The Long Attica Revolt

Dr. Orisanmi Burton discusses his book “Tip of the Spear”, defining counter-insurgency and describing the prisoner struggle in what he calls the “Long Attica Revolt.” The conversation highlights how prison reform has been used as a tactic to defang the radical demands of those captured at the same time pacifying non-politicized prisoners and the ways that political prisoners maneuver through co-optation. Tip of the Spear is a counter-narrative to the popular histories of the Attica Revolt, situating it in the Black Liberation struggle taking place inside and outside prison walls, before, during, and beyond Attica. 

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• Intro Audio: Elliot "L.D." Barkley delivers Attica demands: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJ0gWUNTru8
• Intro Audio: Muhammed Ali recites Attica Poem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSXKmvHxNCY 
• 14:00 - Attica Demands
• 15:45 - “We have to be looking at praxis for demands…”
• C. 24:30 - “Kidnappings, Hijacking, WR, PLO, etc” https://roape.net/2023/11/10/walter-rodney-and-palestinian-liberation/
  • “When we exchange our currency for money from the developed countries the rate of exchange is always unfavourable because they set the terms. But when comrades in Latin America exchange kidnapped diplomats for prisoners the rate of exchange is good.”
• 29:00 - “The prison is a locus of fascism” / “disproportionality”
• 37:00 - Counter-insurgency definition - secure their loyalty
• C. 45 - Counter-insurgency is not scientific https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIzaEgAbsg0&ab_channel=MillennialsAreKillingCapitalismLive%21
• 01:01:00 - Conspiracy