The Attica Prison Uprising (1971) – The Revolt That Exposed the Carceral State
Black History Through the Lens of Liberation
What Happens When People Are Pushed to the Edge—and What That Teaches Us About Liberation Today
The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 wasn’t just a rebellion—it was a reckoning.
A moment in history that peeled back the layers of the American carceral system and exposed its brutality, its hypocrisy, and its true function: to dehumanize, control, and break the spirit of those it confines.
Attica was a flashpoint, but it was not unique—it was part of a larger, ongoing pattern of resistance inside the U.S. prison system, where incarcerated people—particularly Black and Brown men—have continuously fought against their oppression. What happened in Attica was a microcosm of the world outside prison walls, a lesson in how white supremacy, capitalism, and state violence intersect to maintain power.
Today, as we look at the state of mass incarceration, police violence, and the modern-day prison industrial complex, we must recognize that Attica never ended. It simply evolved.
The Spark That Lit the Fire
By 1971, Attica Correctional Facility in New York was a pressure cooker of injustice:
Seventy percent of the incarcerated population was Black and Brown, yet nearly all the guards were white.
People were locked in cells for 16 to 24 hours a day, with minimal food, medical care, or access to education.
Brutality from guards was constant—beatings, isolation, and torture were routine.
Families were denied visits, and those inside were given just one roll of toilet paper a month.
These men were not just prisoners; they were the direct descendants of enslaved people, trapped in a system that continued to profit from their captivity. They understood that this was not just about their conditions—it was about their humanity.
September 9, 1971: The Prisoners Seize Control
On September 9, 1971, tensions reached a breaking point when the murder of George Jackson, a revolutionary incarcerated at San Quentin Prison, sent shockwaves through the Black radical movement.
The men inside Attica took over the prison, seizing 42 hostages and demanding basic human rights. Their demands weren’t outrageous—they wanted:
Decent food and medical care
An end to racial segregation in the prison
The right to education and rehabilitation programs
The ability to speak with legal representatives without retaliation
An end to physical abuse by guards
What they were asking for wasn’t special treatment—it was dignity.
And this terrified those in power.
The State’s Response: Violence and Retaliation
For four days, the incarcerated men at Attica organized, negotiated, and stood in solidarity. They brought in lawyers, activists, and even the press, making their voices heard beyond the prison walls.
But on September 13, New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller ordered a military-style assault on the prison.
Five hundred fifty state troopers stormed Attica, firing indiscriminately into the yard.
Thirty-nine men were murdered—both prisoners and hostages—by state gunfire.
The state falsely claimed that prisoners had killed the hostages—a lie exposed during autopsies.
Survivors were beaten, tortured, and forced to crawl naked through broken glass.
The state’s response to a demand for basic rights was a massacre.
Attica was not just a prison riot—it was a state-sanctioned execution.
What Attica Revealed About the Carceral System
The U.S. prison system has never been about justice—it has always been about containment, exploitation, and control.
The men at Attica understood this. Their uprising wasn’t just about their personal suffering—it was about exposing the entire prison system as a tool of racial capitalism.
Prisons are an extension of slavery.
The 13th Amendment outlawed slavery except as punishment for a crime, creating a direct pipeline from plantations to prisons.Prisons maintain racial and economic hierarchies.
Mass incarceration disproportionately targets Black and Brown communities, ensuring cheap labor, political disenfranchisement, and generational trauma.Prisons are profit-driven.
Corporations make billions off of prison labor, surveillance technology, private prisons, and police militarization. Attica was a government-run facility, but the system that enabled it is deeply entrenched in capitalism.
Attica did not happen in isolation, and it was not the last of its kind.
From Attica to Today: The Struggle Continues
Attica’s echoes can be heard in the prison strikes of today, where incarcerated people continue to resist:
2016: National Prison Strike
Inspired by Attica, incarcerated workers in 24 states launched a nationwide strike against forced prison labor.2018: The Largest Prison Strike in U.S. History
Thousands protested inhumane conditions, lack of medical care, and modern-day slavery inside prisons.2022: Alabama Prison Strike
Incarcerated people in Alabama refused to work, demanding sentencing reform and an end to prison slavery.
The prison-industrial complex is bigger than ever, but so is the resistance.
Reflection: The Time Loop of Oppression
Attica is not just a history lesson—it is a mirror.
We are still fighting against the same systems of racial capitalism.
We are still watching state-sanctioned murders go unpunished.
We are still being told that the system is broken when, in fact, it is working exactly as designed.
The question is not “When will things change?”
The question is “What are we willing to do to make change happen?”
Reflection Question: How does mass incarceration today reflect the same patterns of violence, control, and racial oppression that the men at Attica fought against?
Further Learning: Watch, Read, and Act
Watch:
“Attica” (2021) – A powerful documentary on the uprising.
“13th” (2016) – Ava DuVernay’s breakdown of prison as modern slavery.
Read:
Blood in the Water by Heather Ann Thompson – The definitive book on Attica.
Are Prisons Obsolete? by Angela Davis – Why abolition is necessary.
Act:
Support prison abolition groups like:
A 28-Day Journey Through Black Resistance and Liberation
The Attica Prison Uprising is just one of many powerful stories of resistance, self-determination, and revolution included in my 28-Day Journey Through Black Resistance and Liberation.
Join the journey today:
Get the guide here.
Attica wasn’t just a rebellion—it was a message.
A message that even in the most controlled, brutal conditions, people will rise up.
And that message still applies today.
In solidarity and liberation,
Desireé B. Stephens CPS-P
Educator | Counselor | Community Builder
Founder, Make Shi(f)t Happen