August 12 1972

## Overview and Context

The year 1972 is marked as a black year in history due to the use of terrorism entering sport with the massacre of 11 Israel Athletes by Arab Gunman. Also this is the beginning of the biggest political scandal in modern times and the start of the Watergate Scandal. The United States and Soviet Union sign the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty and an interim treaty after the Strategic Arms Limitations Talks that took place during May. US President Richard Nixon and Soviet Premier Leonid Brezhnev met in Moscow to negotiate arms control between the two nations. It was the first time a US president visited the Soviet Union since World War II. NASA launches the Landsat 1 Earth Resources Technology Satellite (ERTS) on July 23rd. It was the first of several Landsat satellites which were developed with the purpose of observing and studying the Earth. The number one song of the year was "Let's stay together" by Al Green. The top grossing movie of 1972 is "The Godfather". Governor George Wallace is shot, antiwar demonstrations draw 100,000, Cod War, and Bloody Sunday and Bloody Friday Northern Ireland. There were campus protest against the Vietnam War and ended up violent or with arrests.

## The Events of August 7th

On August 7, 1970 James McCain was defending himself against the charges of assault against San Quentin guard. After the trial, Ruchell Magee, William Christmas, James McCain's prosecutor Gary Thomas, and judge Harold Haley got into a van and minutes later the van was shot up. Jonathan Jackson, William Christmas, Harold Haley, and James McCain were murdered. In 1970, guns belonging to Angela Davis, who was a member of the Communist Party USA and is a founding member of the Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism, were used in the Marin Courthouse shooting that killed four people. She was prosecuted for three capital felonies, including conspiracy to murder, and was held in jail for over a year before being acquitted of all charges in 1972. *"Jonathan Jackson had walked into a courtroom and incited a new thrust to the present revolution: The August 7th Movement."*

## Ruchell Magee forced to take psych eval

August 3, 1972 Ruchell Magee, the only survivor, was taken back to court due to the events on August 7. Judge Morton Colvin seemed to discredit Ruchell as a human being and declared him incapable to defend himself in court and tried to support his claim by getting Ruchell examined by psychiatrist. Judge Colvin ignored the previous ruling that Ruchell could exercise his right to be his own attorney.

## The Black inmates of Brooklyn House boycott the racist New York justice system

Monday July 24, 1972, 75% of the black population in the Brooklyn house of detention for men decided to boycott all court proceedings to protest the horrible conditions in which they are living. The conditions that prompted this boycott include the lack of good medical care, exploitation of labor, torture, brutality, and murder. The inmates drew up a civil action lawsuit against six King County judges, who condoned these living conditions. Some inmates were physically forced to go to trial or transferred to other prisons. *"The Brooklyn House of Detention authorities have 'clamped down' on the rights of prisoners' lawyers, friends, and families to visit them in effort to halt the inmates' successful boycott."*

## Vietnam war

This article talks about how Vietnamese people are warding off genocide while struggling to keep self determination of their land. The Saigon army has suffered many losses and two of thirteen divisions were wiped out in the first two months, and of the remaining eleven each had lost several battalions or brigades. The situation in Vietnam was considered a "very dark situation" in the city of Mekong Delta, and has been overshadowed by other battles. There were over 500 guerrilla attacks in the span of two weeks, some involving battalions of 200 or 300 men. *"On April 23, the Times reported that they had virtually 'abandoned their effort,' given up and 'moved into the rubber plantations and forest nearby.'"*

## Delivering groceries

The Black Panther party serves the community by handing out groceries to the poor members of the community. They are starting to get the poor community members to understand that life necessitates are something everyone should have and it is a right. Later the article goes on to list works they have done in the communities and how it has affected the communities.

## Links and Resources

Important events in 1972

Top 100 songs 1972

Top 50 movies in 1972

Protests on Campus

Vietnam Battle in Saigon