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The Attica Prison riots were a rebellion by prisoners at the Attica Correctional Facility in Attica, New York, United States. The prisoners had demanded better living conditions, showers, education, and vocational training, as well as less censorship of their mail and visitors. At the time, inmates were given one bucket of water a week as a "shower" and one roll of toilet paper a month.[1] On September 9, 1971, responding to rumors of the impending torture of a prisoner, about one thousand of the prison's approximately 2,200 inmates rioted and seized control of the prison, taking thirty-three guards hostage. Look up rebellion in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
The Attica Correctional Facility is one of the best known prisons in the United States, second possibly to Alcatraz. ...
Attica is a town located in Wyoming County, New York. ...
is the 252nd day of the year (253rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Year 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1971 Gregorian calendar. ...
During the following four days of negotiations, authorities agreed to 28 of the prisoners' demands, but could not agree to demands for complete amnesty from criminal prosecution or for the removal of Attica's warden. After negotiations failed, state police and guards stormed the prison. When the uprising was over at least thirty-nine people were dead, including ten hostages who died by gunfire from state troopers and guards during the retaking. Look up Amnesty in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
Timeline of events At approximately 8:20 A.M. on Thursday, September 9, 1971, as 5 Company lined up for roll-call, they learned that one of their companions was to remain in his cell,[2] prompting rumors that he was to be tortured after being isolated for an incident with another prisoner.[3] A small group of 5 Company prisoners protested that they, too, would be locked up, and began walking back towards their cells. The remainder of 5 Company continued towards breakfast. As the protesting group walked past the isolated inmate, they were able to free him from his cell. They then rejoined the rest of 5 Company and proceeded on their way. A short time later, when command staff discovered what had occurred, a correctional officer walked down A Tunnel to investigate. He was assaulted and the riot began.[2]
Inmates quickly gained control of a large portion of the prison, assaulting guards with pipes, chains and baseball bats. One officer would later die from injuries received at the hands of the inmates.[3]
Inmates took forty-two officers and civilians hostage and aired a list of grievances, demanding their needs be met before their surrender.[3] In a facility designed to hold 1,200 inmates and actually housing 2,225,[4] theirs was a substantial list. They felt that they had been illegally denied certain rights and conditions to which they were entitled, illustrated by such practices as being allowed only one shower per week and one roll of toilet paper per person per month.[5]
The prisoners negotiated with a team of observers that they had requested, including Tom Wicker, an editor of the New York Times, James Ingram of the Michigan Chronicle, state representative Arthur Eve, lawyer William Kunstler and other elected officials. Tom Wicker (born 1926) is an American journalist. ...
The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ...
An african-American run Newspaper based in Detroit ...
Arthur O. Eve (1932-) is a former politician in the U.S. state of New York, who served as a Democratic member of the New York State Assembly (143rd District 1967-82, 142nd District 1983-93, Buffalo, Erie County) and Deputy Speaker of the Assembly (1979-1993). ...
William Moses Kunstler (July 7, 1919 - September 4, 1995) was a American jurist, self-described radical lawyer and civil rights activist. ...
The situation may have been further complicated by then-Governor Nelson Rockefeller’s refusal to come to the scene of the riot and meet with the inmates,[3] although later evaluations of the incident would postulate that his absence from the scene actually prevented the situation from deteriorating.[6] Negotiations broke down and Rockefeller ultimately ordered the State Police to retake the facility. Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller (July 8, 1908 – January 26, 1979) was an American Vice President, governor of New York State, philanthropist and businessman. ...
At 9:46 A.M. on Monday, September 13, 1971 tear gas was dropped into the yard and State Troopers opened fire. By the time the facility was retaken, ten hostages and twenty-nine inmates had been killed. The final death toll from the riot also included the officer fatally injured at the start of the riot and four inmates killed when "inmate justice" was administered. All ten hostages died from gunfire by state troopers and guards.[3][4] The New York State Special Commission on Attica wrote, "With the exception of Indian massacres in the late 19th century, the State Police assault which ended the four-day prison uprising was the bloodiest one-day encounter between Americans since the Civil War."[4]
Media reports claimed that inmate hostage-takers slit the throats of many of their hostages, reports that contradicted official medical evidence. Newspaper headlines made statements such as "I Saw Slit Throats," implying that prisoners had cut the hostages' throats when the armed raid occurred. These "reports" were later found to be deliberately fictitious.[7]
The Attica riots were notable in that they directed national media attention to the condition of prisons in the United States during the 1960s and early 1970s. The 1960s decade refers to the years from January 1, 1960 to December 31, 1969, inclusive. ...
