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Blood in My Eye
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Blood In My Eye was completed only days before its author was killed. George Jackson died on August 21, 1971, at the hands of San Quentin prison guards during an alleged escape attempt. At eighteen, George Jackson was convicted of stealing seventy dollars from a gas station and was sentenced from one year to life. He was to spent the rest of his life -- eleven years-- in t
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Paperback, 195 pages
Published
December 19th 1996
by Black Classic Press
(first published 1972)
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This is the voice and story of a different type of prisoner. George Jackson would have been a Pulitzer prize winner, a noted writer and political leader, a teacher, made thinkers of the ilk of Noam Chomsky pale literally in comparison, had he not been Black and poor in the U.S The 1960s were fertile times -- even behind prison walls -- for thinking outside the box, for acting and doing things to change the word and the world. Although this is another discussion, 1960s not only saw the rise of ci
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How about i give u a quote:"Stupidity is not unknown to our long-range political policy makers. Participation in electoral politics organized by the enemy state- after recognizing that the whole process must be discredited as a conditional step into revolution, and particularly participation that tends to authenticate this process-is the opposite of revolution. It's a tactic for the ultra-rightists." "They'll never count me among the broken men." - George Jackson
What I find quite ironic, is that Madeleine Albright just released a book this year titled "Fascism: A Warning". Well I hate to be the one to bust her bubble but apparently her warning is over 40 years late. Now that the economic illusion is starting to fall for the dominant society, they are starting to see how both the Democratic and Republican parties are really in fact one in the same party. No matter who is in office, nothing changes. So-called "black radicals" had this figured out long bef
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Blood In My Eye was completed barely a week before the murder of George L. Jackson in San Quentin Prison on August 21, 1971. After being convicted at age eighteen for stealing seventy dollars from a gas station, Jackson was sentenced to one year to life. He spent the rest of his life, eleven years, in prison, with seven of those years in solitary confinement. While in prison he dedicated himself to revolutionary ideals and became a member of the Black Panther Party. In this, his last book, he p
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The ultimate aim of fascists is the total destruction of all revolutionary consciousness. And in America, “the ultimate expression of law is not order - it’s prison.” George spends four years in prison just studying economics and military ideas in an attempt to “transform the black criminal mentality into a black revolutionary mentality.” “The only friend I had was a book”. “You depend of books”. Reading Marx in depth had led him to a sense of membership in the human community by joining a revol
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"Blood in My Eye" is George L. Jackson's second book after "Soledad Brother's", published in 1972. The author was the Black Panthers' Party's (BPP) field-marshal for the prisons.
He was imprisoned for stealing 70 dollars when he was 18 years old. In 1971, he was assassinated by a guard. During his imprisonment, his younger brother Jonathan, also a member of the BPP, was killed in action while he was trying to free some black prisoners. He was just 17 years old.
It contains letters and texts about ...more
He was imprisoned for stealing 70 dollars when he was 18 years old. In 1971, he was assassinated by a guard. During his imprisonment, his younger brother Jonathan, also a member of the BPP, was killed in action while he was trying to free some black prisoners. He was just 17 years old.
It contains letters and texts about ...more
This was an interesting read for me and not one that I normally would have picked up. I recently read a book on the Patty Hearst kidnapping by the Symbionese Liberation Army and this was the book that they kept referring to throughout. From my understanding DeFreeze based his principals on this book and on Jackson’s ideals.
While I think that Jackson made some very valid points; I was not a fan of his desire for violence and almost misogynistic views.
I found myself having to reread paragraphs m ...more
While I think that Jackson made some very valid points; I was not a fan of his desire for violence and almost misogynistic views.
I found myself having to reread paragraphs m ...more
extremely smart guy with a clear mastery of the double (!!) and triple (!!!) exclamation marks
George L. Jackson, member of the Black Panther Party, founder of the Black Guerilla Family , writer, theoretician, revolutionary and political prisoner. Though before becoming a revolutionary , he had been a political prisoner , held in a state prison on unjust grounds. We cannot separate Jackson's political writings from his early life, since like most revolutionary thinkers , he was bred by the conditions he survived under. Having a long rap sheet due to a history of petty crimes ranging from
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Jul 30, 2011
William West
added it
An extraordinary tactical thinker who was also a beautiful writer of english prose:
"Born to a premature death, a menial, subsistence-wage worker, odd-job man, the cleaner, the caught, the man under hatches, without bail- that's me, the colonial victim. Anyone who can pass the civil service examination today can kill me tomorrow. Anyone who passed the civil service examination yesterday can kill me today with complete immunity. I've lived with repression every moment of my life, a repression so ...more
"Born to a premature death, a menial, subsistence-wage worker, odd-job man, the cleaner, the caught, the man under hatches, without bail- that's me, the colonial victim. Anyone who can pass the civil service examination today can kill me tomorrow. Anyone who passed the civil service examination yesterday can kill me today with complete immunity. I've lived with repression every moment of my life, a repression so ...more
This book will change your life. If you've figured out that capitalism is evil, and that nothing short of a revolution by the people can sort things out, then this book will inspire you to do what needs to be done. After going into great detail of what it means to be a revolutionary, what a revolution looks like and how to make it come about, Jackson then explores the rise of fascism. No other source has explained the alt-right so succinctly, and how it comes into power not only to address crise
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Interesting read
Extremely interesting read from Jackson's viewpoint both passionate and bitter in equal measure but also thought provoking would a better read in a modern day format as is printed in old magazine style. Short book easy quick informative read
Extremely interesting read from Jackson's viewpoint both passionate and bitter in equal measure but also thought provoking would a better read in a modern day format as is printed in old magazine style. Short book easy quick informative read
George Jackson is phenomenal, and was way ahead of his time. Must read in juxtaposition with Soledad Brother.
