Rumbling - Poster of the Week

Updated: Aug 23

Rumbling

Mark Kent, Inkworks Press

Offset, 1971

Berkeley, California, United States

31894

Correction:

This Poster of the Week was incorrectly dated as 1971. The poster was actually printed in 1975. CSPG regrets the error, and thank Lincoln Cushing for bringing it to our attention.

Poster text:

Hurl me into the next existence, the descent into hell won't turn me. I'll crawl back to his trial forever. I'm part of a righteous people who anger slowly, but rage undammed. We'll gather at his door in such a number that the rumbling of our feet will make the earth tremble. - George Jackson

In the past month, we find ourselves in a place where Sonya Massey can be murdered in her home while calling for help. In a country where the Biden-Harris administration has approved a $20 billion long-term arms deal with Israel, as Palestinian peoples are being starved, dehydrated, and bombed. In a world where Sudanese children are being displaced by the ten thousands everyday—and it isn’t in the headlines. It’s painfully enraging. How do we get out of this place?

Maybe first we could reorient ourselves in time. It's currently Black August. This month is a time to remember and honor past and present Black political prisoners and their contributions to liberation. We do this through hosting reading circles, writing a political prisoner, gathering in remembrance, the list can go on. So for today, let’s recenter a moment to move forward by looking back at George Jackson’s Legacy.

George Jackson was an activist, a son, a revolutionary, a friend, an intellectual, and a political prisoner. In 1960, he was incarcerated for stealing $70, and spent 10 years in prison, 7 of which were in solitary confinement. During his incarceration in Soledad Prison, he radicalized himself through his readings of philosophy, social theory, and poetry.

While incarcerated, Jackson began to radicalize other inmates, joined the Black Panthers, and had deep political discussions through letters (including some with Angela Davis). In 1971 he was killed in an escape attempt. His spirit and political thought continue to contribute to prison abolitionist thought, inspire prison strikes, and of course inspire this month we know as Black August.

In his (paraphrased) words on the poster, the spirit of an unwavering and steady rage reverberates, existing partially of Jackson and a part from him in space and time. A rage rooted, it feels, in a revolutionary love for people and their liberation—a Rumbling Rage.

In this spirit of rumbling rage, how can we dissolve ourselves further into collective rage? And where can collective rage lead us in pursuit of liberation?

And with that, we encourage you to click one of the links to learn something and support something.