Specters of Attica: Reflections from Inside a Michigan Prison Strike

Rustbelt Abolition Radio

On the 45th anniversary of the Attica prison uprising, hundreds imprisoned inside Michigan’s Kinross Correctional Facility refused to report to work or lock down in their barracks. Instead, they joined the largest prisoner labor strike in U.S. history. Rustbelt Abolition Radio co-produced this April 25, 2018 episode of Making Contact, in which four men who were imprisoned at Kinross report on the unlivable conditions, the moments in which the strike took shape, and the retaliation that rained down on them in its wake. We also hear from outside organizers on why it’s important to learn from prison rebellions, and how a persistent force organizing in the spirit of Abolition is rattling walls and cages to make prisons obsolete. Special thanks to Making Contact, Michigan Abolition and Prisoner Solidarity and the IWW’s Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee.