Jackson, George, 1941-1971

George Lester Jackson (September 23, 1941 – August 21, 1971) was an American author, prisoner, and revolutionary. While serving an indeterminate sentence for stealing $71 at gunpoint from a gas station in 1960, Jackson became involved in the Black power movement and founded a far-left prison gang, the Black Guerrilla Family. In 1970, he was one of three prisoners dubbed the Soledad Brothers. They were charged with the murder at Soledad Prison of corrections officer John V. Mills, allegedly in retaliation for the shooting deaths of three black inmates by a white prison guard several days prior. Also in 1970, Jackson published Soledad Brother, a collection of his letters that comprised a combination autobiography and manifesto addressed primarily to a Black American audience, but which was embraced by radicals around the world. The book was a bestseller and earned Jackson international fame. In August 1971, Jackson was killed by prison guards during an escape attempt at San Quentin State Prison. During the attempt, Jackson and other inmates took three guards and two inmates hostage, who were later found dead in Jackson's cell. Three other guards were wounded but survived. Jackson never went to trial for the Mills murder.