Each year during the month of August, Black communities, revolutionaries, and social justice advocates hold space to acknowledge, honor, and refuel the legacy of Black resistance and struggle against racial oppression, imprisonment, and injustice in the United States. For Black August 2020, Design as Protest created a series to share some of the historic August moments of riot, rebellion, and resistance as they relate to the Design Justice Demands and the current national uprising against police brutality and racial violence.

Black August Origins

On August 21, 1971, political prisoner, author, and activist, George Jackson, was assassinated while attempting to escape California’s San Quentin State Prison. After being sentenced in 1961 for armed robbery, he became a revolutionary and organized Black and Brown prisoners and activists around prison abolition through his letters and books, Soledad Brother and Blood in My Eye. Following the death of George, his brother, and other prisoners, prisoners and abolitionists amplified the fight for freedom against systemic racism through Black August.

BLACK AUGUST & DESIGN JUSTICE

Design Justice demands we cease our support of the carceral state through the design of prisons, jails, and police stations. All of these spaces inflict harm and extraction on black bodies far beyond that of other communities. Black August grounds the fight against systemic racism and the carceral state, which inflicts harm and extraction on black bodies far beyond that of other communities.

Design Justice also demands we advocate for policies and procedures that support an accessible public realm free from embedded oppression. Whether through marches, protests, or rebellions, historic Black August moments illustrate how the built environment serves as space for resistance and the pursuit of Black freedom.

Design Justice demands our cities and towns reallocate funds supporting police and reinvest in the critical needs of disinherited neighborhoods and communities. Black August reveals a moment for the design profession to acknowledge, reverse, and heal the ways it has contributed to structural injustice and divestment across communities.

BLACK AUGUST ACTIONS YOU CAN TAKE

Advocate for decarceration by supporting the efforts of local prison abolition and racial justice organizations in your communities.
Join the March on Washington on August 28 and attend national M4BL Black August efforts.
Participate in fasting, self-discipline, and learning as an observation of Black August’s spirit of reflection.
Read Soledad Brother: The Prison Letters of George Jackson.
Watch Black August (2007).