Inmates of Attica
By Emerson Brazile
On September 13th 1971, tear gas poured over the recreation yard of New York state’s Attica Correctional Facility as state troopers stormed the prison in a fashion reminiscent of blitzkrieg in order to quell the short reign of Attica’s inmates of the prison which began four days prior. Although the amalgamation of the prisoners to spark anarchy and gain control of Attica appeared unsolicited to the public, the foreshadowing of revolt was discretely assembled in the idealistic list of grievances known as The Attica Liberation Faction Manifesto of Demands and Anti-Depression Platform. Written and disseminated by a group of prisoners known as the Attica Liberation Faction two months before the riot, this manifesto appeared constructed to not only unite the inmates by the chains of human rights usurpations, but to expose the cultural constructions of law enforcement in a time of racial polarization. Although the ‘we’ and ‘they’ appear initially confined to the cellblock of Attica, this manifesto, through its overtly aggressive tone and reiteration of the absence of basic human freedoms in prison, attempts to meet the additional burden of proof of the public to be viewed as a group worthy of advocacy.
Although the cultural significance of criminality and criminal justice in order to maintain racial inequality in the public sphere becomes the norm beginning in the late 1960s, the Attica Liberation Faction, a group comprised of white, black and members of the Black Panthers and Weather Underground, introduces its list of demands in an inclusive manner. The opening lines of the manifesto read, “we, the imprisoned men of Attica Prison, seek an end to the injustice suffered by all prisoners regardless of race, creed, or color” (13). This statement reads incongruently with Lyon’s analysis of the manifesto form where the ‘we’ of the manifesto “is an inherently colonizing construct” (23). By uniting the ‘we’ under the collective struggle of the prisoner instead of the polarizing construct of race, which the political climate at the time attempted to culminate in the prison system, initially suggests a gravitation toward inclusivity and a progressive ideology by the inmates. Bernstein in a commentary on the politics and prison reform of the seventies entitled America is the Prison, further suggested that the new “cultural constructions of criminality and race simultaneously linked criminality as an assault on the ‘civil rights’ of ‘decent citizens’” (21). Meaning, politics during this time attempted to advocate for the ‘scared straight’ prison experience over the intended rehabilitation process of the institution. The Faction, however, confesses in the introduction that even though they admit to their social errors as such, they also mention that despite their wrongdoings, they, as human beings, still reserve the right to basic dignity. Therefore, the Faction pens, “we are instead treated for our hostilities by our program administrators with their hostility as medication” (13). By asserting their humanness by claiming their misconduct, the Faction pleads with not only the governor of New York and the Commissioner of Corrections to whom the manifesto was addressed, but the public sphere to recognize the worthiness of the group for advocacy. Ultimately the opening lines of the manifesto uniquely unify the inmates of Attica through the largely colorblind hostility endured in the prison system in contrast to the largely racially divided climate beyond the cellblock.
