The film opens with a montage of news footage from the late 1960s and early 1970s, including the assassination of Robert Kennedy, students killed at the Kent State shootings and the Watts riots. The movie then shows the quiet streets of Attica, New York and a 22 year old Smith in a barber shop getting his long hair cut. Smith is an expectant father who decided to become a corrections officer because of the pay. After the hair cut, he goes to start his new job at the prison where black militant Jamaal X also arrives. The film shows the first day of the two men, cross-cutting between them. The terrible prison conditions are revealed. Corrections Officers treat the prisoners abusively, with violence and needless strip searches, and basic needs like functioning toilets are ignored. The spirit of the Vietnam war protests is influencing the prisoners to seek recognition of their human rights.