What do you think?
Rate this book
رسائل السجن: إخوة سوليداد
A collection of Jackson's letters from prison, Soledad Brother is an outspoken condemnation of the racism of white America and a powerful appraisal of the prison system that failed to break his spirit but eventually took his life. Jackson's letters make palpable the intense feelings of anger and rebellion that filled black men in America's prisons in the 1960s. But even removed from the social and political firestorms of the 1960s, Jackson's story still resonates for its portrait of a man taking a stand even while locked down.
478 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 1, 1970
383 people are currently reading
12349 people want to read
About the author
George L. Jackson
5 books233 followersGeorge Lester Jackson was an African-American left-wing activist, Marxist, author, a member of the Black Panther Party, and co-founder of the Black Guerrilla Family. Jackson achieved fame as one of the Soledad Brothers and was later shot to death by guards in San Quentin Prison.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 177 reviews
August 15, 2021
The rage….the rage
At the age of 18, George Jackson was jailed for being the getaway driver in a $70 robbery. He never got out, though the gunman was released in three years. He spent the next eleven years in various California prisons and was killed in an escape attempt in 1971. This book tells us why he remained imprisoned, this book is a red-hot indictment of America at that time. And if you read it, you may ask yourself how much things have changed despite the passage of half a century and the election of a black president along the way.
George Jackson did not accept the inferiority dumped on him by white society at large or by the extremely punitive, brutal, racist prison system. Pretty much unschooled, he wised up in prison and read extensively. What appealed to him was socialism, Communism, Mao, Ho Chi-minh, Tanzania, Ghana, and Che Guevara (to name a few). And why wouldn’t they? He lay at the bottom of an oppressive system with a character or personality that didn’t kowtow easily. George Jackson was, to paraphrase James Baldwin, “not their negro”. And he paid. Yes, he paid in full. He accepted his fate while railing against it in some ways, while hoping against hope that one day he would be free of that system that had thrown him into the pits and lost the key.
What you will read in this book are his letters to his parents, a few to his younger brother (who was killed trying to kidnap a judge and free three prisoners), to a friend, to Angela Davis, and to his lawyer, a woman he trusted and liked. They are full of anger, humanity, frustration, pain, acquired knowledge, rebellion, strength, and youthful naiveté. If I had read “Soledad Brother” fifty years ago, I would have missed the last one. He mistook American racism as being somehow unique, but unfortunately the same vicious behavior exists almost everywhere. American society has not created liberty, equality, and fraternity, but which one really has? He did not understand the communist system, but, like so many older people, fell for the ideals while failing to see the reality. He longed to find a just society. I am not sure that one exists.
We lost a good man, a thinking man, a man with a human spirit when George Jackson was shot and killed. He had fallen into the hole of violence from the hard place he landed as a teenager. He was wasted. Prison warped him by its violence, its brutality, and its cynical racism. We could have saved him. Do you call what he got “justice”? I want to ask you— the readers here—do you think he was the only one? Couldn’t we do better as a society? I think we could, but it’s a long road ahead.
3 stars for the polemical style and the fact that it’s out of date in many ways. But in some ways, the same questions still stand. The emotion certainly does.
At the age of 18, George Jackson was jailed for being the getaway driver in a $70 robbery. He never got out, though the gunman was released in three years. He spent the next eleven years in various California prisons and was killed in an escape attempt in 1971. This book tells us why he remained imprisoned, this book is a red-hot indictment of America at that time. And if you read it, you may ask yourself how much things have changed despite the passage of half a century and the election of a black president along the way.
George Jackson did not accept the inferiority dumped on him by white society at large or by the extremely punitive, brutal, racist prison system. Pretty much unschooled, he wised up in prison and read extensively. What appealed to him was socialism, Communism, Mao, Ho Chi-minh, Tanzania, Ghana, and Che Guevara (to name a few). And why wouldn’t they? He lay at the bottom of an oppressive system with a character or personality that didn’t kowtow easily. George Jackson was, to paraphrase James Baldwin, “not their negro”. And he paid. Yes, he paid in full. He accepted his fate while railing against it in some ways, while hoping against hope that one day he would be free of that system that had thrown him into the pits and lost the key.
What you will read in this book are his letters to his parents, a few to his younger brother (who was killed trying to kidnap a judge and free three prisoners), to a friend, to Angela Davis, and to his lawyer, a woman he trusted and liked. They are full of anger, humanity, frustration, pain, acquired knowledge, rebellion, strength, and youthful naiveté. If I had read “Soledad Brother” fifty years ago, I would have missed the last one. He mistook American racism as being somehow unique, but unfortunately the same vicious behavior exists almost everywhere. American society has not created liberty, equality, and fraternity, but which one really has? He did not understand the communist system, but, like so many older people, fell for the ideals while failing to see the reality. He longed to find a just society. I am not sure that one exists.
We lost a good man, a thinking man, a man with a human spirit when George Jackson was shot and killed. He had fallen into the hole of violence from the hard place he landed as a teenager. He was wasted. Prison warped him by its violence, its brutality, and its cynical racism. We could have saved him. Do you call what he got “justice”? I want to ask you— the readers here—do you think he was the only one? Couldn’t we do better as a society? I think we could, but it’s a long road ahead.
3 stars for the polemical style and the fact that it’s out of date in many ways. But in some ways, the same questions still stand. The emotion certainly does.
