Jonathan Jackson Marin County Courthouse August 7, 1970

On August 7, 1970, Jonathan Jackson, the 17-year-old brother of prison revolutionary
George Jackson, entered the Marin County courthouse armed with a submachine gun. He
hoped to force the release of the Soledad Brothers— George Jackson, Fleeta Drumgo, and
John Clutchette, who were charged with the murder of two guards at Soledad Prison after
guards had killed another prisoner. Jonathan gave guns to three prisoners who were present
in court— Ruchell Magee, a jailhouse lawyer who was testifying at the trial of fellow prisoner
James McClain, and William Christmas. The three then took the judge, the prosecutor, and
three jurors hostage. They left the courthouse and placed the hostages in a county van.
Before the armed men and their hostages left the courthouse, the Marin County sheriff had
ordered his men not to shoot, but the van was hit by a hail of gunfire from San Quentin
prison guards and other law-enforcement personnel immediately after it left the building's
garage. Jackson, Judge Haley, McClain, and Christmas were all killed.--from The Way the Wind Blew: A History of the Weather Underground

https://diva.sfsu.edu/bundles/228276

February 28, 1972: Angela Davis Goes on Trial

On February 28, 1972 Angela Davis went on trial for murder......

Here is a link to a relatively objective look at the case (for a mainstream news presentation) and the worldwide movement to free Angela..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlUUdOdGI70

Here is a link to a page from the Berkeley Tribe underground newspaper about the opening of the trial..

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B01dj5QyuLDeQVRRbVpzNUo0Qmc

I wrote about Angela Davis in my books The Way the Wind Blew and Daydream Sunset.

The Free Angela movement in Germany is part of the context in my novel All the Sinners Saints

Angela Davis Awaits Verdict--1972

This video was taken on June 3, 1972.  On June 4, 1972, Angela Davis was acquitted of all charges. This victory was the result of an international popular struggle.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRmjX5cH5-A

Greil Marcus and George Jackson

Most people know Greil Marcus as an observer, commentator and critic of US culture, especially of music, from rock and roll back into the American folk ether.  In the early, 1970s, when he wrote for a much less mainstream Rolling Stone magazine and the great rock mag CREEM (which also featured Lenny Kaye and Patti Smith), Marcus was also often quite political. One of the foundations of my book Daydream Sunset is that the New Left, the Black Liberation movement and the counterculture were closely bound in a common struggle against the US warmongering and racist establishment.  This piece, written for CREEM after Black Panther George Jackson was murdered at San Quentin prison in 1971, is proof of that.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B01dj5QyuLDeRkx4aGVsekQ2Tnc