George Jackson

He was shot to death at the San Quentin Prison at the age of 29, in what was believed to be an escape attempt. On August 28, 1971, his funeral was organised at the St. Augustine's Episcopal Church in Oakland, California.

In November 1971, singer Bob Dylan dedicated the song, ‘George Jackson’ in his honour. The song was about his life and death.

In 1972, Archie Shepp, a saxophone player dedicated most parts of his album, ' Attica Blues' in his honour.

George Lester Jackson was born in Chicago, Illinois, United States to Lester and Georgia Bea Jackson. He had four siblings.

Since there were several juvenile convictions against him, including assault, burglary and armed robbery, he had to go to the California Youth Authority Corrections facility in Paso Robles for a while.

In 1961, he was sentenced to prison for a year for armed robbery. At the age of eighteen, he had robbed gas from a gas station, putting employees at the station at gun point.

At the San Quentin State Prison, he became a part of a revolutionary group and simultaneously assaulted many prison guards and inmates. This was the reason his imprisonment was extended.

In 1966, while still in prison, he became acquainted with W.L. Nolen, who played a crucial role in introducing him to the Marxist and Maoist ideology. The duo soon formed a close friendship.

In 1966, along with W.L. Nolen, he co-founded the African-American Marxist revolutionary organization, ‘The Black Guerrilla Family'. At that time they were still in prison.

After he became involved in ‘The Black Guerrilla Family', he became more disciplined as a person and spent much of his time studying political economy and radical theory.

Spending more and more time in solitary confinement he began to read voraciously. He also wrote many letters to his friends and supporters. These were later published as books, 'Soledad Brother' and 'Blood in My Eye'.

It is believed that after he met Huey Percy Newton in jail, he became a part of the 'Black Panther Party. Newton was the co-founder of the 'Black Panther Party', a black revolutionary socialist organization.