Luis Talamantez (born April 10, 1943) is an American writer, poet, and prisoner's rights activist.
He gained widespread recognition in the 1970s as a member of the San Quentin Six, a group of men charged with inciting the riot which killed three guards and three inmates, including George Jackson.
[2][3] While incarcerated in San Quentin, Talamantez took an active role educating and organizing Chicano prisoners.
He claimed that this made him a target to the prison officials, who went so far as to try to frame him for assault, a charge which a jury dismissed.
[4] In 1971, San Quentin officials charged Talamantez, along with Hugo Pinell, Willie Tate, Johnny Larry Spain, David Johnson, and Fleeta Drumgo, with participating in an August 21, 1971 escape attempt to free George Jackson, a co-founder of the Black Guerrilla Family.