What really happened during the Attica Prison Rebellion - Orisanmi Burton

翻译人员: YUE QIU 校对人员: Helen Chang

“We are men.

“我们是人！

We are not beasts and we do not intend to be beaten or driven as such...

我们不是野兽！我们也不想 像野兽一样被打、被驱赶……

What has happened here is but the sound before the fury

这里所发生的一切仅仅是

那些被压迫的人愤怒的呼声。”

of those who are oppressed.”

These words were spoken during the 1971 Attica Prison Rebellion

这些话来自1971年 阿提卡监狱暴动的一位领导人

by one of its leaders, Elliott Barkley.

埃利奥特·巴克利。

At the time, Attica prison was severely overcrowded.

当时，阿提卡监狱严重超员。

Its majority Black and Latino population faced constant physical and verbal abuse.

监狱所关押的囚犯 主要是黑人和拉丁裔，

他们受到持续不断的身体、语言虐待。

All prison guards were white.

所有的警卫都是白人，

Some were members of white supremacist hate groups.

其中有些来自白人至上主义团体。

Guards threw away letters that weren’t written in English

警卫们把那些 不是用英语写的信件扔掉，

and prohibited Muslim religious services.

禁止穆斯林宗教礼拜。

They punished white prisoners for fraternizing with non-white men.

他们惩罚那些 对非白人友善的白人囚犯。

Prisoners were allowed one shower a week and one roll of toilet paper a month.

囚犯们每周只能洗一次澡， 每个月只发放一卷厕纸。

Among those imprisoned at Attica were Elliott Barkley, Frank Smith,

在阿提卡监狱关押的有 埃利奥特·巴克利、弗兰克·史密斯

and Herbert X. Blyden.

以及赫伯特·X·布莱登。

“I’m dying here little by little every day...” Barkley wrote his mother.

“我在这里一天天地走向死亡……”， 巴克利向母亲写道。

She contacted authorities, but nothing changed.

她联系了当局，但是什么都没有改变。

He began writing a book about life at Attica.

巴克利开始撰写一本 关于阿提卡监狱生活的书。

Meanwhile, Smith worked a position called the “warden’s laundry boy”

同时，史密斯在一个叫作 “典狱长的洗衣童”的岗位上工作，

for 30 cents day.

每天的工资只有30美分。

His grandmother had been enslaved.

史密斯的祖母曾经是奴隶。

Because Smith and others were treated as less-than-human

因为史密斯和其他人在狱警的意愿下 遭受低人一等的待遇，

at the will of their keepers, they viewed prison as an extension of slavery.

他们把监狱视作奴隶制度的余毒。

And Blyden had participated in prison strikes and rebellions.

布莱登参与监狱中的罢工和暴动。

He and others saw the violence of prison as symptomatic of a societal problem

他和他的同伴们认为 监狱里的暴力暴露的是社会问题，

where individuals are denied justice based on their class and race.

人们因为自己的阶级和种族 而被剥夺了正义和公平。

They felt people shouldn’t be stripped of their rights to health and dignity

他们认为人们不应该因为犯了罪

而被剥夺拥有健康和尊严的权利。

upon being sentenced.

Instead, resources should go towards meeting people’s basic needs

相反，人们的基本需求应该被满足，

to prevent crime in the first place.

这样才能防范于未然， 避免犯罪的发生。

In the summer of 1971, Blyden co-founded the Attica Liberation Faction.

1971年夏天，布莱登与同伴们 共同创立了“阿提卡解放团”。

The group compiled a manifesto

他们编写了一个宣言

and petitioned Corrections Commissioner Russell Oswald

向惩戒专员拉塞尔·奥斯瓦尔德

and Governor Nelson Rockefeller for better treatment.

和纳尔逊•洛克菲勒州长请愿， 希望得到更好的对待。

Though largely ignored, they continued organizing.

尽管他们被无视， 他们一直开展相关工作。

After activist George Jackson was killed at a California prison,

在活跃分子乔治·杰克森 在加州的一个监狱中被杀后，

700 men at Attica participated in a silent fast.

阿提卡监狱中有700名囚犯 参与静坐绝食。

Just weeks later, on September 9th, a spontaneous uprising began.

仅仅几个星期后，9月9日， 一场自发的暴动发生了。

A group of prisoners overpowered guards, sparking the Attica Rebellion.

一群囚犯制服了警卫， 引发了阿提卡监狱暴动。

Prisoners broke windows, started fires, and captured supplies.

囚犯们打破窗户、纵火、收缴物资。

They beat many guards.

他们殴打了很多警卫。

One of them, William Quinn, would die from his injuries.

