This resource generating campaign will have a clear purpose to support the care needs of Political prisoners and movement elders impacted by this work and who are not having their elder care needs met whether while incarcerated or returned home. This will be rooted to an ecosystem wide resource generation model, as an alternative tool for fundraising in times of restricted, declining and retreating resource pools and shifting landscapes which are moving away from supporting liberatory political activities.
This fund will support care needs, wellness, healing, medical and spiritual care. Including campaign support, family support for those currently incarcerated or impacted by the prison industrial complex and movement repression. This fund is held closely by M4BL, COMMUNITY AID AND DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION MXGM and Black August leadership counsel.
Community Aid and Development Corporation (CAD) is a qualified 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt organization and donations are tax-deductible to the full extent allowed under the law.
“In August 1979, the first official Black August took place. The brothers and political family members who participated in the collective-founding of Black August wore black armbands on their left arm and studied revolutionary works, particularly those of Comrade George Jackson, many participated in the fasting for Ramadan. During the month of August, the brothers did not listen to the radio or watch television, additionally, they didn’t eat or drink anything from sun-up to sundown; and loud and boastful behavior was not allowed. Support for the prison’s canteen was also disavowed. The use of drugs and alcoholic beverages was prohibited, and the brothers held daily exercises to sharpen their minds, bodies, and spirits in honor of the collective principles of self-sacrifice, inner fortitude and revolutionary discipline needed to advance the New Afrikan struggle for self-determination and freedom. Black August therefore became a commemorative time for us to embrace the principles of communion, unity, self-sacrifice, political education, physical training and determined resistance. A select few community members joined in solidarity.”
Building Black power in the United States is a long-term project—hundreds of years to date. From enslaved Africans to today’s organizers in defense of Black lives, Black people have organized and challenged white supremacists’ conditions of domination and assimilation. In doing so, we advance our efforts toward liberation and self-determination for Black communities. But we lose folks along the way. Countless named and unnamed freedom fighters have been murdered, exiled, or unjustly persecuted by the state for their beliefs and disappeared into cages, never to be seen again. We honor their sacrifices, grieve their loss, and express deep gratitude for all their contributions.
August is a special month for Black power building. Revolutionary moments such as the Watts Uprising, Haitian Revolution, Nat Turner Rebellion, Fugitive Slave Law Convention, and March on Washington all happened in August. Additionally many of our revolutionaries, such as Marcus Garvey, Marsha P. Johnson, and Fred Hampton, were born in August.
More than fifty years after the first Black August, our movement continues the Black August legacy of commemoration by amplifying our history of resistance and creating spaces for Black people to come together in community and honor the legacies of freedom fighters who languish in cages or have been killed by the state. And collectively studying, fasting, training and fighting together.
