my Black August Mixtape
resharing an urgent ask for my e-cousin Ande and their sib Eje, please donate and circulate this graphic with your networks so that they have the means to easefully transition to México by Monday 8/28/2023! (goal: $2000)
venmo: @flowwithday
cashapp: $flowwithday
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bonjour, mes bonbons!
welcome to another issue of returning to the Source! i hope this finds U feeling footloose and fancyfree as we tinker our way through the back-end of summer. as U might be able to surmise from the title (inspired by the 2011 documentary The Black Power Mixtape), this issue will be all about Black August, specifically the multimedia collection of resources that fueled my study this month.
for context: i visited Philadelphia for the first time in July to celebrate my homie Ingrid for their debut art exhibition Pitch Blue which was absolutely stunning. i also wanted to soak in all the city had to offer regarding its rich Black politico-cultural histories/presences/futures, so i made it a priority to stop by the Paul Robeson House while out in West Philly. because i'd showed up somewhat unexpectedly, there wasn't a docent onsite to give me a guided tour of all the rooms, but Ms. Janice (the executive director) was gracious enough to let me move through on my own. i was actually glad it worked out that way because i enjoyed having the freedom to move through at my own pace.
the room i spent the most time in was the one dedicated to Robeson's political impact, though the rooms on his lineage and his career as a musician and actor were undeniably compelling. i pored over the binder detailing his conscientization, international solidarity work, and the repression he faced during the McCarthy era, but i was just as fascinated by a book resting on a table at the opposite end of the room: Fifty Years Ona Move: The History of the Philadelphia Based MOVE Organization. i stood there and read every page, realizing there was so much i didn't know about how the Africa family suffered from brute state violence, like the August 1978 raid that came seven years before the infamously devastating bomb the city dropped on their home, not to mention Mumia Abu-Jamal's journalistic efforts to humanize and rally support for the family in the wake of said raid. days later, i came across a pop-up book sale where i found one of Mumia Abu-Jamal's many titles, and the seed for what i'd do for Black August planted itself and began to germinate.
back in 2021, i did a three-day vow of silence during Black August while traveling alone to Detroit; though i was studying in my own way by reading Chinua Achebe and Saidiya Hartman, i'd be hard-pressed to say i was fully in the spirit of commemorating Black political prisoners and exiles. i wanted this Black August to be different though: i decided to up my time of silence to a week (starting under the auspices of August 16th's new moon) and commit myself daily to deep study, introspection, and meditation. below you'll find pretty much everything i dug into while i kept my mouth shut and mind open - enjoy!
A-Side (resources that i finished or have started in earnest)
readings
Death Blossoms by Mumia Abu-Jamal
this collection of essays was the one that jumped out at me as i stopped by that pop-up book shop in West Philly. inside, he reflects on faith, family, nature, isolation, life, death, and everything in between.
here's a picture of my feline companion Zara posted up with my copy. she's a very studious reader!
We Are Our Own Liberators by Jalil Muntaqim
i dusted this book off once i finished Death Blossoms, and i've been meticulously making my way through this treasure trove of theoretical and poetic writings completed by Muntaqim while he was incarcerated.
if i may loop back to the context shaping my Black August study: Paul Robeson and William Patterson submitted a book-length petition titled "We Charge Genocide: The Crime of Government Against Negro People" to the United Nations, implicating the United States in countless acts of genocidal brutality against Black people in the US. in the spirit of carrying on that tradition (to borrow Assata Shakur's words), Muntaqim currently spearheads the Spirit of Mandela campaign as a freed man with the aims of charging the United States with genocide once again.
Assata Shakur's report and recommendations on COINTELPRO
"Nehanda Abiodun Story" and "Life Underground" by Nehanda Abiodun
Black August, COINTELPRO & Learning The Important Lessons (Ahjamu Uni, Hood Communist)
Panther Sisters on Women's Liberation (September 1969)
Black Community Newsletter: Awakening of a Dragon (July 1975)
a heartfelt memorial for Saundra Pratt
i assume this was penned by Geronimo Ji-Jaga Pratt because of the lines "My Revolutionary Mate - My Other Half." may they both rest in power and in each others arms.
movies & videos
recorded lectures from The People's Forum's Revolutionary Summer School on Pan-Africanism and the Struggle for Our Future
since it's impossible to separate anti-Black state violence within the US from the neocolonial rampages the US enacts on nations across the globe, specifically on the African continent, i spent a lot of my time catching up on content from TPF's six-week summer school. right now, i have 1.5 lectures left from Week 5: The Imperialist Assault and i'm taking notes furiously!
if U peeped the orientation packet linked above and you're interested in digging into the content yourself, the password to the student portal is "forourfuture" (without quotation marks).
Nehanda & Assata: Beyond Symbolism and Hashtags
i watched this teach-in earlier on in the month and it was an informative, intergenerational conversation that encouraged participants to expand their knowledge of revolutionaries Assata Shakur and Nehanda Abiodun beyond surface-level aestheticization that is so commonplace in the digital era. i highly recommend tuning in!
