Attica (2021), Tricky Dick, and Nelson A. Rockefeller

On February 1, Rocky hosted a viewing of the Academy Award-nominated documentary Attica (2021), honoring the first day of Black History Month. The documentary depicted the under-recognized 1971 Attica Prison Uprising that culminated in the deaths of 33 inmates, 10 prison guards, and countless injured prisoners. Utilizing both archival footage and new interviews, the documentary was powerful, poignant, and, at times, infuriating—effectively capturing the surreal reality of a lesser-known event of the Civil Rights Era. 

After four days, Thursday through Sunday, of negotiations—not for release from prison but simply for humane treatment within its walls—a police helicopter dropped tear gas into the prison yard and effectively incapacitated the prisoners, including those who held knives to hostages’ throats. Archival footage clearly records the chopper’s speakers announcing that the prisoners would not be hurt if they put their hands on their heads and turned themselves in to the nearest police officer. When prisoners attempted to do this, they were executed by sharpshooters and shotgun-toting prison guards. The prisoners had no firearms and barely had improvised melee weapons. Interviews with the prisoners reveal that the prison guards shouted “Save me a n*gger!” while ruthlessly gunning down prisoners and prison guard hostages alike. Footage from outside the prison shows one officer shouting, “That’s white power!” immediately after the carnage took place.

After the shooting had ended, prisoners were forced to disrobe, crawl along the blood-soaked dirt of the prison yard or through the latrine, and then all made to run within the prison block back to their cells across floors covered in shattered glass while prison guards beat them with batons. While two prisoners were convicted for the murder of one of the correctional officers, William E. Quinn, at the onset of the riot, not a single prison guard was held legally accountable for the mass execution. National Guard troops who came in afterwards to medically evacuate injured prisoners were ordered by their commanding officer to not utter a word about the brutality they witnessed first-hand.

Most relative to Dartmouth was the role which Rocky’s namesake, Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, played in the tragedy. The documentary depicted how Rockefeller, the then-Governor of New York, refused to visit Attica during the holdout and to participate in the negotiations between prison authorities and prisoners. Many figures lamented how Rockefeller had the opportunity to solve the negotiation impasse but, out of a wish to please President Richard Nixon, refused to take a more active role in the controversy—opting instead for a removed, hardline stance. The documentary was severe on Rockefeller, and Rocky’s intention to air a documentary so critical of its namesake seems quite deliberate. 

Additionally, the documentary portrays Black Panther Party founder Bobby Seale in a less-than-favorable light. Seale briefly appeared at Attica, speaking with the prisoners momentarily, but, according to the documentary, was quite uninterested in playing a more important role in the negotiations and left soon after his arrival. This characterization of Seale, who visited campus this past fall, is also interesting to note in a Rocky event.In all, Traci A. Curry and Stanley Nelson, Jr. delivered a powerful documentary on a lesser-known tragedy in American history. While the visceral imagery of the archival footage can be quite jarring at times, Attica is a must-watch for those interested in learning about the more unsavory components of our country’s past.