Roundtable discussion
Al Silbowitz moderates a panel of reporters who had been at San Quentin and at Marin General Hospital earlier that day, Saturday, August 21, 1971, when there was an attempted breakout of San Quentin prison, and Soledad Brother George Jackson was shot and killed. The panelists review their reports from the afternoon and discuss the implications of George Jackson's death, as well as security conditions and information transparency at San Quentin prison. The panelists are Jeff Kamen of KSFX, and KPFA staff and volunteers Larry Lee, John Schwartz, Portia Shapiro, Fran Watkins, and Sharon Yelvington. They play a report from Stan Johnston from the KPFA mobile unit at the Hall of Justice in San Francisco, where a demonstration had been called. About 45 minutes in, reporter Dave Stevens from KPFK calls in to discuss his experience with the security measures at San Quentin prison a few days before the incident. Bessie Phillips, mother of a prisoner at San Quentin, Jesse Lee Phillips, also joins the discussion by phone. This recording reflects KPFA's decision to pre-empt all planned programming for the day with reports and other programs regarding the death of George Jackson.