其中一个警卫， 威廉姆·奎因伤重不治。

Soon, over 1,200 prisoners had assembled in the yard with 42 hostages,

很快，超过1200名囚犯挟持42名人质 聚集在监狱的院子里

preparing to demand change.

准备要求改变待遇。

They established a medical bay, delegated men to prepare and ration food,

他们建立了一个医疗室， 分派人员准备和分配食物，

protected and sheltered guards, and elected a negotiating committee.

保护警卫，并选出了一个谈判委员会。

They appointed Blyden chief negotiator, Smith as security chief,

他们指派布莱登为首席谈判代表， 史密斯担任安全主管，

and Barkely as a speaker.

巴克利作为发言人。

Later that day, Barkley presented their demands to the press.

当日稍晚，巴克利 把他们的要求告诉了媒体。

When his mother saw him on TV, she was terrified.

当他的母亲在电视上看到他时， 她吓坏了。

He was just days from being released.

因为再有几天他就该刑满释放了。

But she believed authorities would want retribution.

她相信当局一定会报复他的。

Over the next four days, prisoners held negotiations with officials.

接下来的四天里， 囚犯们与政府开展了多次谈判。

They called for a minimum wage, rehabilitation programs,

他们呼吁最低工资、康复措施、

better education, and more.

更好的教育等等。

They promised all remaining hostages would be safe

他们承诺只要暴动期间 所犯的罪行能被赦免，

if they were given amnesty for crimes committed during the uprising.

他们就能保证剩下的人质的安全。

Meanwhile, Governor Rockefeller began crisis talks with President Nixon.

同时，洛克菲勒州长把危机的情况 汇报给尼克松总统。

The president told his chief of staff that the rebellion should be quelled

总统告诉他的幕僚长 暴动应该被镇压，

to set an example for other Black activists.

以儆效尤。

Commissioner Oswald announced he’d meet a number of the demands,

奥斯瓦尔多局长宣称 他同意了一系列要求，

but refused to guarantee amnesty.

但是不能保证赦免 暴动期间所犯的罪行。

Prisoners refused to surrender.

囚犯们拒绝投降。

As warnings of an imminent siege mounted,

作为对迫在眉睫的包围的警告，

they threatened to kill 8 hostages if attacked.

他们威胁道，如果遭受进攻， 他们将杀死8名人质。

Nevertheless, Rockefeller ordered troops to retake the prison.

尽管如此，洛克菲勒州长 依然下令军队夺回监狱。

Helicopters tear-gassed the yard.

直升机向院内投放了催泪瓦斯。

Troopers shot over 2,000 rounds of ammunition,

军队发射了2000多发子弹,

killing 29 prisoners and 10 guards, and wounding many others.

击毙29名囚犯，误杀了10名警卫， 并射伤多人。

Witnesses say troopers found Barkley and shot him in the back.

目击者声称军队找到巴克利， 从背后枪杀他。

Officers stripped surviving men naked, tortured them,

警察们把囚犯的衣服脱光并拷打他们，

and deprived them of medical attention.

而且剥夺他们的医护。

Blyden was starved for days.

布莱登被饿了数天。

Smith was sexually violated, burned with cigarettes,

史密斯被性侵，被雪茄烫，

dragged into isolation, and beaten.

拖入禁闭室，殴打。

Directly after the attack, Governor Rockefeller thought prisoners

此次夺回监狱的进攻后， 洛克菲勒州长认为囚犯们

were responsible for the deaths of the 10 guards.

应该对10名警卫的死负责。

He called it “a beautiful operation.”

他说这次进攻是一个“漂亮战”。

President Nixon congratulated Rockefeller and told his chief of staff

尼克松总统恭贺洛克菲勒州长 并告诉自己的幕僚长

that the way to stop “radicals” was to “kill a few.”

阻挡“那些激进分子”的办法 就是“杀上一批人”。

But autopsies soon confirmed that prisoners

但是尸检很快证明

hadn’t killed any guards during the attack, as threatened.

囚犯们并没有像之前所威胁的那样 在遭到进攻时杀掉哪怕一名警卫。

Government forces had.

杀死他们的是军队。

Nixon told Rockefeller to stand his ground.

尼克松叫洛克菲勒站稳立场。

Those who survived the massacre continued fighting for revolutionary change.

屠杀中的幸存者继续为改革而奋斗。

Long after being released,

获释后很长的一段时间内，

Smith and Blyden campaigned for social justice and prison abolition.

史密斯和布莱登 为寻求社会正义、废除监狱而奔走。

The demands men made at Attica in 1971

时至今日，那些1971年阿提卡的囚犯 所提出的要求，

remain at the core of ongoing protests— within and beyond prison walls.

依然是监狱高墙内外 持续不断抗议的核心议题。