On this day
August 21
August 21, 1831
Nat Turner's rebellion of enslaved people begins
Nat Turner's rebellion of enslaved Africans began in Southampton County, Virginia. Over the next two days, his band of rebels travelled to multiple plantations, freeing enslaved people and killing the enslavers until being repressed.
August 21, 1971
George Jackson killed at San Quentin
George Jackson
Released
George Lester Jackson was a Black revolutionary, author, and Field Marshal of the Black Panther Party — and the most influential Black political prisoner of his generation. Sentenced in 1961 at age 18...
View full profile →
Black Panther Party field marshal and Soledad Brother George Jackson was shot dead by guards in the prison yard at San Quentin during what officials called an escape attempt. Three guards and two white inmate informants were also killed. Jackson's books "Soledad Brother" and "Blood in My Eye" made him a defining figure in U.S. prison-organizing literature.