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


  • Freedom Rider: Capitol Riot Brings U.S. Foreign Policy Home
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR senior columnist
    Freedom Rider: Capitol Riot Brings U.S. Foreign Policy Home
    13 Jan 2021
    There needs to be soul searching and truth telling about invasions, interventions, coups and sanctions that are far more destructive than the Trump lovers could ever be.
  • Black Citizenship Forum: Black Intellectuals and the Violence of Citizenship
    Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    Black Citizenship Forum: Black Intellectuals and the Violence of Citizenship
    13 Jan 2021
    Not just in the White Settler States, but throughout the Black world the very possibility of Black citizenship has been gutted.
  • The other side of duopoly.
    Ben Passmore
    Ben Passmore's Latest for Black Agenda Report
    13 Jan 2021
    The other side of duopoly.
  • White Rightwing Chickens Roost Violently at Capitol
    BAP Coordinating Committee
    White Rightwing Chickens Roost Violently at Capitol
    13 Jan 2021
    The Democrat-aligned oligarchy will try to use last week’s racist violence as an excuse to impose a corporate brand of fascism.
  • The Obama-fication of “The Squad” Strengthens the Right at the Expense of the Left
    Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor
    The Obama-fication of “The Squad” Strengthens the Right at the Expense of the Left
    13 Jan 2021
    The so-called ‘progressive” model would have us wait half a dozen election cycles before taking real action on the demand for Medicare for All and a Green New Deal.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us