On March 7th, I had the opportunity to hear about the Attica Prison uprising. Prior to the lecture, I had never heard of Attica or the riot. Although I had never known about the situation, at least I was able to learn about the situation with all of its truths. When the uprising occurred, what was told to the public was untrue. The cover-up told to the public back then can still be seen today when we think about the bias news coverage that is presented to us.
Furthermore, how hard it was to uncover what actually occurred at the prison makes me question how much of history are we missing today. Heather Thompson spoke about how back then, the governor made the book and information on Attica closed . So, Heather had to get lots of information directly from the people who lived it instead. Thus, we have to think, for the events that occurred long ago that can’t be traced to directly living individuals anymore, how many of those events are we missing/have been told incorrectly?
This lecture was great. I had no idea Attica even occurred but now it is hard to believe that I didn’t hear about this example of a lack of human rights in our country. Hopefully something like this never happens again.