Hier soir, Archie Shepp introduisait son concert à La Villette avec le Attica Blues Big Band par un discours sur le système carcéral. Voici sa retranscription. Les passages inaudibles sont marqués (...). Il ne s’agit jamais de plus d’un ou deux mots, et la compréhension du texte n’en souffre pas.
The newspapers called it a riot, but we called it a rebellion, because it was a courageous act by brave men who refused to tolerate the [tyrany] of modern days slavery, which prisons really are. A system of incarceration which allows human beings to be treated in a way that one wouldn’t treat animals. Out of the public view, the correctional authorities (the guards, the warden) (...) exert unspeakable brutality against the inmates. Its methods are constant intimidation, torture,
rape and murder. Responsibility for these acts reach to the highest levels of government. For example, so many lives that where lost that day might have been saved if the governor of New-York - himself son of one of the richest families in the world - had shown the tolerance and compassion which his office and privileged position mandated. Finally, it was a question of the right of the State to enforce its power over the individual, no matter how arbitrary or oppressive its methods. It is sad to think of that deplorable time, that terrible day in september. Just one month prior, there had been another tragedy at Soledad prison in California, resulting in several deaths. Most terribly, that of a thirty year-old Black Panther, George Jackson. It’s a tragic fact that over 50% of the prisoners in Attica were black, even though at the time african-americans numbered less than 15% of the total population, according to the National Bureau of Census. The 1960s and 70s marked a period of ethical social and cultural change. Worldwide, particularly among youths, people like George Jackson and those who perished in Attica were symbolic of courage. In the face of injustice and adversity (...) some gave their lives hoping to change the world. Unfortunately, not much has changed. Sometimes, things seem to be even worse. Perhaps we are all prisoners.
Le concert peut-être vu ici : ►http://liveweb.arte.tv/fr/video/Archie_Shepp_Attica_Blues_Big_Band_Jazz_a_La_Villette
La présentation de l’album Attica Blues sur allmusic : ►http://www.allmusic.com/album/attica-blues-mw0000648984
Sur la rébellion des détenus de la prison d’Attica : ►http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutinerie_de_la_prison_d%27Attica