October 4, 2011
What can I say about George. This is a troublesome one for me. George got done for robbing a petrol station in California -- a $70 heist -- and got one year to life as a sentence. He was advised to plead guilty, on the understanding that the one year part of the deal would see him out of the clink in next to no time. In fact, he spent the next decade -- his term started in 1960 -- in prison. At the time, the California penal system (is it any different now) was intensely racist, pitting blacks, aryan-brotherhood whites and Mexicans against each other deliberately, certainly by Jackson's accounts.
The book is a collection of George's letters, and while they begin several years into his incarceration, you do get a glimpse of him as he moves from disgruntled young man to serious, hardcore Maoist politics. He gives it to his parents with both rhetorical barrels, for being pawns of the system. His dad is totally brainwashed and unworthy of respect. His mum's that terrible scourge of the revolutionary: the emasculating woman.
There's a fair dollop of George going for the old patriarchal malarky of 'women are too irrational to be revolutionaries' and 'black women should stop robbing black men of their masculinity' etc.
This is certainly just of its time, I suppose.
It's interesting, however, when Angela Davis appears in the book. She appears toward the end of the book, no doubt as George writes to her following her hounding by old bonzo dog doo head Ronald Reagan, then governator of California and scourge of all things left-learning. She's a communist. And she's a feminist. And given the tenor of George's letters to her, she's had a word with him about his attitude to the sisters in the movement.
We read George's letters to his little brother -- the strange pride he feels when his brother scores with an older lady.
We get lots of George's revolutionary thought, which feels sort of ... Stalinist ... by modern standards. 'The people will control the factories and be motivated to treat each other fairly, just as they do in the USSR and Cuba' type stuff.
But he has a wonderful way of railing against God, which I found fascinating. Almost like he would, if he could, become more Old Testament than the God of the Old Testament, and kick God's arse if he could, in a suitably Old Testament way. Send a ravenous she-bear to mix things up. Or maybe just take a baseball bat to God's head. He's an angry dude.
And he does a great line in longing. He falls in love -- or maybe it's infatuation -- with his female correspondents, and is really quite poetic in his letters to them. He writes, I think, with a kind of frustrated fantasticness (not a word, I fear) that's really a pleasure to read.
And so, what do I think?
Worth a read for these things, and to really get a good gulp of the revolution as it existed in poor George's mind, and was envisaged at the time. And it's also worth reading to counter that stupid debate that says we'd lower crime rates if we'd just make prison tougher. Not really buying that old chestnut. But perhaps that's one for another time.
But it's generally an interesting book and well worth reading, I'd hazard.
The book is a collection of George's letters, and while they begin several years into his incarceration, you do get a glimpse of him as he moves from disgruntled young man to serious, hardcore Maoist politics. He gives it to his parents with both rhetorical barrels, for being pawns of the system. His dad is totally brainwashed and unworthy of respect. His mum's that terrible scourge of the revolutionary: the emasculating woman.
There's a fair dollop of George going for the old patriarchal malarky of 'women are too irrational to be revolutionaries' and 'black women should stop robbing black men of their masculinity' etc.
This is certainly just of its time, I suppose.
It's interesting, however, when Angela Davis appears in the book. She appears toward the end of the book, no doubt as George writes to her following her hounding by old bonzo dog doo head Ronald Reagan, then governator of California and scourge of all things left-learning. She's a communist. And she's a feminist. And given the tenor of George's letters to her, she's had a word with him about his attitude to the sisters in the movement.
We read George's letters to his little brother -- the strange pride he feels when his brother scores with an older lady.
We get lots of George's revolutionary thought, which feels sort of ... Stalinist ... by modern standards. 'The people will control the factories and be motivated to treat each other fairly, just as they do in the USSR and Cuba' type stuff.
But he has a wonderful way of railing against God, which I found fascinating. Almost like he would, if he could, become more Old Testament than the God of the Old Testament, and kick God's arse if he could, in a suitably Old Testament way. Send a ravenous she-bear to mix things up. Or maybe just take a baseball bat to God's head. He's an angry dude.
And he does a great line in longing. He falls in love -- or maybe it's infatuation -- with his female correspondents, and is really quite poetic in his letters to them. He writes, I think, with a kind of frustrated fantasticness (not a word, I fear) that's really a pleasure to read.
And so, what do I think?
Worth a read for these things, and to really get a good gulp of the revolution as it existed in poor George's mind, and was envisaged at the time. And it's also worth reading to counter that stupid debate that says we'd lower crime rates if we'd just make prison tougher. Not really buying that old chestnut. But perhaps that's one for another time.
But it's generally an interesting book and well worth reading, I'd hazard.
October 30, 2009
An awesome read from the mind of an intelligent man who sadly got caught up into the system of violence and crime. A man who grew up in the midst of racism and was convinced that all white people were evil and not to be trusted, and if white men in particular had the chance they would put all black men behind bars and throw away the key. Great writings by a man who had demons that he never could exorcise and in the end, sadly it cost both his life, his younger brother's life and others as well. A powerful read yet very sad.
