Actor Gary Dourdan spent time away from his hit CBS series "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" to star in the Warner Home Video "Black August," which tells the life story of prison activist and "Soledad Brother" author, George L. Jackson.

"Black August" chronicles the last event-filled months of Jackson’s journey from street tough to political martyr. After moving with his family from Chicago to Los Angeles, Jackson was arrested for a $70 gas station robbery and received a sentence of one year to life.       

During his eleven years in prison, Jackson studied Marx, Mao and other revolutionary thinkers. He channeled the explosive rage of an oppressed and exploited community into a powerful indictment of the racial status quo in a series of passionate and poetic letters that were collected and published in the volume "Soledad Brother."

Co-directed by TCinque Sampson and Samm Styles, "Black August" arrives on DVD Feb. 19.