The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, also called The Seventies. ...
The State of New York settled a wrongful death lawsuit with the families of the slain inmates 27 years after the riot. The State of New York recognized the families of the slain prison employees in the Autumn of 2004 with a 12 million dollar financial settlement.
Racial issues Many people attribute the riot to the racial issues inside of the prison at the time. Of 2,225 inmates (in a facility built for 1,200), 54% of the inmates were African American and 9% Puerto Rican; however, all of the 383 correctional officers were white. From reports on the prison conditions, the guards were openly racist and assaulted the prisoners with their batons, which they dubbed "Nigger Sticks." During this time period "black militancy" was at its peak and several prisons had their black militants transferred to Attica. Additionally, George Jackson, a member of the Black Panther Party, died at the hands of white prison guards only a few days before the riot in the San Quentin State Prison in California, adding to the racial tension. The aftermath of the riot called for prison reform, especially in the treatment of minority inmates who were becoming a majority in several state correctional facilities across America.[citation needed] An African American (also Afro-American, Black American, or simply black) is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ...
The word militant has come to refer to any individual or party engaged in aggressive physical or verbal combat, normally for a cause. ...
This article does not cite any references or sources. ...
The Black Panther Party (originally called the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense) was an African American organization founded to promote civil rights and self-defense with a mission of domination in the United States. ...
Categories: Buildings and structures stubs | US geography stubs | Prisons in California ...
Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Largest metro area Greater Los Angeles Area Ranked 3rd - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 km²) - Width 250 miles (400 km) - Length 770 miles (1,240 km) - % water 4. ...
After the riot One of the leaders of the uprising, Cleveland "Jomo" Davis was later pardoned by New York Governor Hugh Carey. On April 2, 1978 Davis was accused of having fatally shot New York City Police Officers Christie O. Masone and Norman R. Cerullo in Brooklyn, New York, but Davis was found not guilty. [8] Hugh Leo Carey (born April 11, 1919) was the Governor of New York between 1975 and 1983. ...
Cultural impact In the 1975 film Dog Day Afternoon, Al Pacino's character, Sonny, who is holding eight bank employees hostage, starts a chant of "Attica! Attica!" at the massed police outside, invoking the excessive police force used in response to the Attica riots. Many more pop culture references stem from this scene than from the riots themselves. For example, in the 1977 film Saturday Night Fever Tony Manero, played by John Travolta, repeats Pacino's "Attica! Attica!" line. See Dog Day Afternoon in popular culture for many more examples. Dog Day Afternoon is a 1975 film directed by Sidney Lumet and written by Frank Pierson. ...
Alfredo James Pacino (born April 25, 1940) is an Academy Award, Golden Globe, AFI, Bafta, Emmy Award, and Tony Award-winning American stage and film actor who played such iconic roles as Michael Corleone in The Godfather Trilogy and Tony Montana in the 1983 film Scarface. ...
Saturday Night Fever is a 1977 movie starring John Travolta as Tony Manero, a troubled Brooklyn youth whose weekend activities are dominated by visits to a Brooklyn discotheque. ...
Anthony T. Manero (April 4, 1905 – October 22, 1989) was an American golfer. ...
John Joseph Travolta (born February 18, 1954) is a two-time Academy Award-nominated, Golden Globe Award-winning American actor and singer. ...
Dog Day Afternoon is a 1975 film directed by Sidney Lumet and written by Frank Pierson. ...
At least three TV movies of the riot have been produced: 1980's Attica, with George Grizzard, 1994's Against the Wall, with Samuel L. Jackson, and 2001's The Killing Yard, with Alan Alda. George Grizzard (b. ...
Samuel Leroy Jackson (born December 21, 1948) is an American actor. ...
Alan Alda (b. ...