December 8, 2016
A classic in its time, Soledad Brother is the autobiographical story of George Jackson who was arrested at 19 for stealing $70 at gunpoint from a gas station and sentenced to a one year to life in prison. In prison, he became politically aware and read widely: Mao, Lenin, Marx and joined the Black Panther party. This book talks about his self-education during years of solitary confinement and the injustice in the penal system heavily weighted against african-americans. It is a fascinating read and presaged his violent end. Having been attacked by neo-Nazis of the Aryan Nation in the Soledad Prison yard, he made an escape attempt and was killed by guards at 29 years old. He became a "cause celebre" for the radical black community. These letters are then sort of his will and testament and along with the Angela Davis and Malcolm X autobiographies provide the most poignant insights into this movement that still resonates today where some basic injustices denounced by these militants have not really changed enough (Ferguson, etc).
Read
April 15, 2025"If you could live my life one week and see the things I see, feel the pain I feel, and die a little bit each day as I do, all your illusions and apparitions would vanish."
Hard to put this book down and not feel inspired by Jackson's revolve in the face of such dire circumstances.
While many reviewers have emphasized Jackson's often uncomfortable letters to his mother regarding sexism and gender essentialisms, I was moved by Jackson's relative transformation in that realm towards the end through his letters with Angela Davis and the prominent women in his life. He even writes to Davis, "In our last communication I made a statement about women, and their part in revolutionary culture (people's war). It wasn't a clear statement. I meant to return to it but was diverted. I understand exactly what the woman's role should be. The same as the man's. Intellectually, there is little difference between male and female. The differences we see in bourgeois society are all conditioned and artificial."
Hard to put this book down and not feel inspired by Jackson's revolve in the face of such dire circumstances.
While many reviewers have emphasized Jackson's often uncomfortable letters to his mother regarding sexism and gender essentialisms, I was moved by Jackson's relative transformation in that realm towards the end through his letters with Angela Davis and the prominent women in his life. He even writes to Davis, "In our last communication I made a statement about women, and their part in revolutionary culture (people's war). It wasn't a clear statement. I meant to return to it but was diverted. I understand exactly what the woman's role should be. The same as the man's. Intellectually, there is little difference between male and female. The differences we see in bourgeois society are all conditioned and artificial."
June 12, 2025
one of the five best books ive ever read
January 11, 2026
I was hoping this would be some incredibly insightful collection of meditations on injustice, the system we live in which fosters it, and the failings of the criminal justice system. There was a little of that toward the end but what Jackson's letters much more often depict is:
- A guy with no self-awareness (constantly tells his family he doesn't need anything from them or anyone else while in the next paragraph telling them what he needs from them)
- Someone who bosses people around (he is constantly commanding his parents what to do for him rather than asking or saying please).
- Someone who throws temper tantrums (repeatedly tells his mom or dad he will never write them again after they irritate him and then he writes then again a couple days later)
- A guy who was sexist for much of his life (women should be seen rather than heard)
I wanted to come away feeling like Jackson was an honorable figure that fought the good fight but instead he was so deeply flawed that it he could never be seen as a hero.
- A guy with no self-awareness (constantly tells his family he doesn't need anything from them or anyone else while in the next paragraph telling them what he needs from them)
- Someone who bosses people around (he is constantly commanding his parents what to do for him rather than asking or saying please).
- Someone who throws temper tantrums (repeatedly tells his mom or dad he will never write them again after they irritate him and then he writes then again a couple days later)
- A guy who was sexist for much of his life (women should be seen rather than heard)
I wanted to come away feeling like Jackson was an honorable figure that fought the good fight but instead he was so deeply flawed that it he could never be seen as a hero.
April 23, 2019
I can't remember how I found out about this book. Maybe it was mentioned in some documentary, or it was referenced by some Wikipedia article I was reading. When I marked it to read, I found that a friend had previously read it, which encouraged me to give it a try.
What a book!
First, I couldn't help hating George Jackson. The way he treated his family in his letters, the way he patronised them, how sexist he was... I was unable to empathise with him, and started thinking these were the reasons he was unable to be paroled out... and that's when it stroke me, that's when I realised how I am part of the system: eager to find reasons not to question the status quo, to find reasons to justify the systemic racism, to find reasons to bend, to fit.
At that point, I kept reading with more passion. What they did with George Jackson is a shame: he was sentenced to one year to life for a $70 armed robbery. He was told that pleading guilty would see him out of prison earlier than trying to argue his case, but instead he was kept incarcerated for 11 years, spending many of them in isolation, until he was finally killed in a riot.
George Jackson educated himself during his time in jail: he studied languages, read about Marxism, Maoism and essentially revolutionary ideology.
Learning about him from his letters is hard, since the reader lacks half of the context. Sometimes they are written after receiving a visit, sometimes they answer other letters, sometimes he's angry, sometimes he's hopeful... In the end, he learns to expect nothing.
I won't attempt to summarise his letters: he talks about politics, oppression, racism, capitalism... And his letters also talk about Martin Luther King and why his nonviolent activism could never work (this he says before MLK is murdered, and repeats afterwards)
The book is available online here: http://historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/s..., and I encourage everybody to read it.
What a book!
First, I couldn't help hating George Jackson. The way he treated his family in his letters, the way he patronised them, how sexist he was... I was unable to empathise with him, and started thinking these were the reasons he was unable to be paroled out... and that's when it stroke me, that's when I realised how I am part of the system: eager to find reasons not to question the status quo, to find reasons to justify the systemic racism, to find reasons to bend, to fit.
At that point, I kept reading with more passion. What they did with George Jackson is a shame: he was sentenced to one year to life for a $70 armed robbery. He was told that pleading guilty would see him out of prison earlier than trying to argue his case, but instead he was kept incarcerated for 11 years, spending many of them in isolation, until he was finally killed in a riot.
