Black August Page #5

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- Power to the people.

- So he looked all right?

- Jonathan? Oh, yeah.

Because for a while there, I thought

he was getting too skinny, you know?

Too pale.

Did any of my uncles try to give you

any of that fire water?

Yeah, but I stayed away.

You're a smart man.

I'm telling you.

What else?

Just this.

So I'd like to choose a letter

addressing the events...

...leading up

to the Soledad guard murder.

All right.

You've already stated your respect

for Bill Nolan.

I'm curious about

what your connection was over time.

Well...

...we work well together.

We were friends.

With him, I first realized...

...how to organize the brothers,

in body and mind.

Pick your man and go.

After that, happened, man,

we all took notice, you know?

We had to. They were one step away

from lining us up and shooting us all.

And we watched, we waited for them

to punish those guards...

...who had killed those

three beautiful comrades.

I had already done a year

for every $ 10 that I stole.

I figured a three-time murderer...

...would get some kind of punishment,

you know?

There was still a shred of

naivet in me, I guess.

In a lot of the younger brothers as well...

...but we would have never admitted it.

Thank you for your time away from post

to help in these proceedings.

Your cooperation

and your professionalism...

...has helped produce

a swift and efficient review.

Now, in this incident in Soledad

in January 13, 1969...

...the inmates killed were involved in the

act of attempted murder in the prison yard.

This officer's fire prevented this

and is therefore valid.

The inquiry's ruling:

Justifiable homicide.

These dudes who call themselves

Hitler's Helpers...

...were gonna lynch a black guy

when we were having a strike.

Pigs put them up to it.

They got ropes and knives and stuff and

they were actually gonna hang this guy.

When I saw what was happening...

...there were 20 of them.

But I'm the one charged with assault

by day's end.

That's how it works here,

you dig what I'm saying?

Yeah, motherf***er.

It could have been anyone, man.

Even the white guys we were fighting

in the yard that day were enraged.

Clearly, someone in Soledad

had a message about justice, you know?

What was that message?

If they were gonna off us

no matter what...

...we make sure the other side

joins in the dying.

All the convicts were glad it happened.

All of them, man. Black, white, whatever.

Myself included.

I've read the grand jury testimony.

It's...

...bullshit.

It seems completely contradictory.

Fay really thinks she's gonna win this.

You're gonna get out of here.

Nobody knows what happened in that wing,

man, except those that were there.

In a place with so many rats

and weak people...

...you would never kill a pig

unless it was a dead secret.

In that grand jury testimony, only

thing that the witnesses correlate to...

...is that there were three men

involved.

And those three men were told

to name by the warden's goons.

- You understand what I'm saying?

- Yeah, but...

- Time's up.

- No. I thought we had an hour.

- It's been maybe 20 minutes.

- You signed in exactly an hour ago.

Yeah, then you made me wait 40 minutes

until you brought Mr. Jackson over.

Please, sir. I have your signature

on the sign-in sheet.

I'll see you soon, man.

Yeah.

You some kind of third-world traitor?

You know the routine, killer.

Man, one day the unjust will be

dealt with by whipping.

Hey.

- Hey, stop. Hey, you f***ing stop.

- You ain't helping.

- Get him off of me.

- You can't f*** me, b*tch.

- Let him go.

- Hey, will you get off of me?

- You ain't sh*t, man.

- Get him up.

- Get him up.

- We'll meet in the yards, motherf***er.

I couldn't believe it.

I'd never seen anything like that before.

I'm yelling and I was banging on the door

and they didn't f***ing care, you know?

I mean, they just didn't...

It's just nothing.

Listen, I've seen that before.

You have to remember that George

is resilient, he'll be all right.

And tomorrow I will file a writ

against the prison...

...and we'll call a press conference.

Are you willing to describe what you saw?

Okay. That's all we can do.

That's all we can do now.

You'll have to visit here.

There's no other space.

Mr. Jackson will be down in a moment.

- So you saw that, huh?

- Yeah.

I heard you shouting.

You gave me heart, man.

Next time I'll take out the whole lot

of them for you.

I did that for you, you know.

Next time why don't you give me

some warning, huh?

So you don't scare me to death.

I'll check this...

Hey, those are legal papers.

You have no right...

These papers are going to the warden.

I'll be right back.

Dear David...

...one of the greatest writers of us all,

Huey P., stated:

People respect the expression of dignity

and strength displayed by men and women...

...who refuse to bow to the weapons

of oppression.

I salute your resolve to gain back

from my omnipotent keepers...

...the memorialized words of one righteous

and angry black man.

George.

Good job.

Good job.

Let's get back to work, shall we?

- Mom, I'm gonna go out, okay?

- Where do you think you're going?

I'm gonna go out.

- What?

- You think I don't notice things, but I do.

Jonathan, you haven't done

any homework for weeks.

First of all, you gotta stop spying

on me, okay?

- I still feel like a little baby in this house.

- Jonathan.

Look, I'm old enough to do

what I wanna do.

Can I go out now?

Can I go out now?

This is a government filibuster.

It's not a segregationist filibuster.

It's a government filibuster.

Any kind of activity that takes place on

the floor of the Congress or the Senate...

...that's the government.

Any kind of dilly-dallying,

that's the government.

Any kind of p*ssy-footing,

that's the government.

Any kind of act that's designed

to delay or deprive...

...you and me right now

of getting full rights...

...that's the government

that's responsible.

And any time you find the government

involved in a conspiracy...

...to violate the citizenship

or the civil rights of people...

...then you are wasting your time...

...going to that government

and expecting redress.

Instead, you have to take that...

- Hey, what's going on?

- Comrade Jonathan.

- Welcome to the revolution.

- Oh, thank you.

Crimes that it is guilty of today.

So those of us whose political

and economic and social philosophy...

...is Black Nationalism...

- This way.

- Have become involved

in the civil rights struggle.

We have injected ourselves

into the civil rights struggle.

- You got a nice place here.

- Thanks.

- From the level of civil rights

to the level of human rights.

- Hold up a sec, I gotta get something.

- Okay, that's fine.

- On the level of civil rights,

you're under Uncle Sam's jurisdiction.

You're going to his court expecting him

to direct the problem.

He created the problem.

He's the criminal.

You don't take your case to the criminal.

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