In the television show Oz, racial tension and poor living conditions cause the prison inmates to riot in the episode "A Game of Checkers." The event echoes the real life situation in Attica, and several characters reference the Attica uprisings when discussing how they should work to defuse the riot. Oz was the first one-hour dramatic television series to be produced by HBO. The show, which aired for six seasons (1997-2003), was created by Tom Fontana and produced by Barry Levinson. ...
The incident is directly referenced in at least two songs: John Lennon's "Attica State" on his Some Time In New York City album, and Tom Paxton's "The Hostage," which was included by Judy Collins on her 1973 album True Stories and Other Dreams. The Attica riots were also said to have inspired both the 10cc song "Rubber Bullets" and the Charles Mingus composition "Remember Rockefeller at Attica." John Winston Ono Lennon, MBE (October 9, 1940 – December 8, 1980), (born John Winston Lennon, known as John Ono Lennon) was an iconic English 20th century rock and roll songwriter and singer, best known as the founding member of The Beatles. ...
This article or section includes a list of works cited but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ...
Thomas R. Paxton was born October 31, 1937 in Chicago, Illinois, the youngest child of Burton and Esther Paxton. ...
Judy Collins Judith Marjorie Collins (born May 1, 1939 in Seattle, Washington) is an American folk and standards singer. ...
Year 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar) of the 1973 Gregorian calendar. ...
True Stories and Other Dreams was a Judy Collins album, first released in 1973. ...
10cc was a British pop band which achieved its greatest commercial success during the 1970s. ...
Rubber bullets are rubber-coated projectiles fired from guns. ...
Charles Mingus (April 22, 1922 – January 5, 1979) was an American jazz bassist, composer, bandleader, and occasional pianist. ...
Changes One is a 1974 (see 1974 in music) album by jazz composer and bassist Charles Mingus. ...
The 1972 album Attica Blues by jazz saxophonist Archie Shepp and its title track are a direct reference to the incident. Attica Blues is an album by avant-garde jazz saxophonist Archie Shepp. ...
Archie Shepp in France Archie Shepp is an American jazz saxophonist. ...
Composer Frederic Rzewski wrote two pieces, "Coming Together"/"Attica" (1972), that set excerpts from a letter by Sam Melville, one of the prisoners killed in the riots. Frederic Anthony Rzewski (born April 13, 1938) is an American composer and virtuoso pianist. ...
Poet Alen Pol Kobryn’s verse series, Attica State, was broadcast on WBAI, 1976. Alen Pol Kobryn is a poet, born in Utica, New York, in 1949. ...
WBAI, a part of the Pacifica Radio Network, is a non-commercial, listener-supported radio station, broadcasting at 99. ...
Written by Poet Allen Ginsberg, performed by Rage Against the Machine. "Hadda Be Playin on a Jukebox"
References - ^ Jackson, B. (1999). Attica: An Anniversary of Death. Retrieved October 4, 2006, from http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~bjackson/attica.htm
- ^ a b Attica Correctional Facility: 1971 Prison Riot. Attica Central School District. Retrieved on 2006-10-04.
- ^ a b c d e People & Events: Attica Prison Riot – September 9-13, 1971. American Experience—The Rockefellers. Public Broadcasting Service. Retrieved on 2006-10-04.
- ^ a b c Schmalleger, F., & Smykla, J. (2007, 2005, 2002). Corrections in the 21st Century. New York: McGraw-Hill.
- ^ Jackson, B. (1999). Attica: An Anniversary of Death. Retrieved October 4, 2006, from http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~bjackson/attica.htm
- ^ Benjamin, G., & Rappaport, S. (1974). Attica and Prison Reform. Proceedings of the Academy of Political Science, 31(3), 203-212. Retrieved October 6, 2006, from JSTOR database.
- ^ http://www.guerrillaunderground.com/attica.htm
- ^ New York Times April 2, 1978 page 1, 33
Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays full 2006 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...
is the 277th day of the year (278th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays full 2006 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...
is the 277th day of the year (278th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Bibliography - Voices of Freedom: An Oral History of the Civil Rights Movement from the 1950s through the 1980s, eds. Henry Hampton and Steve Fayer
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