The Pendleton 2: They Stood Up
BIG content warning for footage of George Floyd's murder included in the first 2-3 minutes, as well as blurred out background footage of prison guards using violence against incarcerated people interspersed throughout the documentary.
Call Me Nuh & Nuh's Last Statement
these 10 minute videos are companions. Nuh Washington was arrested along with Jalil Muntaqim and Herman Bell on August 28, 1971 (the same day as George Jackson's funeral) and charged with killing of two police officers. Nuh shares his perspectives with principle and measure in both interviews, clearly weathered by age and the ravages of needless captivity in the second (filmed twelve years later shortly before his death). there's an understandably mournful air near the end as he reminds the viewers that the revolution never dies because it's ideas live within the people, and that we have the duty to keep passing the torch.
podcasts
almost each day of my vow of silence (before foot and ankle pain started up again), i took a long walk around my neighborhood with an episode of the Groundings podcast playing as the soundtrack.
Dr. Akinyele Umoja was also featured in the COINTELPRO 101 documentary as an interviewee!
poetry
the apocalypse by Devyn Springer
this poem (from one of the hosts of Groundings) is a heavy-hitter that speaks for itself. content warning for references to many instances of Black death.
music
though i'm calling this issue a mixtape, i actually refrained from listening to music (other than solfeggio frequencies) during my vow of silence. i still have recommendations though!
The Lumpen, the Black Panthers' short-lived four-piece funk band
linked the article above, U can listen to "Free Bobby Now" and "No More" on youtube, but i wish a copy of "Ol' Pig Nixon" existed somewhere!
TPF Revolutionary Summer School Playlist
each lecture started with a song from an African or Afro-diasporic musician, and one of the students compiled the songs in one place for (y)our listening pleasure.
Attica Blues by Archie Shepp
created months after the Attica uprising spurred on by George Jackson's assassination (in addition to already-existing tensions between folks incarcerated there and the guards), Shepp's album is not only a forlorn, forward-looking ode to the martyrs who lost their lives in the line of the state's fire, but also an urgent call to action.
my entry point to this album was actually the final track. Waheeda Massey, daughter of composer Cal Massey, lends her vocals and closes Attica Blues with a sweet and childlike yet unwavering determination that lingers with you long after the track ends.
B-Side (resources i haven't gotten to quite yet but i plan to soon because the spirit of learning from and supporting Black political prisoners transcends the limits of a single month)
readings
New Observations Magazine - Let the Walls Come Tumbling Down: Free All Political Prisoners Now! (Jericho Movement, May 2023 issue)
"Making it Happen, Mama: A Conversation with Miss Major" (a chapter in Captive Genders: Trans Embodiment and the Prison Industrial Complex)
i've admired just about everything i've learned about Miss Major, but one of the facts of her life that highlights the interconnected nature of Black revolutionary legacies is how she was radicalized inside prison by Frank "Big Black" Smith, who was one of the key leaders of the Attica uprisings.
please note that clicking this link will automatically download a PDF onto your device.
movies & videos
MOVE: Confrontation in Philadelphia
this documentary has been split up into eight parts that should add up to 62 minutes, i hope it's legit!
this documentary is also about the 1985 bombing of the MOVE house.
Charisse Shumate: Fighting for Our Lives
Freedom Archives distributed this documentary about Charisse Shumate, incarcerated for the actions she took to survive intimate partner violence. she devoted much of her time inside to "challenging the medical neglect and abuse of women prisoners."
All Power to the People: The Black Panther Party and Beyond
i was already curious about this documentary whenever i found it scouring the web for stuff to watch this month, but my interest grew even more when i came back across Joy James' essay "Airbrushing Revolution for the Sake of Abolition." therein, she discusses how Elaine Brown threatened to sue her back in 1998 for wanting to screen the movie with a panel of former political prisoners because it includes a clip of someone rightfully criticizing Brown for once being romantically involved with a whole ass FBI/CIA agent. tea!
podcasts
Millennials Are Killing Capitalism
Revolutionary Left Radio
Blood in My Eye: The Black Colony, Revolutionary Strategy, and Dual Power & Blood in My Eye: On Fascism and Class Warfare
two installments of a mini-series on George Jackson's Blood in My Eye
music
"Miriam's Goodbye to Africa" by Miriam Makeba
i've technically been familiar with this song for years ever since i've seen Mama Africa. though Makeba performed this song in reference to fleeing South Africa due to apartheid-era repression, the lyrics apply to so many who have been exiled or captured for their political activity. may they return home safely one day if they have not already gone home in the meta/physical sense.
Goodbye Mother
Goodbye Father
And to you my little baby
Goodbye
Until we meet againFarewell dear friends
I am leaving
May the good Lord be with you all
Though I'm leaving
My heart remains with you
i hope this mixtape serves U like it's served me, and i hope you'll find outlets for uniting study with action (aka praxis) like i will soon!
until next time,
Dkéama