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


  • Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Trump Keeps His Promises While Democrats Must Be Abandoned
    22 Jan 2025
    Trump begins his term delivering on promises, but compromised and colluding democrats have ready excuses for betraying their voters.
  • Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    ESSAY: The Great Moving Right Show, Stuart Hall, 1979
    22 Jan 2025
    The late Stuart Hall cautions us to be wary of turning to historical precedent without understanding the specific conjunctures of power that characterize the rise of the right.
  • Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Rwanda Advances Toward Annexing DRC’s Kivu Provinces with the West’s Tacit Blessing
    22 Jan 2025
    Rwandan colonization of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) proceeds apace.
  • Clau O'Brien Moscoso
    Combatting Imperialism, Defending Sovereignty: Zone of Peace in Haiti and the Americas
    22 Jan 2025
    On Sunday, January 19th, 2025, the Haiti/Americas Team of the Black Alliance for Peace hosted its first webinar of the year, “Combatting Imperialism, Defending Sovereignty: Zone of Peace in Haiti and…
  • Arnold August
    Justin Trudeau: Most Slavish, Superficial, Hypocritical, Pro-U.S. Prime Minister Ever
    22 Jan 2025
    Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's decade as the leader of the Liberal Party has come to an abrupt and embarrassing halt. His term as PM is marked with unabashed servitude to U.S. interests,…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us