fantastic. theorizes & clarifies many topics, but his discussion of fascism and urban guerrilla warfare stood out to me.
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I'm not sure how I feel about this. I do wonder how Jackson's thought would have progressed had he not been assassinated. Maybe it was because his thought was so revolutionary (as well as being a good organizer) that lead to his murder. When I started reading it, I was first struck by how much of his thinking was influenced by Fanon. Then there were other concepts that we see today making a come back like "the 1%." Much like the Red Army Faction which operated in a time and place in history, a l
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"Most people realize that crime is simply the result of a grossly disproportionate distribution of wealth and privilege, a reflection of the present state of property relations. There are no wealthy men on death row and so few in the general population that we can discount them all together. Imprisonment is an aspect of class struggle from the outset."
Saddening and true, the plight of George Jackson and his thwarted and bloody attempt to freedom.
George lost me with this one.
I've really never read a text on struggle that gives such a structured analysis and detail on guerilla warfare (a key component to Black liberation). George Jackson was so damn well read, resourceful and brilliant. Smart read. necessary
George Jackson's last work is a near-perfect call to arms; it is a quick and easily digestible read that revisits the history of communism and lays out a plan for action now -- even after all these years, it has not lost its urgency, but possibly even gained some. It is also a devastating read when considering the US government's active, clandestine role in decimating both the left and the black community at large. This book is necessity for anyone interested in prison abolition (or even in just
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Purposeful and informative
Jackson may not have cried over his brother Jonathan's death, but he can't let go of it; it permeates this book, from cover to cover.
A jailhouse theorist, Jackson never got a chance to put his ideas into practice. Although he had street experience, he was still quite young--that age at which every boy and his political reader thinks he's got the solution to the world's trouble. Had he not died at such a young age, he could have developed further.
A very influential work for the New Left.
A jailhouse theorist, Jackson never got a chance to put his ideas into practice. Although he had street experience, he was still quite young--that age at which every boy and his political reader thinks he's got the solution to the world's trouble. Had he not died at such a young age, he could have developed further.
A very influential work for the New Left.
George Jackson has left an impressive document that will be read for many decades to come. Importantly, "Blood in My Eye" is a testament to a pivotal time in the US when the political left knew what it wanted-a position which is partially the direct by-product of the reality today.
Jackson is an embodiment of the period successes and failures. He will forever be counted amongst "undefeated." In addition, he is one of the true freer ones for doing what he believe in. Thanks, comrade George!
Jackson is an embodiment of the period successes and failures. He will forever be counted amongst "undefeated." In addition, he is one of the true freer ones for doing what he believe in. Thanks, comrade George!
This is a must read if you are researching the Pathers, 60's radicalism or any of a host of other subjects, but it is filled with pseudointellectual jargon and generally preaches to the choir (if that choir is populated by angry, black people).
Also, there are a few laughable lines that wouldn't even stand up on a CNN panel.
Also, there are a few laughable lines that wouldn't even stand up on a CNN panel.
This is an excellent book, and one that has stood the test of time in terms of factual relevancy to the liberation struggles of Afrikan people today. It is clear, precise, analytical and should be re-read repeatedly.
do you live in the United States? If so I would argue that you have an ethical obligation to read this book and learn from Jackson. you don't have to agree with everything he says, but you need to listen.
Jul 17, 2008
EuGene Byrd
is currently reading it
I'm not sure of what to think about this one yet...I'll keep you posted.
Great Book!!!
Some interesting stuff in here about urban guerilla strategy and Amerikan fascism. I'm not sure if I agree with all of Jackson's conclusions but it's a good read anyhow.
Excellent revolutionary text. Although written more than 45 years ago, it contains pearls of relevance for today.
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