Black August Page #2

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Sidle Jackson.

Listen up, warden.

Let's go.

You have two hours.

I got your letters.

I've been waiting a long time.

Maybe all my life, you know?

Fay and I have to talk over

a little piece of business first...

...and then we can jump right into it.

- Yeah.

A man was tear-gassed to death

this morning...

...and I'm organizing a protest.

- Well, we got a lot to talk about.

- Yeah.

- I got a lot of questions.

- Go ahead.

First, do you have any cigarettes?

Yeah.

Just...

I tear off the filters.

I ain't afraid of getting cancer.

I was born with it.

No, no, I quit a long time ago.

Well, you will live a long time.

Yeah. Okay then.

There, there.

- What the f*** is going on here?

- What?

I didn't write this stuff.

Whose handwriting is this?

It's mine.

- Who do you think you are, man?

- No, I'm just...

I'm trying to make the MS

more consistent so that we...

I'm not gonna have anybody

put a false face on me.

- Do you understand what I'm saying?

- I think, George, he's just trying to help.

I didn't come this far

to get sold down a river.

People have been trying to get me

to kowtow all my life.

They can eat sh*t. We'll get somebody else

to publish the book.

We can't.

We've already signed a contract.

I didn't sign no contract.

I signed it.

You gave me power of attorney.

Then you write the goddamn book.

Here.

- Is there a problem here?

- No, officer, everything's just fine.

- No, take me back to my cell.

- I'm sorry.

- Let's go, Jackson.

- George.

Geor...

F***.

- That could have gone better.

- Did he really need to be rewritten?

I didn't rewrite him.

I didn't rewrite him.

He has this raw eloquence and I'm just...

I was trying to shape it...

...and hone it and I overdid it.

I don't know.

What is the usual process

for a book like this?

I don't know, I've never...

I've never gone through it before.

What do you mean?

Basically, I'm a textbook editor.

- Textbooks?

- Most of my authors are academics.

I just... I've never worked on

a book like this before.

Can you just talk to him?

Look, if you just talk to him and you

explain to him and make him look at it...

...he'll see that I'm not trying

to change anything. I'm not.

I will try.

Can you come back with me tomorrow?

- Yeah.

- All right.

Let's go please.

Where'd you ever find him?

His company offered the most money

for the right to publish the book.

Since when do we make decisions

based on how much money is involved?

We need the money for the defense.

Can't you just give him another chance?

I got him waiting outside.

All right.

It wasn't easy but at least

he's agreed to see you.

Oh, Fay, thank you so much,

I really appreciate this.

- You okay?

- Yeah, no, I'm fine.

I just... You know,

I didn't sleep very much.

Sit down, Shakespeare.

Mr. Jackson, I understand your concerns.

- Who told you to censor my book?

- No one.

I'm not trying to censor anything. My

job is to just compile work and edit it.

That's it.

Then why did you rewrite my opening?

You know...

...at some point, I hope that you can

go back and look at the work that I did.

Because really, I did not fundamentally

change anything.

Fundamentally.

It's my first time

working on a book like this.

And I'm just trying too hard.

Did you bring the manuscript?

Yeah.

Okay, I'd like to ask you

some questions first.

Just for my own perspective.

Can you tell me the difference, if any...

...between the Black Guerilla Family

and the Black Panthers.

And I'm speaking specifically

in the context...

...of autonomous entities

and subdivisions of entities.

The Black Panther Party...

...was never intended to be...

...a military force.

They're the political arm.

The Black Guerilla Family...

...was destined...

...to be a clandestine military branch.

They're separated, so one can survive

if the other one is destroyed.

Where does

the Black Guerilla Family recruit?

Is it mostly in prison?

It's only in prison, man.

From the belly of the beast.

- Two, three, four, five, six, seven.

- Two.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven.

- How you feel?

- Fine, sir.

- How you feel?

- Fine, sir.

- Looking good.

- Thank you.

- Sound good.

- Thank you.

- Can't stop, won't.

- Machine.

- Can't stop, won't.

- Machine.

Listen up.

- African people took the stand.

- African people took the stand.

- African people took the stand.

- African people took the stand.

- In the struggle throughout the land.

- In the struggle throughout the land.

- African people had a plan.

- African people had a plan.

- Seize the time, take the land.

- Seize the time, take the land.

- Couldn't stop.

- Couldn't stop.

- Had to win.

- Had to win.

- Wouldn't stop.

- Wouldn't stop.

- Till the end.

- Till the end.

- Free again.

- Free again.

Tested by adversity.

Proven true.

Okay.

How old were you when you began

your stretch of continuous incarceration?

I was 18.

I was incarcerated under the term

of one-to-life. It's one-year-to-life.

I could have gotten out in one year.

Instead I've done 10.

It's more time than anybody in this state

has ever done on a one-to-life.

How would we do this if I wasn't here?

If I wasn't in the joint?

Well...

...usually I take authors out to lunch.

You know, we have editorial meetings.

- I guess we having that right now, huh?

- Yeah.

So, what happened to all the changes

that you made?

I changed it all back last night.

What do you publishers get out of this?

They think it will make money.

That's cold, man.

Well, book publishing, you know,

that's just a business like most. It doesn't...

It doesn't necessarily stop us

from doing it the right way though.

And what would be your first step

as to doing it the right way?

The letters need background so the readers

can make sense out of what's going on.

Because most of them,

they never been to prison before.

Okay.

Well, if there's any writing to be done,

I'm gonna do it myself.

Are you clear?

You are not gonna f*** with my book.

Yeah.

- Hey, how'd it go?

- Okay.

It's okay. Book's still alive.

- You two can work together?

- Yeah, I think so.

Okay, all right.

All right, this is home.

Steve. This is Steve Bingham.

He's working on the case.

This is David.

- Remember I told you about him?

- Yes.

Yes, great to meet you.

A few days after three black prisoners

are murdered...

...the DA announces

they're not gonna press charges.

Hi, Betty.

An hour later, a guard is strangled,

thrown off the tier.

The authorities go straight to George.

They say no one else could have done it.

Right? Then, they promise paroles

to anybody who will testify against him.

- I see.

- So all those guys that signed on...

...they're transferred to a facility

more like a country club.

- Right. Where they coach their testimony.

- Exactly.

And I can't wait

to get those punks on the stand.

Hey, I'd like to see the minutes

from the grand jury testimony if I could.

Absolutely, right this way.

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