Existing comment:
Malaquias Montoya
born Albuquerque, New Mexico 1938
George Jackson Lives
1976
offset lithograph on paper
As a prisoner in San Quentin State Prison in the 1960s, George Jackson used his writings to expose the racist and inhumane treatment of inmates, and advanced revolutionary ideas grounded in anticolonial, Marxist, and Maoist thought. He became a martyr after he was killed in an alleged escape attempt. Six men, who came to be known as the San Quentin Six, were tried for the death and assault of several guards and inmates during the unrest. Montoya's print boldly takes the form of a movie poster. In the central section, he portrays a degrading scene of the chained prisoners during the trial of the San Quentin Six. In the top register, Montoya spells "George Jackson Lives" over the body of an open-mouthed, supine Black figure. Montoya's assertion is prophetic: Jackson remains a powerful symbol and role model for incarcerated people today.
Museum purchase through the Frank K. Ribelin Endowment, 2015.29.1 |