Black August is more than a month to remember. It is a month to move.
Rooted in Black resistance and political education, Black August was formally commemorated beginning in 1979 at California’s San Quentin State Prison, honoring Black freedom fighters and political prisoners, including George Jackson, who was killed there on Aug. 21, 1971. The tradition has evolved into a month of study, discipline, remembrance, and action.
That history matters because August 2026 is not occurring in a political vacuum. The choices Black people and Black-serving institutions make now can help shape what happens in November and beyond — from education and economic development to voting, health, community stability, and social justice.
So, what moves should we be making?
Get politically ready — now
The first move is simple: Stop treating elections like they begin when the commercials get annoying.
Attorney and educator Danny Norris says Black Texans need to “dig in,” particularly after setbacks including the weakening of federal voting-rights protections.
“We need to make sure all our brothers and sisters are registered,” Norris said. “A lot of people are not even paying attention to the fact that this is an election year.”
Texas’ general election is Nov. 3, with early voting scheduled for Oct. 19-30.
That gives individuals and organizations roughly two months to move from political spectatorship to political preparation. That means checking registration, learning who is on the ballot, studying candidates’ records and platforms, attending town halls, contacting elected officials, and talking with family members and neighbors about issues that affect their daily lives.
As Rev. Dr. Stephanie Wilkins put it: “Get involved. Get educated about who’s on the ballot. Show up at these town halls.”
Her bottom line? “If you want to change the game, you’ve got to get in the game.”
Turn voting into an organized operation
Voting cannot be treated as an individual activity performed once every few years. State Rep. Senfronia Thompson says voters should think beyond personal benefit.
“You ought to want somebody who represents your interests and your family’s interests,” said Thompson, while also emphasizing the importance of choosing leaders who can help create a legacy for future generations.
Theola Petteway, leader of Third Ward Community Cloth, takes that thinking into the neighborhood.
“Start and engage relationships with your neighbors, your family, and everybody about what’s going on,” she said.
But Petteway makes another important point: people need information before they are simply told to vote.
“Let’s get educated about what’s going on, about why it’s important to do things, not just tell me to vote,” said Petteway.
That is a critical Black August assignment: Turn political education into community infrastructure. And organizations can help by hosting ballot-education sessions, neighborhood conversations, candidate forums, and issue briefings.
Rebuild Black educational power
HISD Trustee Savant Moore offers a remarkably uncomplicated starting point: “Get back to the basics.”
“Read to our kids,” Moore said. “We’ve got to work on our reading literacy.”
Moore believes that work cannot be left exclusively to schools. Parents, grandparents, churches, mentoring organizations, libraries, and community groups can make August the beginning of a sustained literacy push — reading with children, creating neighborhood book clubs, tutoring students, and making books a normal part of household life.
Education is not merely about grades. It is about preparing the next generation to understand history, evaluate information, and participate effectively in society.
“Let’s get educated about what’s going on, about why it’s important to do things, not just tell me to vote.”
Theola Petteway
Moore also connects educational success to something less academic but equally important: family and community relationships.
“Let’s get back to realizing that we are all family,” he said. “Conflict resolution. We don’t need to beef with one another.”
Put Black dollars to work
Black August should also become a month of economic empowerment, according to Jackie Anderson, president of the Houston Federation of Teachers. She argues that knowing Black history must include understanding the importance of Black-owned businesses.
“We need to make sure that no Black-owned business fails for lack of participation,” Anderson said. “We need to make sure that we are supporting each other.”
That means consumers intentionally seeking Black-owned businesses. It also means Black businesses building relationships with one another, sharing customers, contracting with one another, and creating cooperative opportunities where possible.
For organizations, August can be a time to identify Black vendors, entrepreneurs, contractors, and professionals already serving the community — and determine how much more economic activity can remain within that ecosystem.
Build the village we actually need
Community cannot be built exclusively through institutions, and institutions cannot survive without community. Activist Dolores Rodgers says Black people must reject the idea that one person can save everybody.
“We need each other,” Rodgers said. “Together we can do more than we can do on our own.”
Joie Hernandez Caston, a doula, mindset coach, and community health worker, takes that principle into health and family support.
“We have to be making our own village,” she said. “If we need people to do home births, if we need people to advocate, we have to create that.”
That is especially relevant as communities confront threats to health access, reproductive rights, mental health, and social services. Community organizations should use August to map needs, identify existing resources, and connect organizations that too often operate in isolation.
Petteway says that is precisely what Third Ward Community Cloth is working toward: Bringing organizations together across different areas of service and helping them identify what is preventing them from serving people more effectively.
Protect your mind and future
None of these moves matter much if people are too exhausted, uninformed, or emotionally overwhelmed to make them. Hernandez Caston says people need to stay informed while also caring for their mental health.
“You’ve got to be taking care of your mental health,” she said. “Make sure you’re finding things to bring that joy back to you.”
Artist James Wingo similarly argues that change begins with intentionality.
“It starts with self,” Wingo said. “Self needs to be intentional. And then from there, your family, and the community.”
That may be the most useful Black August formula of all: Move with intention personally. Strengthen your family. Build your community. Organize your institutions. Prepare to vote. Then keep going after November. Because Black August was never supposed to be simply about remembering what Black people have survived. It’s about remembering what Black people have done — and deciding what we are prepared to do next.
