AllMovie

"We are determined, if we cannot live like people, we will die like men," so runs Sinclair Scott's prophetic line. In the Attica prison standoff of 1971, inmates took over this New York state prison after their demands for improved living conditions were ignored. After three days, Governor Nelson Rockefeller called in the National Guard and in the ensuing struggle 39 people, mainly prisoners, were killed. In the aftermath, the Portable Channel conducted interviews with lawyers, community members, and prison officials. Featured on this tape is an interview with Sinclair Scott, a member of the first negotiating team sent into the prison, who gives a first hand account of the prisoner's organization, thought processes, demands, and characters.