Black August began in the 1970s to mark the assassination of incarcerated political prisoners like the revolutionary organizer and writer George Jackson during a prison rebellion in California. Black August honors the freedom fighters, especially those inside the walls of our sprawling prison-industrial complex, who, with their vision, tenacity, and deep love for our communities, are leading us toward the horizon of abolition. The Center for Constitutional Rights is proud to be part of a rich legacy of inside-outside organizing to transform material conditions and build a world of collective safety without prisons, surveillance, and police.
This Black August we bring to you an episode discussing the ongoing inside-outside organizing taking place to put an end to involuntary servitude in prisons or, more appropriately named, prison slavery. We are proud to represent incarcerated workers in Alabama as they seek to abolish forced prison labor, and we will continue to support them until slavery is banned everywhere, once and for all, in all its forms – not just in the law but in practice.
Alabama is one of several states to join the growing movement to abolish prison slavery and involuntary servitude at the state and federal levels. Voters in Colorado, Nebraska, Oregon, Tennessee, Utah, and Vermont have approved similar changes to their states' constitutions to remove the loophole permitting slavery as a form of punishment for incarcerated people.
Speakers:
- Theeda Murphy - Abolish Slavery National Network, Organizer & Operations Manager
- Max Parthas - Abolish Slavery National Network, National Campaign Coordinator & Paul Cuffee Abolitionist Center in Sumter, SC., Acting Director
- Claude-Michael Comeau - Promise of Justice Initiative, Staff Attorney
Moderator:
- maya finoh, Political Education and Research Manager
Resources:
- Black August - A Celebration of Freedom Fighters Past and Present
- On Juneteenth, We Recommit to the Fight to Abolish Slavery in the U.S. in All Forms, Once and For All
- Incarcerated Workers Fighting to Abolish Involuntary Servitude in Alabama’s Prisons
- Stanley v. Ivey
- Imprisoned Workers Bring State Lawsuit to Abolish Involuntary Servitude in Alabama’s Prisons
- Promise of Justice Initiative’s End Plantation Prison Prisons project
- Abolish Slavery National Network
- California - Proposition 6 & Nevada - Question 4
- Quote: “The first revolution is when you change your mind about how you look at things, and see there might be another way to look at it that you have not been shown.” ― Gil Scott-Heron, Black Light: The African American Hero
- Juneteenth — Celebrating Black Resistance & Dreams of Freedom