George Jackson educated himself during his time in jail: he studied languages, read about Marxism, Maoism and essentially revolutionary ideology.
Learning about him from his letters is hard, since the reader lacks half of the context. Sometimes they are written after receiving a visit, sometimes they answer other letters, sometimes he's angry, sometimes he's hopeful... In the end, he learns to expect nothing.
I won't attempt to summarise his letters: he talks about politics, oppression, racism, capitalism... And his letters also talk about Martin Luther King and why his nonviolent activism could never work (this he says before MLK is murdered, and repeats afterwards)
The book is available online here: http://historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/s..., and I encourage everybody to read it.
July 1, 2024
a weapon to be used for the revolution, and a love letter, truly
The pig is an instrument of neoslavery, to be hated and avoided; he is pushed to the front by the men who exercise the unnatural right over property. You’ve heard the patronizing shit about the thin blue line that protects property and the owners of property. The pigs are not protecting you, your home, and its contents. Recall they never found the TV set you lost in that burglary. They’re protecting the unnatural right of a few men to own the means of all of our subsistence. The pig is protecting the right of a few private individuals to own public property!! The pig is merely the gun, the tool, a mentally inanimate utensil. It is necessary to destroy the gun, but destroying the gun and sparing the hand that holds it will forever relegate us to a defensive action, hold our revolution in the doldrums, ultimately defeat us. The animal that holds the gun, that has loosed the pig of war on us, is a bitter-ender, an intractable, gluttonous vulture who must eat at our hearts to live. Midas-motivated, never satisfied, everything he touches will turn into shit! Slaying the shitty pig will have absolutely no healing effect at all, if we leave this vulture to touch someone else. Spare the hand that holds the gun and it will simply fashion another.
you can clearly see his growth over time, the first letters to his family are so simple in comparison to the later ones to his lawyers - basically essays, really. and then his love letters! so intimate and delicate.
(in the first half or so there's quite a few sexist jump-scares, but he outgrew those as well, probably thanks to meeting more amazing women.)
The pig is an instrument of neoslavery, to be hated and avoided; he is pushed to the front by the men who exercise the unnatural right over property. You’ve heard the patronizing shit about the thin blue line that protects property and the owners of property. The pigs are not protecting you, your home, and its contents. Recall they never found the TV set you lost in that burglary. They’re protecting the unnatural right of a few men to own the means of all of our subsistence. The pig is protecting the right of a few private individuals to own public property!! The pig is merely the gun, the tool, a mentally inanimate utensil. It is necessary to destroy the gun, but destroying the gun and sparing the hand that holds it will forever relegate us to a defensive action, hold our revolution in the doldrums, ultimately defeat us. The animal that holds the gun, that has loosed the pig of war on us, is a bitter-ender, an intractable, gluttonous vulture who must eat at our hearts to live. Midas-motivated, never satisfied, everything he touches will turn into shit! Slaying the shitty pig will have absolutely no healing effect at all, if we leave this vulture to touch someone else. Spare the hand that holds the gun and it will simply fashion another.
you can clearly see his growth over time, the first letters to his family are so simple in comparison to the later ones to his lawyers - basically essays, really. and then his love letters! so intimate and delicate.
(in the first half or so there's quite a few sexist jump-scares, but he outgrew those as well, probably thanks to meeting more amazing women.)
January 7, 2013
i'm a rather big fan of george jackson. i hate to say this, but it was very hard for me to get through his letters to his parents. his views on women gave me a twitch by the time i was half way through. but then i sort of changed my perspective, cuz he wasn't writing this for publication. he is after all in jail writing his parents and all in all he has a lot to be angry about. so in a way the most offensive parts gave me a lot to think about.
his letters do become more like the writing he became famous for as they focus more on correspondence with his lawyer and other female comrades and friends (including angela davis) on the outside.
george jackson was a sincere revolutionary and for that reason i think we should all read his writings and perspective.
his letters do become more like the writing he became famous for as they focus more on correspondence with his lawyer and other female comrades and friends (including angela davis) on the outside.
george jackson was a sincere revolutionary and for that reason i think we should all read his writings and perspective.
October 29, 2008
Truly touching and great read. For those who like to look between the lines and popular views.
July 15, 2024
He was a product of his times and the misogyny is staggering but it’s important to note that it attenuated as his revolutionary consciousness raised
August 14, 2025
“blood in my eye” by george jackson was one of those foundational leftist texts that radicalized me in college. ive been meaning to read this one for awhile now— which covers about 6 years of his letters to various people (family, friends, comrades) while in prison. though it read a little disjointedly, it was FASCINATING to witness his relationship / communication with his parents who still believe in america’s assimilationist neoliberal promise, how his prison education evolved over time, how his views on issues (esp on women) changed over time, etc. jackson writes POWERFULLY, with a fiery punch and palpable rage— too many fire quotes in here to list out.
February 17, 2010
This book changed my life. Thank you, Comrade George.
July 30, 2017
Convicted at the age of 18 for stealing $70 at gunpoint from a convenience store, and sentenced to a one year to life sentence, George Jackson spent the entirety of his adult life in prison. While incarcerated, Jackson became politically conscious and his letters to family and friends began to reflect his changing views on a world that he began to see as systemically racist and violence toward black men.
