Black August, a month of commemoration, was established in the 1970s by the Black Guerrilla Family (BGF), a Marxist-Leninist prison gang. The BGF formed in California prisons during the 1960s and 1970s, with members banding together to defend themselves against assaults and murders by the Aryan Brotherhood and sympathetic guards.
According to community organiser Jalil Muntaqim, the group decided to commemorate the deaths of their comrades Jonathan Jackson, George Jackson, and Khatari Gaulden. George Jackson, a field marshal of the Black Panther party, was killed in San Quentin prison on 21 August 1971. Jonathan Jackson was killed on 7 August 1970, and Khatari Gaulden died in San Quentin prison on 1 August 1978.
Since its inception, Black August has expanded beyond prison walls and is now observed by both incarcerated and non-incarcerated individuals. Commemorations involve studying, meditating, and honing activism, often pushing for the release of Black political and revolutionary leaders, many of whom are now elderly and in failing health.