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
  • omnibus

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

Kalonji Changa
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
The Struggle for Liberation Amid Celebrity Culture
04 July 2025
We are joined by Kalonji Changa, who is a co-founder of Black Power Media, founder o
Gerald Horne
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
Gerald Horne Discusses His Book "The Capital of Slavery: Washington DC 1800 - 1865"
27 June 2025
Dr. Gerald Horne is an author and historian who currently holds the John J.
Rikers protest
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
Eric Adams Loses Control of Rikers Island to Federal Receivership
30 May 2025
Our guest is Melanie Dominguez, Organizing Director, New York with the Katal Center for Equity, H

More Stories


  • Jill Clark-Gollub
    Daniel Ortega is No Bukele
    11 Jun 2025
    Ortega and Bukele are polar opposites: one invests in dignity and democracy, the other in mass incarceration and imperial alliances.
  • Aiyana Porter-Cash
    False Promises of Protection Embedded in U.S. Militarism and Carcerality
    11 Jun 2025
    "Protection" is a lie—a pretext for state violence, militarism, and control, targeting the marginalized while masking harm as care. True safety comes not from oppressive systems, but from resistance…
  • Black Alliance For Peace
    Oppression Breeds Resistance, Organization Sustains It
    11 Jun 2025
    Defeating the war on Black/African people requires solidarity with all who are oppressed and resistance against our common enemy.
  • Jonathan Forney
    7 Supreme Court Cases That Black Americans Should Track This Summer
    11 Jun 2025
    Issues before the high court range from health care access and citizenship to workplace discrimination and redistricting.
  • Struggle La Lucha
    ICE Raids Escalate in LA As Community Fights Back
    11 Jun 2025
    While ICE and law enforcement unleash raids across LA, protesters stand firm, exposing the brutal machinery of deportation and the state’s violent response to dissent and resistance.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us