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
šŸ–Øļø Print Article

Black Agenda Radio Ā· 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


  • Trump Prosecutors Make Move to Ensure that Embassy Protectors are Convicted
    Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor
    Trump Prosecutors Make Move to Ensure that Embassy Protectors are Convicted
    15 Jan 2020
    Trump’s prosecutors are trying to suppress the facts of the US attempted coup in Venezuela, and railroad the Embassy Protectors to prison.
  • It’s not personal, it’s Business…
    Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    It’s not personal, it’s Business…
    15 Jan 2020
    Blood!Fire! First 48 hours New Year; New Decade. Primitive, hi- tech bloodshed for rogue state  ā€˜freedom’ muscling in on Mullah 
  • Voices of the California Progressive Alliance
    Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Voices of the California Progressive Alliance
    15 Jan 2020
    The anti-corporate, pro-public bank alliance has thrown Its support to Bernie Sanders.
  • Baltimore’s Black Alliance for Peace Demands End to Policing Surge
    BAP-Baltimore
    Baltimore’s Black Alliance for Peace Demands End to Policing Surge
    15 Jan 2020
    Baltimore is among the seven cities targeted by the Trump administration for a high-tech ā€œsurgeā€ in police penetration of Black communities.
  • Letters from Our ReadersĀ 
    Jahan Chowdhry, BAR Comments Editor
    Letters from Our ReadersĀ 
    15 Jan 2020
    Since our last column readers have been writing to us about the assassination of Gen Soleimani and the coup in Bolivia.  We share your letters for ā€œ
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us