As the manifesto transitioned into its list of demands, the reader becomes inundated with anti-capitalistic and neo slavery rhetoric that is peppered chaotically throughout the list alongside the description of the callous conditions of the prison itself. A list of 27 requests, this form of numbered requisitions along with the assertive ‘we demand’ that begins each statement appears reminiscent of the form of the Black Panther’s Ten Point Program. Just as the Panthers advocate for an end to inherent racism in society, the Attica Liberation Faction similarly cries out for “an end to the discrimination and judgment and quota of parole for Black and Brown People” (16). Like the Panthers, Attica’s prisoners demanded an end to racially-biased practices in the criminal justice system in order to cultivate a revolutionary movement and gain advocacy from groups like the Panthers who maintained authority beyond the cell. The list of demands also weaves its way through the pitfalls of capitalism in relation to the conditions of Attica. Meaning, prisoners felt additional economic oppression by administration through required employment for “an average of forty cents per day.” This inability to support oneself and family because of an unfair wage as well as the fact that “prisoners who refuse to work are punished and segregated” parallels the neo slavery philosophy which is defined by George Jackson in his letters from San Quentin prison, “ [neo slavery] an economic condition which manifests itself in the total loss or absence of self determination […] slavery merely changed […] from chattel slavery to economic slavery” (34). The alignment of the conditions of Attica with slavery further focuses in on the lack of democracy within the prison manifested in the inability to exercise basic freedoms guaranteed to the American citizen. By speaking on behalf of Attica through the utilization of rhetoric popular in other manifestos during the sixties, the Faction effectively articulates the helpless role of the prisoners within the system. This aligns well with Lyon’s suggestion that “the ‘we’ becomes not only the nomenclature of the group, but also a rhetorical device to evoke audiences” (23). The “we’ of these demands is not only a call to action for the prisoners to unite against the system, but also a concession to the general public to not only sympathize with this group whose basic freedoms have been usurped but to mobilize to aid in the alteration of the norm. The demands listed in the manifesto encompass a wide range of issues that challenge not only the physical conditions of the prison, but echo the mission for racial equality against capitalism and the criminal justice system prevalent in the mission of civil rights groups of the sixties.
Though regarded as one of the antecedents to the Attica prison riot in the September of 1971 by way of articulating the collective grievances with the state of the prison experience, the inevitability of such a chaotic event becomes implied by the description of the prison’s physical conditions and clear vulnerability felt by the inmates. The concluding lines of the manifesto read, “we demand, as human beings, the dignity and justice that is due to us by our right of birth” (17).
The humanness of the prisoner is again mentioned in the final lines to convince the reader that even though the inmates have admitted to their faults, their lives do not deserve to be stripped from them while incarcerated as a way of reform. The Faction continues to end their fiercely articulated list of demands with a blatant call to the public by confessing that “the taxpayers who just happen to be our mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers […] should be made aware of how their tax dollars are being spent” (17). This statement, though a condemnation of the so-called democracy fostered in America, concurrently raises awareness to the public’s role in the inmate’s struggle. Meaning, because the multi-million dollar prison industry is paid for by the free man, the Faction reasons that the public has the ability to join the pursuit of insurgence with the inmates. This expansion of the ‘we’ to the public sphere against the oppression of Attica resonates with Lyon’s claim that the ‘we’ is “the suggestive power of the limitless, volatile masses […] it is a gesture toward both a kinship and indomitable mass resolve” (26). The Faction, through the mention of the public by way of the members of the family not only fosters sympathy to this movement, but is also a technique to galvanize the public to change this institution because the prisoners of Attica are still part of America’s family. Ultimately, the Faction hoped to gain support for their movement through the extension of the ‘we’ to the public by way of democratic responsibility.
Although the manifesto and subsequent riot at Attica led to bloodshed and additional prison uprisings throughout the country, the demands made by the Faction sparked a national conversation about the condition of the incarcerated. Because the themes of racial unity, democracy, and neo slavery appear aggressively woven throughout the text, the struggle of the inmate was made analogous to the mission of various civil rights groups at the time. Although the prison experience exposed, substantial strides toward a rehabilitation prison experience are still required in the country that continues to maintain the world’s largest prison population. In fact, the criminal even in post-incarceration “has scarcely more rights and arguably less respect than a free slave or black person living at the height of Jim Crow” (Alexander 5). Therefore, the Attica manifesto continues to resonate with the sentiment felt by those affected by the American prison system whose perception of incarceration continues to operate on cruelty.
Works Cited
Alexander, Michelle. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. The
New Press, 2010.
Bernstein, Lee. America is the Prison: Arts and Politics in Prison in the 1970s. The Univeristy of
North Carolina Press, 2010.
Jackson, George. Soledad Brother: The Prison Letters of George Jackson. Coward-McCann,
1970.
Lyon, Janet. Manifestos: Provocation of the Modern. Cornell University Press, 1999.
