{"id":1026,"date":"2016-09-23T08:00:06","date_gmt":"2016-09-23T13:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/?p=1026"},"modified":"2016-09-21T14:08:17","modified_gmt":"2016-09-21T19:08:17","slug":"protesting-prison-conditions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/2016\/09\/23\/protesting-prison-conditions\/","title":{"rendered":"Protesting Prison Conditions"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Photo<\/a>
Photo by The All-Nite Images, Flickr CC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On the recent 45<\/span>th<\/span> anniversary of the Attica prison uprising, prisoners in at least 24 states protested inhumane living and working conditions, in what some observers are calling the <\/span>largest national prison strike in American history<\/span><\/a>. Led by inmate movements in Alabama and Texas that critique\u00a0<\/span>prison slavery<\/span><\/a>, protests are still ensuing in many states, with demonstrations ranging from work stoppage to hunger strikes. As historian Heather Ann Thompson<\/a> reveals in a recent article in the <\/span>Atlantic<\/span><\/a>, the parallels between these modern prison protests and the Attica prison uprising are clear: <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe root causes of the Attica rebellion were, as they are with the rebellions today, abysmal conditions in our nation\u2019s correctional facilities.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Thompson argues in her book that the political consequences of the misinformation surrounding Attica helped to legitimate the punitive turn in American imprisonment. Although Attica may have helped to perpetuate some of the problems\u00a0in American prisons, Thompson believes that it also provides an example to those who are incarcerated that they have ways to take action. <\/span><\/h5>\n