Fighting Back Since 1619: Black August, Political Prisoners & the Fight for Socialism
The Socialist Program with Brian Becker
The Socialist Program
4.7 • 587 Ratings
🗓️ 16 August 2022
⏱️ 41 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The month of Black August focuses on the importance of the continued struggle for Black liberation and honors the lives and struggle of political prisoners—and calls for their freedom. While many have been released, like Albert Woodfox, who was released in 2016 and passed away earlier this month, many still linger behind bars, even in solitary confinement and in their 80s or sick. What does the ongoing treatment of these organizers and fighters tell us about the nature of the capitalist system and the tools that the ruling class fears the most?
Nicole Roussell is joined by Nino Brown, a member of the Jericho Movement, which organizes to free political prisoners, and an organizer for the Party for Socialism and Liberation.
Please make an urgently-needed contribution to The Socialist Program by joining our Patreon community at patreon.com/thesocialistprogram. We rely on the generous support of our listeners to keep bringing you consistent, high-quality shows. All Patreon donors of $5 a month or more are invited to join the monthly Q&A seminar with Brian.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | It's the middle of the month called Black August, which honors the lives and the struggle of political prisoners, |
| 0:06.6 | focuses on the importance of the continued struggle for black liberation, and calls for the freedom of all political prisoners. |
| 0:13.6 | We need a new system. We need a new society. We need to demand that which may have sounded impossible even a few weeks ago, but is not only realizable, but an imperative necessity. Welcome to the Socialist Program. I'm Nicole Roussel, a producer of the show. |
| 0:53.4 | If you enjoy or rely on the show or both, |
| 0:56.1 | please show your support by subscribing to our show on patreon.com slash the socialist program. |
| 1:01.9 | Today we'll be speaking to Nino Brown. He's a member of the Jericho movement, which organizes to |
| 1:06.4 | free political prisoners, and he's a longtime organizer for the party for socialism and liberation. |
| 1:11.7 | Nino, welcome to the show. |
| 1:13.1 | Glad to be here. |
| 1:14.4 | Well, like I said, in the introduction, I think there are a lot of people who are familiar |
| 1:18.7 | with Black August and a lot of people who probably aren't, but it's, you know, this month that |
| 1:23.1 | has a very, very deep history to it, and it honors, like I said, the lives and struggle of political |
| 1:28.8 | prisoners and really, you know, calls for freeing them. That's the phrase, free them all. And it focuses, |
| 1:34.7 | too, on the importance of the black struggle, of the struggle for black liberation, which is so |
| 1:38.7 | deeply intertwined with the U.S. capitalist racist system. Just to start off, what does Black August mean to you? |
| 1:46.6 | How do you, do you partake in the kind of mantra, the study, fast, train, fight? |
| 1:51.3 | Can you talk a little bit about that? |
| 1:52.5 | And sort of what does it mean to you when July 31st rolls around and August first hits? |
| 1:57.7 | Yeah. |
| 1:58.1 | So for me, Black August, you know, like you said, it's a time to study fast, reflect. |
| 2:04.4 | There are actually five tenants of Black August, the fasting abstaining from intoxicants, limiting |
| 2:11.7 | consumption of radio, TV, you know, things that distract us from making revolution in this country and |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Socialist Program, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of The Socialist Program and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.