On September 13th 1971, tear gas poured over the recreation yard of New York state’s Attica Correctional Facility as state troopers stormed the prison in a fashion reminiscent of blitzkrieg in order to quell the short reign of Attica’s inmates of the prison which began four days prior. Although the amalgamation of the prisoners to spark anarchy and gain control of Attica appeared unsolicited to the public, the foreshadowing of revolt was discretely assembled in the idealistic list of grievances known as The Attica Liberation Faction Manifesto of Demands and Anti-Depression Platform. Written and disseminated by a group of prisoners known as the Attica Liberation Faction two months before the riot, this manifesto appeared constructed to not only unite the inmates by the chains of human rights usurpations, but to expose the cultural constructions of law enforcement in a time of racial polarization. Although the ‘we’ and ‘they’ appear initially confined to the cellblock of Attica, this manifesto, through its overtly aggressive tone and reiteration of the absence of basic human freedoms in prison, attempts to meet the additional burden of proof of the public to be viewed as a group worthy of advocacy.
Although the cultural significance of criminality and criminal justice in order to maintain racial inequality in the public sphere becomes the norm beginning in the late 1960s, the Attica Liberation Faction, a group comprised of white, black and members of the Black Panthers and Weather Underground, introduces its list of demands in an inclusive manner. The opening lines of the manifesto read, “we, the imprisoned men of Attica Prison, seek an end to the injustice suffered by all prisoners regardless of race, creed, or color” (13). This statement reads incongruently with Lyon’s analysis of the manifesto form where the ‘we’ of the manifesto “is an inherently colonizing construct” (23). By uniting the ‘we’ under the collective struggle of the prisoner instead of the polarizing construct of race, which the political climate at the time attempted to culminate in the prison system, initially suggests a gravitation toward inclusivity and a progressive ideology by the inmates. Bernstein in a commentary on the politics and prison reform of the seventies entitled America is the Prison, further suggested that the new “cultural constructions of criminality and race simultaneously linked criminality as an assault on the ‘civil rights’ of ‘decent citizens’” (21). Meaning, politics during this time attempted to advocate for the ‘scared straight’ prison experience over the intended rehabilitation process of the institution. The Faction, however, confesses in the introduction that even though they admit to their social errors as such, they also mention that despite their wrongdoings, they, as human beings, still reserve the right to basic dignity. Therefore, the Faction pens, “we are instead treated for our hostilities by our program administrators with their hostility as medication” (13). By asserting their humanness by claiming their misconduct, the Faction pleads with not only the governor of New York and the Commissioner of Corrections to whom the manifesto was addressed, but the public sphere to recognize the worthiness of the group for advocacy. Ultimately the opening lines of the manifesto uniquely unify the inmates of Attica through the largely colorblind hostility endured in the prison system in contrast to the largely racially divided climate beyond the cellblock.
