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


  • Gabriel Rockhill
    A Major Milestone in Socialist History - A Review of People’s China at 75: The Flag Stays Red
    22 Jan 2025
    "People’s China at 75: The Flag Stays Red" analyzes the People's Republic of China and its ongoing socialist project.
  • Carlos Sirah
    Dispatch: Through the Fire
    22 Jan 2025
    The fires raging through southern California have devastated Black communities, such as in Altadena. The failures of city and state political leadership to provide proper emergency services have…
  • International Manifesto Group
    Jacqueline Luqman
    Trump’s Presidency and the Prospects for Peace in 2025: Adapted Remarks from the IMG
    22 Jan 2025
    Jacqueline Luqman recently delivered these remarks at a webinar hosted by the International Manifesto Group, "Trump’s Presidency and the Prospects for Peace in 2025."
  • Travis Ross
    How Aristide’s Lavalas Family Party Has Lurched to the Right
    22 Jan 2025
    Fanmi Lavalas has fallen far from its roots as a popular progressive movement and is now nothing more than a servant of imperialism.
  • Ramzy Baroud
    The Price of Impunity in Gaza: Is This Israel’s Day of Reckoning?
    22 Jan 2025
    The war crimes committed by Israeli soldiers have not gone unnoticed by the rest of the world. After over a year of proudly displaying their dirty deeds on social media, these war criminals are now…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us