What is remarkable about these letters is watching Jackson mature from a young man writing some often awkward letters to his mom and dad(there are some uncomfortably misogynistic views as well which would thankfully later evolve), into a brilliantly articulate man who sought to change the world around him.
Through these letters, we see a man who is surrounded by racism, injustice (a rolling one year to life sentence for stealing $70?!) and brutality, and yet never allows his spirit to be dragged down with it. Up until his untimely death at the age 29, he was uncompromising and unwilling to accept anything less than for total respect as a man.
Today, Jackson is perhaps not very well known. This is a shame because what he offers us in these letters is a vision of justice and hope in a world that so often seems to lack them. There are too many beautiful passages in these letters to quote them all but I’ll finish this review with one in particular that I think sums up Jackson and this wonderful collection.
“It’s pretty clear, isn’t it, what is coming. I accept it, it’s beautiful. Tomorrow.”
What is remarkable about these letters is watching Jackson mature from a young man writing some often awkward letters to his mom and dad(there are some uncomfortably misogynistic views as well which would thankfully later evolve), into a brilliantly articulate man who sought to change the world around him.
Through these letters, we see a man who is surrounded by racism, injustice (a rolling one year to life sentence for stealing $70?!) and brutality, and yet never allows his spirit to be dragged down with it. Up until his untimely death at the age 29, he was uncompromising and unwilling to accept anything less than for total respect as a man.
Today, Jackson is perhaps not very well known. This is a shame because what he offers us in these letters is a vision of justice and hope in a world that so often seems to lack them. There are too many beautiful passages in these letters to quote them all but I’ll finish this review with one in particular that I think sums up Jackson and this wonderful collection.
“It’s pretty clear, isn’t it, what is coming. I accept it, it’s beautiful. Tomorrow.”
July 29, 2023
شخصياً، لقد وجدت ذاتي عندما اتجهت الى أدب الرسائل ووجدته أيضاً عندما اقترن حبي بأدب السجون، وببساطة هذا الكتاب جمع بين أكثر أنواع الكتب المفضلة والعزيزة الى قلبي.
أحببته أحببت أفكاره وأسلوبه وتحطمت جداً لمعاناته وآلامه ، رغم أني لا أتفق معه بما يخص أفكاره عن المرأة ولكن سوف آخذ بعين الإعتبار الزمن الذي كتبت به هذه الرسائل، أعارضه ببعض أفكاره السياسية ولكن أحببت شغفه تجاهها.
جورج انسان حكيم وعنده الخبرة والمعرفة الكافية اللازمة في تلك الفترة، ذكر ايجابيات وحدة أيادي السود في أمريكا وذكر مساوئ وانحطاط بعض من أفراد أمته وانتقدهم ولكنه لم ولن ينسى أصله وهدفه وأهمية وضرورة صوته لنهوض الأمة من الانحطاط والغرق.
كانت رفقة جميلة جداً مع جورج، استمتعت بكل رسالة وبكل كلمة.
أحببته أحببت أفكاره وأسلوبه وتحطمت جداً لمعاناته وآلامه ، رغم أني لا أتفق معه بما يخص أفكاره عن المرأة ولكن سوف آخذ بعين الإعتبار الزمن الذي كتبت به هذه الرسائل، أعارضه ببعض أفكاره السياسية ولكن أحببت شغفه تجاهها.
جورج انسان حكيم وعنده الخبرة والمعرفة الكافية اللازمة في تلك الفترة، ذكر ايجابيات وحدة أيادي السود في أمريكا وذكر مساوئ وانحطاط بعض من أفراد أمته وانتقدهم ولكنه لم ولن ينسى أصله وهدفه وأهمية وضرورة صوته لنهوض الأمة من الانحطاط والغرق.
كانت رفقة جميلة جداً مع جورج، استمتعت بكل رسالة وبكل كلمة.
December 2, 2011
Extremely powerful. This is a book that I think every American should read. It's an important piece of American history. Through the life of George Jackson, we see what true discipline and strength is. His words still ring in my ear as if he were speaking directly to me. Through George's letters we see what kind of struggle that Blacks had to deal with within the penal system and how a person can truly be a political prisoner.
July 4, 2012
An insightful portrait of a young, Black man during the last half of the 1960s. George Jackson's letters contain truth, hope, anger, love, bitterness - all the conflicting emotions a man in his situation knows. Though somewhat tainted my his displays of misogyny and condescension toward his mother, George Jackson's words are still valid today and should be read, specifically, by those interested in reforming the prison system.
January 10, 2021
obra obrigatória pra qualquer um tentando se rebelar contra o capitalismo e o sistema prisional. obra artística e teórica que te prende do início ao fim; muitos sentimentos, e o principal, ódio a esse sistema que nos mata, aprisiona e nos impede de viver.
liberdade para passar fome não é verdadeira liberdade, como disse george jackson.
vida longa à george e jonathan jackson
liberdade para passar fome não é verdadeira liberdade, como disse george jackson.
vida longa à george e jonathan jackson
August 1, 2012
This book shows first hand the potential that resides in a human being to elevate beyond his upbringing & circumstances. George ended up being one of the most influential people during the movement.
September 28, 2019
Remember this precious life. In a March 1967 letter to his mother, speaking on the need for revolution, he says: "I want to be in the Vanguard."
