Gary Dourdan, more popularly known as CSI Warrick Brown on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, brings to life the story of prison activist, George L. Jackson in the movie, Black August. Dourdan plays the central character in Black August, about one man’s valiant fight against the system that was bent on destroying him.
Black August is scheduled to be released on DVD for the very first time next month, in celebration of Black History Month.
As George L. Jackson, CSI‘s Gary Dourdan brings to life the tale of one man who was arrested in Los Angeles for taking $70.00 from a gas station, meted a sentence of one year up to life in prison, wrote of the racism and brutality that was rampant behind bars and emerged as an icon of the prisoners’ rights movements in the 1960s.
Black August revolves around the last 14 months of Jackson’s life, 11 years of which had been spent in incarceration. It chronicles Jackson’s underground efforts to compile his letters describing the inhuman and decrepit conditions he was living in. His collection of letters eventually evolved into the New York Times bestseller, Soledad Brothers.
While in prison, Jackson was charged with killing a prison guard in retaliation for the shooting deaths of three black inmates at Soledad State Prison in California. In one of the film’s most haunting sequences, Jackson’s 17-year old brother, Jonathan, played by Ezra Stanley, takes on hostages to demand the release of George and his co-defendants. Black August culminates in Jackson’s death at the San Quentin prison yard, during an alleged prison break attempt, which took place one year following Jonathan Jackson’s failed hostage-taking.
Catch CSI‘s Gary Dourdan in his riveting portrayal of George L. Jackson in the Black August DVD, slated to be out on February 19. With a running time of 100 minutes, Black August the DVD will retail for $19.97.
-Rosario Santiago, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: Centre Daily
(Image Courtesy of Amazon)
Staff Columnist, BuddyTV
