testo di Jacopo Bassi
voce di Jacopo Bassi
traduzioni di Gianluca Canè
timeline ideata e realizzata da Sara TROMBINI nell’ambito dell’insegnamento Storia digitale tenuto da Deborah Paci presso Ca’ Foscari Università Venezia

Ascolta la registrazione di questa puntata, andata in onda su Radio Ca’ Foscari il 23 febbraio 2017.

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La contestualizzazione degli eventi, sul sito il Mondo Contemporaneo.

Sam Cooke, Chain Gang, in Swing Low, 1961

(Hoh! Ah!) I hear something saying (Hoh! Ah!) (Hoh! Ah!)(Well don’t you know) That’s the sound of the men, Working on the chain, ga-ang That’s the sound of the men, Working on the chain, gang All day long they’re singing (Hoh! Ah!) (Well don’t you know) That’s the sound of the men, Working on the chain, ga-ang That’s the sound of the men, Working on the chain, gang All day long they work so hard till the sun is going down Working on the highways and byways and wearing, wearing a frown You hear they moaning their lives away Then you hear somebody say That’s the sound of the men, Working on the chain, ga-ang That’s the sound of the men, Working on the chain, gang Can’t you hear them singing, mmm (Hoh! Ah!) I’m going home one of these days I’m going home, see my woman Whom I love so dear But meanwhile I gotta work right here

(Well don’t you know) That’s the sound of the men, Working on the chain, ga-ang That’s the sound of the men, Working on the chain, gang All day long they’re singing, mmm (Hoh! Ah!) My work is so hard Give me water I’m thirsty, my work is so hard Woah ooo My work is so hard

Johnny Cash, The Wall, in Orange Blossom, 1965

There’s a lot of strange men in cell block ten But the strangest of em’ all Was a friend of mine who spent his time Starin at the wall… Starin at the wall… In his hand was a note that his gal had wrote Proving crime don’t pay Was the very same gal he robbed and stole for Wanting thier wedding day… Wanting thier wedding day… As he looked at the wall So strong and tall I heard him softly curse Nobody at all ever climbed that wall But I’m gonna be the first… I’m gonna be the first… Then the warden walked by and said son don’t try I’d hate to see you fall Cause there is no doubt they’ll carry you out If you ever touch that wall… If you ever touch that wall…

Well a years gone by since he made his try But I can still recall How hard he tried and the way he died But he never made that wall… He never made that wall… Well there’s never been a man who shook this camp But I knew a man who tried The newspapers called it a jailbreak plan But I know it was suicide… I know it was suicide…

Porter Wagoner, Green, green grass of Home, in On the Road: The Porter Wagoner Show, 1965

The old home town looks the same, As I step down from the train, And there to meet me is my mama and my papa. Down the road I look, and there comes Mary, Hair of gold and lips like cherries. It’s good to touch the green, green grass of home. The old house is still standing, Though the paint is cracked and dry, And there’s the old oak tree that I used to play on. Down the lane I walk with my sweet Mary, Hair of gold and lips like cherries. It’s good to touch the green, green grass of home. Yes, they’ll all come to see me, Arms reaching, smiling sweetly. It’s good to touch the green, green grass of home. Then I awake and look around me, At the four gray walls that surround me, And I realize that I was only dreaming.

For there’s a guard, and there’s a sad old padre, Arm in arm, we’ll walk at daybreak. Again, I’ll touch the green, green grass of home. Yes, they’ll all come to see me In the shade of the old oak tree, As they lay me ‘neath the green, green grass of home.

Johnny Cash, 25 minutes to go (1965), in At Folsom Prison, 1968

Well they’re building a gallows outside my cell I’ve got 25 minutes to go And the whole town’s waitin’ just to hear me yell I’ve got 24 minutes to go Well they gave me some beans for my last meal I’ve got 23 minutes to go But nobody asked me how I feel I’ve got 22 minutes to go Well I sent for the governor and the whole dern bunch with 21 minutes to go And I sent for the mayor but he’s out to lunch I’ve got 20 more minutes to go Then the sheriff said boy I gonna watch you die got 19 minutes to go So I laughed in his face and I spit in his eye got 18 minutes to go Now hear comes the preacher for to save my soul with 13 minutes to go And he’s talking bout’ burnin’ but I’m so cold I’ve 12 more minutes to go Now they’re testin’ the trap and it chills my spine 11 more minutes to go And the trap and the rope aw they work just fine got 10 more minutes to go Well I’m waitin’ on the pardon that’ll set me free with 9 more minutes to go But this is for real so forget about me got 8 more minutes to go

With my feet on the trap and my head on the noose got 5 more minutes to go Won’t somebody come and cut me loose with 4 more minutes to go I can see the mountains I can see the skies with 3 more minutes to go And it’s to dern pretty for a man that don’t wanna die 2 more minutes to go I can see the buzzards I can hear the crows 1 more minute to go And now I’m swingin’ and here I go-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o!

