When the Prisoners Ran Walpole - 50 Years Later - Session 1

Explore a pivotal moment in prison reform history through this documentary screening and panel discussion commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Walpole prison takeover. Watch "3000 Years and Life" (1973), directed by Randall Conrad and Stephen Ujlaki, documenting the formation of the National Prisoners Reform Association (NPRA) and their peaceful management of Walpole state prison during a guards' strike in 1973. Engage with a panel of key figures from the event, including Bobby Dellelo (NPRA President), Rev. Edward Rodman (Ad Hoc Committee member), and Albert Brown (NPRA and BANTU Board Member), moderated by Keith Harvey of the American Friends Service Committee. Gain insights into this extraordinary struggle for prisoner self-determination and its significance in the broader movement for prison abolition. Discover how incarcerated individuals organized themselves into a labor union, seized opportunities presented by a progressive Commissioner of Correction, and challenged traditional notions of prison management.