As the manifesto transitioned into its list of demands, the reader becomes inundated with anti-capitalistic and neo slavery rhetoric that is peppered chaotically throughout the list alongside the description of the callous conditions of the prison itself. A list of 27 requests, this form of numbered requisitions along with the assertive ‘we demand’ that begins each statement appears reminiscent of the form of the Black Panther’s Ten Point Program. Just as the Panthers advocate for an end to inherent racism in society, the Attica Liberation Faction similarly cries out for “an end to the discrimination and judgment and quota of parole for Black and Brown People” (16). Like the Panthers, Attica’s prisoners demanded an end to racially-biased practices in the criminal justice system in order to cultivate a revolutionary movement and gain advocacy from groups like the Panthers who maintained authority beyond the cell. The list of demands also weaves its way through the pitfalls of capitalism in relation to the conditions of Attica. Meaning, prisoners felt additional economic oppression by administration through required employment for “an average of forty cents per day.” This inability to support oneself and family because of an unfair wage as well as the fact that “prisoners who refuse to work are punished and segregated” parallels the neo slavery philosophy which is defined by George Jackson in his letters from San Quentin prison, “ [neo slavery] an economic condition which manifests itself in the total loss or absence of self determination […] slavery merely changed […] from chattel slavery to economic slavery” (34). The alignment of the conditions of Attica with slavery further focuses in on the lack of democracy within the prison manifested in the inability to exercise basic freedoms guaranteed to the American citizen. By speaking on behalf of Attica through the utilization of rhetoric popular in other manifestos during the sixties, the Faction effectively articulates the helpless role of the prisoners within the system. This aligns well with Lyon’s suggestion that “the ‘we’ becomes not only the nomenclature of the group, but also a rhetorical device to evoke audiences” (23). The “we’ of these demands is not only a call to action for the prisoners to unite against the system, but also a concession to the general public to not only sympathize with this group whose basic freedoms have been usurped but to mobilize to aid in the alteration of the norm. The demands listed in the manifesto encompass a wide range of issues that challenge not only the physical conditions of the prison, but echo the mission for racial equality against capitalism and the criminal justice system prevalent in the mission of civil rights groups of the sixties.
Though regarded as one of the antecedents to the Attica prison riot in the September of 1971 by way of articulating the collective grievances with the state of the prison experience, the inevitability of such a chaotic event becomes implied by the description of the prison’s physical conditions and clear vulnerability felt by the inmates. The concluding lines of the manifesto read, “we demand, as human beings, the dignity and justice that is due to us by our right of birth” (17).
The humanness of the prisoner is again mentioned in the final lines to convince the reader that even though the inmates have admitted to their faults, their lives do not deserve to be stripped from them while incarcerated as a way of reform. The Faction continues to end their fiercely articulated list of demands with a blatant call to the public by confessing that “the taxpayers who just happen to be our mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers […] should be made aware of how their tax dollars are being spent” (17). This statement, though a condemnation of the so-called democracy fostered in America, concurrently raises awareness to the public’s role in the inmate’s struggle. Meaning, because the multi-million dollar prison industry is paid for by the free man, the Faction reasons that the public has the ability to join the pursuit of insurgence with the inmates. This expansion of the ‘we’ to the public sphere against the oppression of Attica resonates with Lyon’s claim that the ‘we’ is “the suggestive power of the limitless, volatile masses […] it is a gesture toward both a kinship and indomitable mass resolve” (26). The Faction, through the mention of the public by way of the members of the family not only fosters sympathy to this movement, but is also a technique to galvanize the public to change this institution because the prisoners of Attica are still part of America’s family. Ultimately, the Faction hoped to gain support for their movement through the extension of the ‘we’ to the public by way of democratic responsibility.
Although the manifesto and subsequent riot at Attica led to bloodshed and additional prison uprisings throughout the country, the demands made by the Faction sparked a national conversation about the condition of the incarcerated. Because the themes of racial unity, democracy, and neo slavery appear aggressively woven throughout the text, the struggle of the inmate was made analogous to the mission of various civil rights groups at the time. Although the prison experience exposed, substantial strides toward a rehabilitation prison experience are still required in the country that continues to maintain the world’s largest prison population. In fact, the criminal even in post-incarceration “has scarcely more rights and arguably less respect than a free slave or black person living at the height of Jim Crow” (Alexander 5). Therefore, the Attica manifesto continues to resonate with the sentiment felt by those affected by the American prison system whose perception of incarceration continues to operate on cruelty.
Works Cited
Alexander, Michelle. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. The
New Press, 2010.
Bernstein, Lee. America is the Prison: Arts and Politics in Prison in the 1970s. The Univeristy of
North Carolina Press, 2010.
Jackson, George. Soledad Brother: The Prison Letters of George Jackson. Coward-McCann,
1970.
Lyon, Janet. Manifestos: Provocation of the Modern. Cornell University Press, 1999.