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


  • ESSAY: Black Studies in the Age of Obama: John H. Bracey, Jr. 2011
    Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    ESSAY: Black Studies in the Age of Obama: John H. Bracey, Jr. 2011
    08 Feb 2023
    The late John H. Bracey, Jr. argued that Black Studies should be wedded to African liberation, not to the corporate-bureaucratic structure of the university.
  • Global Economic Forecast Reveals the Perils of U.S. Addiction to War
    Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor
    Global Economic Forecast Reveals the Perils of U.S. Addiction to War
    08 Feb 2023
    The U.S. has declared China to be an adversary, but its economic prowess cannot be eclipsed by a nation that is addicted to provocation and war making. 
  • Ruchell Magee Must Be Set Free!
    Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Ruchell Magee Must Be Set Free!
    08 Feb 2023
                                                         
  •  BAR Book Forum: Brian Jones’ Book, “The Tuskegee Student Uprising”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Brian Jones’ Book, “The Tuskegee Student Uprising”
    08 Feb 2023
    This week’s featured author is Brian Jones. Jones is Director of The New York Public Library’s Center for Educators and Schools. His book is The Tuskegee Student Uprising: A History.
  • BAR Book Forum: Interview with Moya Bailey
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Interview with Moya Bailey
    08 Feb 2023
    This week’s featured scholar is Moya Bailey. Bailey is an associate professor in the Department of Communication Studies at Northwestern University. Her article is “The Ethics of Pace.”
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us