August 23, 2020
This is one of the seminal works of the Black Liberation Struggle in the United States. It stands alongside Bobby Seale’s “Seize the Time” or the works of Eldridge Cleaver. It is a series of letters written from prison by George Jackson from the mid-sixties until the death of his brother Jonathan in 1970. Jonathan was killed when he tried to take over a courtroom by force. George was killed the next year in an attempted prison breakout. At least that is the official story and I now cannot remember whether or not people believed it at the time. It does have a certain convenience to it, as did the stories of people committing suicide in apartheid prisons at the same time.
There are difficulties in reading this book 50 years after I first did so. My copy is now old and yellowing and foxed, but the punch that is delivered is still extraordinary. There can be no doubt that it is a powerful book. It was written by a man who was imprisoned as a teenager because he was involved in a store hold-up. He was given a prison sentence that effectively meant life because he could not be released until a parole board decided that it was safe to do so. I cannot imagine that a white teenager would have received such a sentence and, if he did, would not have been released within a few years. It is difficult to read this book int eh aftermath of the George Floyd killing and the Black Lives Matter campaign without being angry. It is 50 years since the events of this book and we are still in the same place.
Another difficulty is that we only have the letters that George Jackson wrote himself. We di not have the replies so we cannot see how the conversation developed and what arguments, if any, persuaded him to change his mind. At the time that the book was published, I assume that the prison authorities refused to release the replies that had been received. I expect that the letters are no longer available, but they may be in a prison library archive somewhere in California.
The most shocking thing about the book is Jackson’s incredible misogyny. He actually writes that his sister Penelope should not take part in political discussion, but should sit there quietly listening to the wisdom of her menfolk. Of course, this was written in the late sixties and he was a man of his time. This was written before the second wave of feminism began to have any influence on left-wing political thought. It is the case that when he comes into contact with women like Angela Davis and Fay Stender, his lawyer, that his views change considerably. This is one of the reasons why it is frustrating not to have the replies to his letters because we do not know why he changed his mind. We can make the assumption that their examples had a huge impact on his thinking, but we do not have the evidence.
What we do know is that when in prison he read a huge amount of political writing ranging from Che Guevara to Malcolm X. We also know that he was very aware of events taking place at the time, such as the Vietnam War. We know that he formed very clear political ideas. For instance, he was dismissive of the non-violent ideology of Martin Luther King because of the sheer scale of the violence that the racists unleashed on the Civil Rights Movement. We know that he was in awe of Ho Chi Minh and the Vietnamese people in their refusal to be defeated by the most powerful military state in the world. We know that he believed in the devastating legacy of slavery on Black Americans; how it had intimidated the men and terrorised the women. We know that he believed that the USA was a fascist state as far as black people were concerned. The fact that he spelled the name of his country Amerika, in a direct reference to the swastika, is something that cannot be overlooked.
We can also guess that if George Jackson was alive today, he would be leading the Black Lives Matter campaign. Like Joe Hill, he never died.
There are difficulties in reading this book 50 years after I first did so. My copy is now old and yellowing and foxed, but the punch that is delivered is still extraordinary. There can be no doubt that it is a powerful book. It was written by a man who was imprisoned as a teenager because he was involved in a store hold-up. He was given a prison sentence that effectively meant life because he could not be released until a parole board decided that it was safe to do so. I cannot imagine that a white teenager would have received such a sentence and, if he did, would not have been released within a few years. It is difficult to read this book int eh aftermath of the George Floyd killing and the Black Lives Matter campaign without being angry. It is 50 years since the events of this book and we are still in the same place.
Another difficulty is that we only have the letters that George Jackson wrote himself. We di not have the replies so we cannot see how the conversation developed and what arguments, if any, persuaded him to change his mind. At the time that the book was published, I assume that the prison authorities refused to release the replies that had been received. I expect that the letters are no longer available, but they may be in a prison library archive somewhere in California.
The most shocking thing about the book is Jackson’s incredible misogyny. He actually writes that his sister Penelope should not take part in political discussion, but should sit there quietly listening to the wisdom of her menfolk. Of course, this was written in the late sixties and he was a man of his time. This was written before the second wave of feminism began to have any influence on left-wing political thought. It is the case that when he comes into contact with women like Angela Davis and Fay Stender, his lawyer, that his views change considerably. This is one of the reasons why it is frustrating not to have the replies to his letters because we do not know why he changed his mind. We can make the assumption that their examples had a huge impact on his thinking, but we do not have the evidence.
What we do know is that when in prison he read a huge amount of political writing ranging from Che Guevara to Malcolm X. We also know that he was very aware of events taking place at the time, such as the Vietnam War. We know that he formed very clear political ideas. For instance, he was dismissive of the non-violent ideology of Martin Luther King because of the sheer scale of the violence that the racists unleashed on the Civil Rights Movement. We know that he was in awe of Ho Chi Minh and the Vietnamese people in their refusal to be defeated by the most powerful military state in the world. We know that he believed in the devastating legacy of slavery on Black Americans; how it had intimidated the men and terrorised the women. We know that he believed that the USA was a fascist state as far as black people were concerned. The fact that he spelled the name of his country Amerika, in a direct reference to the swastika, is something that cannot be overlooked.
We can also guess that if George Jackson was alive today, he would be leading the Black Lives Matter campaign. Like Joe Hill, he never died.
April 27, 2019
"Cold and calm though."
