Essay On The Attica State Prison Riot

The Attica Prison riot of 1971 was caused by a variety of problems, but is unanimously attributed to the death of the African-American activist and author George Jackson. While incarcerated at San Quinton, Jackson’s work reached readers on an international level and inspired prisoners throughout the country. Inmates at the Attica state prison faced harsh conditions and without any other escape, used George Jackson’s, and other activist’s writing as a way to tolerate their environment. Temperatures reached well over one hundred degrees during the summer, prisoners were allowed less than one shower per week, and basic necessities such as toilet paper and medical treatment were withheld from inmates. These harsh conditions created a platform for

After learning peaceful strategies of liberation, prisoners in Attica begun to write Governor Rockefeller about the harsh conditions and a dialog was created. After time had lapsed and change was yet to come, prisoners became perturbed and Attica felt the tension. Following unsuccessful civil congregation and protest, the death of George Jackson spread to correctional facilities around the country; within weeks the Attica State Prison witnessed one of the largest mass shootings in the United States history. Oppressive systems do not allow for the oppressed to obtain liberation through a civil means of disobedience, but rather entice fatal

Superintendent Vincent Mancusi acknowledged this unease, and arranged for men who tried to alter the power dynamic to be isolated or transferred from Attica. Those who became enlighted started a strike, “Mancusi’s actions so enraged the metal shop workers that they called for a full-scale strike. At first it was only B Block prisoners who refused to work, because it was men from their block who had been keeplocked. But when Mancusi locked down that entire cell block for striking, the next day almost 450 of the men in the metal shop refused to work”(??). The levels of protest amongst the workers began to escalate as the hot summer months began to come around. Letters to Rockefeller turned into civil disobedience amongst the prisoners, and civil disobedience turned into strikes. As inmates became enraged because their civil, educated, and justifiable ways of resistance failed to work, tension built between them and correctional officers, “They began expressing to their wives and co-workers a reluctance to go to work. Some had even started leaving their wallets at home in case anything ‘jumped off’ at the prison. CO William Quinn also felt compelled to make sure that his financial affairs were in good order. One night, after putting his daughters, Deanne and Christine, to bed, Quinn showed