, and the killing of unarmed
Black men have taken their toll on Black folk’s consciousness. These are but a
few changes that arose in concert with the growth of a labor and Black
misleadership class to blunt the revolutionary consciousness of oppressed people
in America.
As
developments such as Black Lives Matter continue to form an identity under the
conditions of 21st century racism, a return to the works of George Jackson will
give us a critical lesson on the importance of political consciousness in the
fight for a new world. As Jackson notes, “We are faced with the task of a
raising a positive mobilization of revolutionary consciousness in a mass that
has ‘gone through’ a contra-positive, authoritarian process.” DAMN!!!
Did yawl know
that brother George’s corpse was thrown on top of 99 books that he kept in his
cell directly after his assassination? His deep knowledge of history and theory
helped him forge the first theoretical framework of the Mass Black
Incarceration State. Jackson also made critical contributions to revolutionary
strategy in his analysis of guerrilla warfare and political organization. One
of his most important contributions to the struggle today is the work he put in
to build unity among the oppressed and clarity on the character of the
oppressor state. Although much has changed since his death, racist actions by
the right have become more common and acute. We must introduce revolutionaries
such as George Jackson in any conversation about building a radical movement in
this time so that more like him can develop in the flesh. GEORGE JACKSON’S LIFE
TRULY MATTERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
