Forty-five years ago today, prisoners at the Attica prison in upstate New York rose up. The protest’s suppression became one of the most brutal acts of repression ever on US soil.

On the morning of September 9, 1971, a group of prisoners refused to line up for work detail. Nearly half of the 2,250 prisoners — three-quarters of whom were black or Puerto Rican — were involved in the rebellion, which demanded an end to barbaric conditions, as well as social programs, religious and political freedom, and civil rights for prisoners.

“We are men,” declared their statement. “We are not beasts, and do not intend to be beaten or driven. What has happened here is but the sound before the fury of those oppressed.”