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


  • We Condemn the Repression in Cap Cana That Left One Haitian Worker Dead and Several Injured
    Socialist Movement of Workers of the Dominican Republic
    We Condemn the Repression in Cap Cana That Left One Haitian Worker Dead and Several Injured
    15 Feb 2023
    Violence against Haitians and Haitian descended people continues in the Dominican Republic. The Socialist Movement of Workers of the Dominican Republic condemn the latest state sanctioned…
  • The Snitch in the Silver Hearse: The FBI Paid a Violent Felon to Infiltrate Denver’s Racial Justice Movement
    Trevor Aaronson
    The Snitch in the Silver Hearse: The FBI Paid a Violent Felon to Infiltrate Denver’s Racial Justice Movement
    15 Feb 2023
    COINTELPRO never ended. The FBI still pays informants to disrupt, to target organizers, and to spy on the movement.
  • Star Spangled Blackness: How The 1619 Project Celebrates An Anti-African, Black American Identity
    Dr. Charity Clay
    Star Spangled Blackness: How The 1619 Project Celebrates An Anti-African, Black American Identity
    15 Feb 2023
    Black people must differentiate between pride in self and their ancestors and any attempt to forge connections with the nation that continues to oppress.
  • Wilson Center Think Tank Reloads the US Roadmap Against Venezuela
    MisiĂłn Verdad
    Wilson Center Think Tank Reloads the US Roadmap Against Venezuela
    15 Feb 2023
    State affiliated think tanks often shape foreign policy in Washington.
  • Black Agenda Radio February 10, 2023
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio February 10, 2023
    10 Feb 2023
    The US regime of economic coercive measures is investigated by a newly formed tribunal, prison abolition is a necessity, and so are changes in drug policy.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us