In this phenomenonal work of personal letters fron revolutionary communist and political prisoner George Jackson, we get an in-depth look at his development into a revolutionary over a span of 6 years [he died in 1971 -- this book ends in 1970; in between I assume he was writing Blood in My Eye], in the worst of conditions -- in maximum security prison, largely in solitary confinement. His rage is felt on every page, even in the more intimate letters to the various women he loved, and the more kind letters to his family.
It's easy to say that George Jackson was a bitter, angry man who took his rage out on his family. However, the first 200 or so pages are letters mainly to his parents, and to his brother Jonathan Jackson, who later died in a shootout with police after taking hostages in exchange for George's freedom. He at times would lash out, but it was out of frustration that was from love for his family, and how he wanted them to understand his revolutionary views and follow suit. One of the most memorable [and one of my favorite] passages in this entire book is in the last pages, when George writes that his father, who in the first half of the book tries to beg George to assimilate to colonialist, white-supremacist society, refers to cops as "pigs", and George says "he'll be alright." Additionally, he admits in his final letter, while lamenting on Jonathan Jackson's death, that he completely misunderstood his mother and her loyalty to him. Another sad, but touching moment.
The misogyny in the first part of the book is something we can't ignore. Many revolutionary men of that time were misogynistic [and many still are now, but with way more criticism, as there should be]; men and women could be revolutionary, but women were still seen as subservient. In his earlier writings, George Jackson absolutely co-opts this view. It's uncomfortable to read, but I remind myself that when he was writing these early letters, he was 24, 25 years old, had been incarcerated for a third of his life, and was a nationally-oppressed Black person who had very limited access to the outside world the changing social movements. Towards the end of this book, his views have clearly changed as he writes to Angela Davis, and I have no doubt that he wouldve only progressed forward in the correct line had he not been murdered. It speaks to how revolutionaries must progress in study and practice; Fidel Castro was absolutely homophobic in his early revolutionary years -- imagine if no one ever gave him the opportunity to rectify his errors [and he definitely did].
This book is a must-read for any true communists and for anyone researching the Black liberation struggle.
George Jackson lives!
In this phenomenonal work of personal letters fron revolutionary communist and political prisoner George Jackson, we get an in-depth look at his development into a revolutionary over a span of 6 years [he died in 1971 -- this book ends in 1970; in between I assume he was writing Blood in My Eye], in the worst of conditions -- in maximum security prison, largely in solitary confinement. His rage is felt on every page, even in the more intimate letters to the various women he loved, and the more kind letters to his family.
It's easy to say that George Jackson was a bitter, angry man who took his rage out on his family. However, the first 200 or so pages are letters mainly to his parents, and to his brother Jonathan Jackson, who later died in a shootout with police after taking hostages in exchange for George's freedom. He at times would lash out, but it was out of frustration that was from love for his family, and how he wanted them to understand his revolutionary views and follow suit. One of the most memorable [and one of my favorite] passages in this entire book is in the last pages, when George writes that his father, who in the first half of the book tries to beg George to assimilate to colonialist, white-supremacist society, refers to cops as "pigs", and George says "he'll be alright." Additionally, he admits in his final letter, while lamenting on Jonathan Jackson's death, that he completely misunderstood his mother and her loyalty to him. Another sad, but touching moment.
The misogyny in the first part of the book is something we can't ignore. Many revolutionary men of that time were misogynistic [and many still are now, but with way more criticism, as there should be]; men and women could be revolutionary, but women were still seen as subservient. In his earlier writings, George Jackson absolutely co-opts this view. It's uncomfortable to read, but I remind myself that when he was writing these early letters, he was 24, 25 years old, had been incarcerated for a third of his life, and was a nationally-oppressed Black person who had very limited access to the outside world the changing social movements. Towards the end of this book, his views have clearly changed as he writes to Angela Davis, and I have no doubt that he wouldve only progressed forward in the correct line had he not been murdered. It speaks to how revolutionaries must progress in study and practice; Fidel Castro was absolutely homophobic in his early revolutionary years -- imagine if no one ever gave him the opportunity to rectify his errors [and he definitely did].
This book is a must-read for any true communists and for anyone researching the Black liberation struggle.
George Jackson lives!
October 15, 2021
Q: Was George Jackson treated unjustly?
A: Yes, there's no question. For stealing $70 dollars at gunpoint, Jackson would spend the rest of his life in the worst of conditions, imprisoned, often in unbelievable stretches of solitary confinement.
Q: Was George Jackson admirable?
A: In some regards, absolutely. I think Jackson is a rare breed. To use his abhorrent circumstances towards his own radicalized education and action is admirable, and, from his letters, I think there are few individuals who had the single-minded grit - resilience, determination, efficacy - that Jackson demonstrated.
Q: So why the one star?
A: Although I can never claim to understand Jackson's plight as a Black revolutionary subjected to imprisonment, the letters of Soledad Brother presented nothing new to me about the corruption of American society, often were unrelated, irrelevant correspondences to peers, and, bottom-line, left me pissed off. Jackson was an open, seemingly proud, homophobe and misogynist. He makes myriad comments about the former, and take for instance the latter:
"I understand her and all black women over here. Women like to be dominated, love being strong-armed, need an overseer to supplement their weakness. So how could she really understand my feelings on self-determination. For this reason we should never allow women to express any opinions on the subject, but just to sit, listen to us, and attempt to understand. It is for them to obey and aid us, not to attempt to think." (p. 125)
Is it important we listen to the voices of the oppressed, particularly our prison population? Yes.