Johnny Cash, Folsom Prison Blues (1957), in At Folsom Prison, 1968

I hear the train a comin’ It’s rolling round the bend And I ain’t seen the sunshine since I don’t know when, I’m stuck in Folsom prison, and time keeps draggin’ on But that train keeps a rollin’ on down to San Antone.. When I was just a baby my mama told me. Son, Always be a good boy, don’t ever play with guns. But I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die When I hear that whistle blowing, I hang my head and cry.. I bet there’s rich folks eating in a fancy dining car They’re probably drinkin’ coffee and smoking big cigars. Well I know I had it coming, I know I can’t be free But those people keep a movin’ And that’s what tortures me…

Well if they freed me from this prison, If that railroad train was mine I bet I’d move it on a little farther down the line Far from Folsom prison, that’s where I want to stay And I’d let that lonesome whistle blow my blues away…

Bob Dylan, George Jackson 1971

I woke up this mornin’ There were tears in my bed They killed a man I really loved Shot him through the head Lord, Lord They cut George Jackson down Lord, Lord They laid him in the ground Sent him off to prison For a seventy-dollar robbery Closed the door behind him And they threw away the key Lord, Lord They cut George Jackson down Lord, Lord They laid him in the ground He wouldn’t take shit from no one He wouldn’t bow down or knees Authorities, they hated him Because he was just too real Lord, Lord They cut George Jackson down Lord, Lord They laid him in the ground Prison guards, they cursed him As they watched him from above But they were frightened of his power They were scared of his love. Lord, Lord, So they cut George Jackson down. Lord, Lord, They laid him in the ground.

Sometimes I think this whole world Is one big prison yard Some of us are prisoners The rest of us are guards Lord, Lord They cut George Jackson down Lord, Lord They laid him in the ground

John Lennon-Yoko Ono, Attica State, in Some Time In New York City 1972

What a waste of human power What a waste of human lives, shoot the prisioners in the towers Forthy-three poor widowed wives Media blames it on the prisioners, But the prisioners did not kill “Rockefeller pulled the trigger” That’s what the people feel. Attica, Attica state, we’re all mates with Attica state. Free the prisioners, free the judges Free all the prisioners everywhere, All they want is truth and justice All they need is love and care They all live in suffocation, Let’s not wathc them die in sorrow, Now’s the time for revolution, Give them all chance to grow. Attica state……

Come together join the movement, Take a stand for human rights, Fear and hatred clouds our judgement, Free us all from endless night, Attica state…. We are all mattes… We all live in…… Attica, Attica, Attica state.

Bibliografia

• BERGER, Dan, Captive nation: black prison organizing in the civil rights era, Chapel Hill, University Of North Carolina Press, 2016.
• BERGER, Dan, The struggle within: prisons, political prisoners, and mass movements in the United States, Oakland (CA) – Montreal, PM Press – Kersplebedeb, 2014.
• CHASE, Robert T., «We Are Not Slaves: Rethinking the Rise of Carceral States through the Lens of the Prisoners’ Rights Movement», in The Journal of American History, 102, 1/2015, pp. 73-86.
• CHILDRESS, Sarah, «Michelle Alexander: “A System of Racial and Social Control”», in FRONTLINE, 29 aprile 2014, URL: < http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/michelle-alexander-a-system-of-racial-and-social-control/ >.
• THOMPSON, Heather Ann, Speaking out: activism and protest in the 1960s and 1970s, Boston, Prentice Hall, 2010.

Sitografia

• Prison Culture, URL: < http://www.usprisonculture.com/blog/ >.
• ARBUCKLE, Alex Q., Jan. 13, 1968: At Folsom Prison The Man in Black performs for the men in blue in Mashable, URL: <http://mashable.com/2016/01/13/johnny-cash-folsom-prison/ >.

Timeline: Da Folsom ad Attica, viaggio nelle prigioni americane (1961-1972)

a cura di Sara TROMBINI

Video