 After the Attica Prison riot, the residents of Walpole formed a prisoners' union to protect themselves from guards, end behavioral modification programs, advocate for the prisoners' right to education and healthcare, and attain more visitation rights, work assignments, and the ability to send money to their families.The union also ended race-related violence within the prison, creating a general truce, including an ethnic truce and an agreement to kill any inmate who broke said truce.During the black prisoner's Kwanzaa celebration, the black prisoners were placed in lockdown, angering the whole facility and leading to a general strike.