Today marks the start of Black August, a yearly commemoration and solidarity practice in Black liberation that consists of studying, training, fasting and fighting. If you've never heard of Black August, then here's some background, which I've adapted from the Black August Planning Organization, which you can check out here 👉🏾 https://blackaugustpo.org/about-black-august/
From BAPO:
"Since 1979, we have used the month of August to focus on the oppressive treatment of our brothers and sisters disappeared inside the state-run gulags and concentration camps America calls 'prisons.' It is during this time that we concentrate our efforts to free our mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, uncles, aunts, and all other captive family and friends who have been held in isolation for decade after decade beyond their original sentence.
Black August is a month of great commemorative significance for the Afrikan peoples of the Diaspora, particularly those in the U.S., and especially the California prison isolation units, where the commemorative tradition originated. Black August, as noted by one our most dedicated New Afrikan Freedom Fighters, Mumia Abu-Jamal 'is a month of divine meaning, of repression and radical resistance, of injustice and divine justice, of repression and righteous rebellion, of individual and collective efforts to free the slaves and break the chains that bind us.'
The contemporary historical roots of Black August can be found in the actions of Jonathan Jackson, who was gunned down outside the Marin County California courthouse on August 7, 1970 as he attempted to liberate three imprisoned Black liberation fighters: James McClain, William Christmas and Ruchell Magee. Jonathan was 17.
Ruchell Magee (who was, after 67 years, finally released on July 21st of this year), is the sole survivor of the August 7th rebellion. He is the former co-defendant of Angela Davis and was locked down for 67 of his 84 years, most of it in solitary confinement in the SHU (Security Housing Units program) in Pelican Bay. George Jackson was assassinated on August 21, 1971 by San Quentin prison guards. The assassination was a deliberate move on behalf of the US government to eliminate the revolutionary leadership of George Jackson."
Okay, it's Ti speaking again. If you've never read George Jackson's Blood in My Eye, which also contains writings from Jonathan Jackson, I've attached it here, since this book is remarkably difficult to find in libraries (can't imagine why that might be...). This text is, in my opinion, critical reading for revolutionaries. If you've never heard of Black August before, Blood in My Eye is probably the best place to start.
This is not for book club. I just think everyone should understand what Black August is, and that it is not "another Black History Month," nor is it something to be pimped and sold. If even one of you reads a revolutionary text this month and/or learns something about our people behind the wall as political prisoners, then that is the reason for this post. 🖤
The shit I’m loving rn 👇🏾
Red Zinger (I can’t find it locally, so I got mine at Vitacost) - https://rstyle.me/+xzK2pEQdHnYIEBscKYZ1tA
Aussie 3 Minute Miracle Curls at Target - https://rstyle.me/+HgLD-KLAB9LvmDBpthojSw
and at Walmart - https://rstyle.me/+MnysvO18mKWk59ORB2XFrQ
Dr. Natural Unscented Castile Soap at Vitacost - https://rstyle.me/+xdG7AlBQXWV_tDBU2COeuw
and at Walmart - https://rstyle.me/+HN-sksLhQltDZrh91DaGlQ
Cocofloss Cocoshine Toothpaste - https://bit.ly/3CuWIhj
CVS also now stocks their floss, if you just want to start with that - https://rstyle.me/+CW93CTQB7mgjhSZQkyOxsw
Sea Buckthorn Fruit Oil (suspiciously hard to find links for the one I have right now; I hope this isn’t being discontinued…) but Skinstore has it - https://rstyle.me/+p0dcHpso_dk-oiomhAvqUg
and I did find this one from another brand at Vitacost - https://rstyle.me/+YSLet7QOpEgbC9qvvaVggg
And I also said I would link the Jordan Samuel Skin Antioxidant Treatment Emulsion, so ...
Whew, chillay! This daily steps challenge has been transformative, and I'm really grateful for the experience. Please don't forget to 👍🏾 this post, and let me know below if y'all would want semi-regular ongoing check-ins (bi-weekly? weekly?), to keep up our steps together. 👇🏾💬
Here's the link to the Olaplex deals on Ulta* 👉🏾 https://rstyle.me/+bZMVec6R3ghMiWjUn1fetw
NOT sponsored, YES referral link. I did purchase everything shown, I'm just sharing the deal, in case you wanna cop and save some dough.
It's day 5 of my "10K steps by 10AM for 10 days" #fitness #challenge, which means that if you started your version of this with me on March 1st, we're officially halfway through our quest to 👏🏾 GET 👏🏾 THESE 👏🏾 STEPS!
I've done a lot of fitness challenges over the years, and this is easily one of my favorites (perhaps thee number one favorite!), ever. It's just so simple. There aren't a bunch of rules or opportunities to fall short day-to-day, which is making it very effective for me to commit to and succeed in using this as a launchpad for an overall lifestyle/routine change.
How youse doin'? 👇🏾💬
We'll vote on our next book club book live at our meeting (not this Saturday, but next Saturday the 19th), for Afterlives by Abdulrazak Gurnah. The Zoom link will be posted soon, so be on the lookout.
More on Afterlives: https://bookshop.org/a/21601/9780593541883
We're back to nonfiction for this poll, with a mix of runners-up from our last nonfiction vote, as well as some first time nominees. As always, feel free to nominate books for future polls (FICTION OR NONFIC -- both are welcome) in the comments below!
Check out the nominees to sort out how you'd like to vote next Saturday, and hit the ❤️ or 👍🏾 if you see something you like!
• Revolutionary Suicide by Huey P. Newton (Lisa’s pick) - https://bookshop.org/a/21601/9780143105329
• An Ugly Truth: Inside Facebook's Battle for Domination by Cecilia Kang and Sheera Frenkel (Rebekah’s pick) - https://bookshop.org/a/21601/9780062960689
• Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann (Lisa P.’s pick) - ...
Am I the only one who feels like we were discussing our Q2 book just a couple of weeks ago??? Q3 flew by, and now it's time to continue our exploration of this year's Classics Club theme: voices of the Afrikan diaspora. This Saturday, we're discussing Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga.
Classics Club 2024 syllabus and meeting dates: https://www.patreon.com/posts/96584821
As a reminder, you are always welcome to join us if you didn't finish (or didn't start) the book. FYI, though they unfortunately do not have the ebook, Hoopla does have the audiobook available. So, if audiobooks are good with you, here it is: https://www.hoopladigital.com/audiobook/nervous-conditions-tsitsi-dangarembga/14345481
We're Zooming on Saturday, September 28th at 10:00a Pacific. See you then, and here go the Zoom tings:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86420287191?pwd=xYB3i6Wc6RgbHbLdpPzahWtmaVObL4.1
Meeting ID: 864 2028 7191
Passcode: nyasha
We'll vote on our next book club book live at our meeting this Saturday for How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair (Zoom link was posted yesterday).
We're back to fiction for this poll, with our first runner-up from the last fiction poll, as well as having 2 classic titles (of wildly varying merit 😂) in the mix.
Feel free to nominate books for future polls in the comments below (but please not via DMs; it's easiest for me to keep track of nominations when they're all in one place). If you want to nominate more than 1 book, simply list the titles you'd like to nominate in the order of highest to lowest priority. Put the book(s) you're most keen to read at the top of your list!
Check out the nominees below (those 👇🏾 are referral links, fyi!) to sort out how you'd like to vote on Saturday, and hit the ❤️ if you see something you like!
Afterlives by Abdulrazak Gurnah (Veronica's pick) - https://bookshop.org/a/21601/9780593541883
James by Percival Everett (Lisa P.’s pick) -...