Do we need to make changes that Jackson sharply observes and decries? Of course.
Is this book worth reading? I can't say it is. Jackson is a polarizing, hypocritical, sometimes unbearable author, and the information and accounts presented in Soledad Brother can be read in other works that will better value your time and energy without supporting other gross social injustices.
A: Yes, there's no question. For stealing $70 dollars at gunpoint, Jackson would spend the rest of his life in the worst of conditions, imprisoned, often in unbelievable stretches of solitary confinement.
Q: Was George Jackson admirable?
A: In some regards, absolutely. I think Jackson is a rare breed. To use his abhorrent circumstances towards his own radicalized education and action is admirable, and, from his letters, I think there are few individuals who had the single-minded grit - resilience, determination, efficacy - that Jackson demonstrated.
Q: So why the one star?
A: Although I can never claim to understand Jackson's plight as a Black revolutionary subjected to imprisonment, the letters of Soledad Brother presented nothing new to me about the corruption of American society, often were unrelated, irrelevant correspondences to peers, and, bottom-line, left me pissed off. Jackson was an open, seemingly proud, homophobe and misogynist. He makes myriad comments about the former, and take for instance the latter:
"I understand her and all black women over here. Women like to be dominated, love being strong-armed, need an overseer to supplement their weakness. So how could she really understand my feelings on self-determination. For this reason we should never allow women to express any opinions on the subject, but just to sit, listen to us, and attempt to understand. It is for them to obey and aid us, not to attempt to think." (p. 125)
Is it important we listen to the voices of the oppressed, particularly our prison population? Yes.
Do we need to make changes that Jackson sharply observes and decries? Of course.
Is this book worth reading? I can't say it is. Jackson is a polarizing, hypocritical, sometimes unbearable author, and the information and accounts presented in Soledad Brother can be read in other works that will better value your time and energy without supporting other gross social injustices.
December 22, 2022
Both an inspiring and heartbreaking book. Through his letters, I've only better understood how imprisonment breaks a person, and how lonely and alienating it is. It reminds me to work towards a world without prisons. Despite being incarcerated for 10 years, George never gave up, and never lost his spirit. He continued to fight, train, learn, to educate.
George was incredibly eloquent and articulate, he was so clearly intelligent. He touches on internationalism, rejects chauvinism, and constantly encourages his family to unlearn capitalism and bigotry. I also see his growth through the years, where he leaves his chauvinism towards women, and acknowledges their crucial role in the revolutionary struggle. I will definitely need to come back and revisit this book.
George was incredibly eloquent and articulate, he was so clearly intelligent. He touches on internationalism, rejects chauvinism, and constantly encourages his family to unlearn capitalism and bigotry. I also see his growth through the years, where he leaves his chauvinism towards women, and acknowledges their crucial role in the revolutionary struggle. I will definitely need to come back and revisit this book.
July 18, 2013
I've had in on my to-read forever. What better time to finally dive in than when assigned a report based on Jackson's experiences in the California prisons.
Jackson's eloquence, insight, and passion are apparent on every page. Every thoughtful penned word speaks volumes for what he experienced, what he saw, and what he was trying to communicate. And, that says a lot, when you know there must be worlds of words unsaid. And worlds of understanding lost between the lines.
Jackson's eloquence, insight, and passion are apparent on every page. Every thoughtful penned word speaks volumes for what he experienced, what he saw, and what he was trying to communicate. And, that says a lot, when you know there must be worlds of words unsaid. And worlds of understanding lost between the lines.
July 24, 2020
Settle your quarrels, come together, understand the reality of our situation, understand that fascism is already here, that people are already dying who could be saved, that generations more will live poor butchered half-lives if you fail to act. Do what must be done, discover your humanity and your love in revolution. Pass on the torch. Join us, give up your life for the people. - George Jackson
A great insight into the mind of a great revolutionary. Thank you George Jackson.
A great insight into the mind of a great revolutionary. Thank you George Jackson.
December 23, 2024
I know I keep saying every book is a must read but like fr this book is crazy good and so devastatingly sad.
For context, this was a 17 year old black man imprisoned in max security solitary confinement in what I thought was a liberal state of California for 10+ years / life sentence. Why? For stealing money from a store.
America continues to fail Black men and women and it’s sad to see nothing has really changed since this book was published.
For context, this was a 17 year old black man imprisoned in max security solitary confinement in what I thought was a liberal state of California for 10+ years / life sentence. Why? For stealing money from a store.
America continues to fail Black men and women and it’s sad to see nothing has really changed since this book was published.
January 2, 2015
This book changed my life. Aside from the sexist attitude, Jackson's words are a fatal weapon to
an oppressive system.
Soledad Brother grants access to one of the greatest minds ever to pick up a pen. In a system vowed to break him, he broke though. I dare you not to be inspired or enamored with the passion and courage carried in each page.
Thank you Comrad George :)
an oppressive system.
Soledad Brother grants access to one of the greatest minds ever to pick up a pen. In a system vowed to break him, he broke though. I dare you not to be inspired or enamored with the passion and courage carried in each page.
Thank you Comrad George :)
October 11, 2022
Jackson’s letters paint a portrait of a soulful, heartfelt revolutionary, of someone who recognizes the system that has entrapped him for exactly what it is, and who has dedicated his life to destroying it. These letters should still be read and appreciated decades later.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 177 reviews