The Making of a Revolutionary

Jonathan Peter Jackson was just seventeen years old when he walked into the Marin County Courthouse on August 7, 1970 — but his name would soon be written into the pages of American history.
Born June 23, 1953, in California, Jonathan grew up watching his older brother George Jackson, a prison activist and author of Soledad Brother, become a symbol of defiance inside America’s racist penal system.

To Jonathan, George wasn’t just a political prisoner — he was family. The walls of San Quentin and Soledad were barriers that Jonathan refused to accept.

The Marin County Courthouse Rebellion

That August morning, Jonathan entered the courthouse during the trial of inmate James McClain. Hidden under his coat were firearms — some later traced to activist Angela Davis.
With the help of McClain and two other inmates, William Christmas and Ruchell Magee, Jonathan took the judge, a deputy district attorney, and several jurors hostage. His demand: the immediate release of the Soledad Brothers — George Jackson, Fleeta Drumgo, and John Clutchette — who were facing murder charges after the death of a white prison guard.

As they tried to flee in a van, police opened fire. When the smoke cleared, Jonathan Jackson, McClain, Christmas, and Judge Harold Haley were dead. Magee and Deputy DA Gary Thomas were seriously wounded. The nation was stunned.

A Symbol of Resistance

To mainstream America, Jonathan was branded a radical or terrorist. But to the growing movement for Black liberation, he became a symbol of uncompromising courage. His act wasn’t random — it was the direct response of a generation that saw no justice inside the system.

“Jonathan Jackson didn’t go mad,” one activist wrote later. “He went revolutionary.”

The incident ignited further momentum for prison reform, racial justice, and solidarity movements across the country. It also led to the arrest of Angela Davis, accused of providing the weapons. Her 1972 acquittal became another victory in the ongoing struggle.

The Legacy of Black August

Jonathan’s death, followed a year later by George Jackson’s own killing inside San Quentin in 1971, inspired the creation of Black August — a month of remembrance, resistance, and renewal within the Black community.

Each August, freedom fighters, artists, and educators honor the Jackson brothers as martyrs who laid bare the brutal reality of racism in the American justice system.