Attica (2021)
(Traci Curry, Stanley Nelson, US 2021, 116 min., DCP)
On September 9, 1971, the incarcerated individuals at Attica Correctional Facility, citing systemic abuse and human rights violations, took control of the prison and over thirty hostages. The bulk of the facility’s employees were from Attica, NY, which had been a prison town for four decades, while the mainly Black and Brown inmates were brought in from around the state, dividing the population along racial and cultural lines. The standoff between the incarcerated individuals and the police ended four days later in a violent retaking of the prison. This searing new documentary uses rarely seen footage and new interviews with former inmates and family of the guards to take a new look at the events of that week, especially demands such as ending the convict labor sanctioned under the 13th amendment to the US Constitution.
Introduction by Jon Garlock, labor historian. Post-screening discussion hosted by the Rochester Education Justice Initiative (REJI).