Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire

Rikers Island, Slave Catching, and the Modern Carceral State
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
07 Mar 2025
🖨️ Print Article

Black Agenda Radio · Rikers Island, Slave Catching, and the Modern Carceral State

Darren Mack is co-founder and co-director of Freedom Agenda, an organization devoted to decarceration and system transformation, including closing the Rikers Island jail. In commenting on New York City mayor Eric Adams' plan to allow ICE to operate on Rikers Island, Darren Mack pointed out the history behind the name. Richard Riker was a New York City judge who worked with slave catchers and the kidnappers who captured fleeing enslaved people and free Black New Yorkers to send them to slavery in the south. Darren Mack joins us from New York City to discuss this history, the need to close Rikers Island, and the historical connections with the modern-day carceral state.

Rikers Island
Incarceration
Slavery
New York City
Eric Adams

Related Podcasts

Carmella Charrington
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
Deed Theft and Black Communities
22 May 2026
Leah Goodridge, a New York City-based attorney, housing advocate, and writer, is a memb
BAR Radio Logo
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
Black Agenda Radio April 24, 2026
24 April 2026
In this week’s segment, we discuss the importance of including African-descended people in discussions around climate change and a just transition
Carmella Charrington
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
Deed Theft and the Loss of Black Property
24 April 2026
Evangeline of the People’s Coalition to Stop Deed Theft, a grassroots New York City organiz

More Stories


  • Pennsylvania Supreme Court Smacks Abu-Jamal Again
    Linn Washington Jr
    Pennsylvania Supreme Court Smacks Abu-Jamal Again
    04 Mar 2020
    The Justices used extraordinary authority to delay Mumia’s appeal of his murder conviction.
  • Teaching Theory, Talking Community
    Joy James
    Teaching Theory, Talking Community
    04 Mar 2020
    For centuries, Indigenous and African peoples in the Americas have theorized for their lives and so collectively crafted a revolutionary praxis.
  • Letters from Our Readers 
    Jahan Choudhry BAR Comments Editor
    Letters from Our Readers 
    04 Mar 2020
    This week you had Joe Biden’s electability, Russiagate, and the challenges of building a new peace movement on your minds.
  • BAR Book Forum: Joshua Myers’s “We Are Worth Fighting For”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Joshua Myers’s “We Are Worth Fighting For”
    04 Mar 2020
    The students imagined a new kind of university and a radical transformation of the world.
  • BAR Book Forum: Elizabeth Foster’s book, “African Catholic”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Elizabeth Foster’s book, “African Catholic”
    04 Mar 2020
    The decolonization of Africa, and the determined activism of prominent African Catholics, played an important role in diversifying the church.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us