“Attica Is an Ongoing Structure of Revolt” - Orisanmi Burton on Tip of the Spear, Black Radicalism, Prison Rebellion, and the Long Attica Revolt
Sep 9, 2023
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Orisanmi Burton, Author of Tip of the Spear: Black Radicalism, Prison Repression, and the Long Attica Revolt discusses his unique methodology for his book. He explores the relationship between prisons, slavery, war, and the law. Burton reflects on the New York City Jail Rebellions of 1970 and discusses political blackness and different notions of manhood. He examines the impact and influence of the Panther 21 as political actors. The podcast also explores the lesser known November 1970 Auburn Prison Rebellion.
The New York City Jail rebellion of 1970 was sparked by political radicalization and prisoner dissatisfaction, and it served as a catalyst for the larger Long Attica Revolt.
The rebels used the strategy of taking prison guards hostage to gain leverage and put pressure on authorities to address their demands.
The rebels focused on finding points of leverage within the incarcerated system to exert political consequence and influence those in power.
The rebels recognized the importance of public perception and engaged with the media to shape public opinion and put pressure on authorities to address their grievances.
Deep dives
Overview of the New York City Jail Rebellion of 1970
The New York City Jail rebellion of 1970 was a massive eruption that ruptured the entire New York City jail system. The conditions in the jails were abominable, with overcrowding and poor treatment of prisoners. The rebellion was sparked by a combination of political radicalization and prisoner dissatisfaction. Members of various radical groups such as the Black Panther Party, the Young Lords Party, and Puerto Rican nationalists were incarcerated in the jails, adding to the revolutionary fervor. The rebels found leverage by taking prison guards hostage, using them as bargaining chips to get their demands heard. The rebellion spread throughout the entire carceral system, and although the rebellion did not achieve all of its goals, it served as a catalyst for the larger Long Attica Revolt.
Debates on Violence and Leverage
Within the rebellions in the jails, there were debates on violence, discipline, and the use of leverage. While some scholars argue that black radical movements historically employed lower levels of violence than what was perceived as necessary, the Black Liberation Army (BLA) and figures like Queen Mother Moore advocated for the consideration of counter-violence. The BLA believed that the absence of mass violence among black people was a condition of oppression rather than a conscious choice. Leveraging the lives of prison guards as hostages became a key strategy for gaining leverage within the intensely asymmetrical power relationship of the jails. By taking hostages and demanding their demands be published in the media, the rebels used public perception and legitimacy to exert political consequence and pressure the authorities to address their grievances.
Discussions on Politics, War, and Leverage
The rebels sought to exert political consequence and leverage by engaging in politics within the incarcerated system. Their focus was on finding points of leverage that would pressure those in power to listen and address their demands. Huey P. Newton's concept of politics as war without bloodshed resonated with their approach. Leverage was considered essential to politics, and the rebels strategized how to exert leverage given their vulnerabilities as incarcerated individuals. They navigated questions around violence, discipline, and leverage by considering the asymmetrical power dynamics and their potential to cause disruption and garner public attention.
The Role of Perception and Public Engagement
The rebels recognized the importance of public perception and engaged with the media to influence how their struggle was perceived. By capturing and releasing hostages, making demands that were seen as reasonable and publishing their demands in prominent newspapers like the New York Times, they aimed to shape public opinion in their favor. The rebels understood that the media exposure and the perception of their demands as legitimate would put pressure on authorities to address their grievances. Public engagement and shaping public narrative became crucial aspects of gaining leverage and influencing the response to their rebellion.
Different kinds of demands
Attica was a revolutionary struggle with multiple levels of demands. There were minimum demands aimed at reform and social reproduction. Escalatory demands were meant to create conditions for the expansion of rebellion. Internal demands were revolutionary and abolitionist, illegible to the state but crucial for cultivating movement within themselves.
The power of narrative struggle
The rebels in the Auburn Rebellion engaged in narrative struggle by redefining the prison as a concentration camp and reframing the rebellion as a legitimate revolt against corrupt conditions and oppressive policies. They challenged the state's terminology of disturbance and riot, highlighting the media's sensationalism and depoliticization. Understanding this narrative struggle is essential for comprehending the rebels' demands.
Demands beyond liberal humanism
Prisoner demands often get filtered through a liberal humanist lens, obscuring their radical and revolutionary content. By engaging with more radical archival sources and understanding the complexities of demands within a revolutionary struggle, it becomes clear that demands extend beyond mere notions of equality or reform. Recognizing the multiple layers of demands allows for a deeper analysis of the rebellion's objectives and methods.
We recorded this episode on August 21st the anniversary of the assassination of George Jackson, and we release it on September 9th, the 52nd anniversary of the Attica Rebellion. We spoke with Dr. Burton for over three hours and will release the conversation in segments. In this episode we talk about Dr. Burton’s methodology and why this book is different from other historical renderings of Attica, something that will immediately be apparent as we get into the discussion.
We talk in this episode about the relationship between prisons, slavery, war and the law. Burton also shares reflections on the New York City Jail Rebellions of 1970, also known as the Tombs Rebellion or the Tombs Uprising. We talk about ways that Dr. Burton works with political Blackness and different notions of manhood through meditations from Queen Mother Moore and Kuwasi Balagoon. Burton reflects on how rebels gained leverage in zones of captivity and recalibrate our understanding of the Panther 21 by examining their impact and influence as political actors amid their repression. We also discuss different aspects of the lesser known November 1970 Auburn Prison Rebellion.
In the remainder of our conversation with Orisanmi Burton we will discuss his work’s treatment specifically on the Attica Revolt. This is our 4th conversation with Orisanmi Burton and we will link the others as even though they are on separate writings, they all relate to this book and interventions within it and fill in gaps we don’t cover in this episode.
If you haven’t already, go out and pre-order this book. I mean no disrespect to the other authors who’ve written great books this year, there are some other great contenders, but this is the best book that I’ve read this year.
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