As detailed on the Black Collective website, “Black August is honored every year to commemorate the fallen freedom fighters of the Black Liberation Movement.” Rather than simply being retrospective, the month is intended to be forward-looking, encouraging participants “to call for the release of political prisoners in the United States, to condemn the oppressive conditions of U.S. prisons” and to engage in other liberation-aimed political activities.

Black August was initially founded to commemorate the life and death of George Jackson, a San Quentin State prisoner who received a “one year to life sentence” in 1960 for an alleged $70 theft. Jackson immersed himself in Marxist and revolutionary ideology while in prison and eventually participated in an Aug. 12, 1971, armed prison escape attempt, during which he and several other prisoners were killed along with three guards. Black August started as a commemoration of Jackson and the other prisoners who lost their lives that day. The month is also dedicated to remembering Khatari Gaulden, who died at San Quentin on Aug. 1, 1978, after a prison yard accident for which he may not have received sufficient medical attention.

As a Teen Vogue article notes, the month of August has been pivotal to the centuries-long struggle for Black Freedom. From the Haitian Revolution to Nat Turner’s rebellion to the 1963 March on Washington, major events in the struggle have happened in August. Important individuals in the Black liberation struggle are also attached to the month. Marcus Garvey, James Baldwin and Fred Hampton are three of the Black leaders who had August birthdays, while W.E.B. Du Bois and Toni Morrison are among the prominent figures who died in August.

Though the people and events remembered during Black August may overlap with those of Black History Month, the two occasions are distinct given the liberation focus of Black August. Yet the two commemorations are not in competition. Both were developed around the same time. As CNN notes, the previous Negro History Week was expanded into Black History Month in 1976, around the same time that Black August was coalescing.

During Black August, honoring past Black activists and movements is a way to inspire and organize action. This year, activists and movements are calling for people to prepare themselves for future action as they observe Black August. The Black Collective has offered a list of articles, books and films to better educate people about Black August and the Black freedom struggle more generally. The Twitter account Afrofuturist Abolitionists of the Americas recommends a three-pronged commemoration of Black August, consisting of fasting, studying and training.

If u cant fast, substitute meditation or at least some kind of grieving or mourning or moment of silence type thing. I usually do ring shouts

If you can’t exercise or prepare for combat: there’s herbalist skills, medic skills. We should be doing skill shares during Black August pic.twitter.com/okqrnZzwmj

— Afrofuturist Abolitionists of the Americas (@AbolitionF_ists) August 4, 2022

With continuing police violence, voter suppression, racism and oppression still prevalent in the United States, the cause of Black liberation continues. Black August presents an opportunity to remember the activists and actions of those who came before us while building upon their legacies to expand the freedoms of Black people and everyone today.