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
🖨️ 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

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


  • Toward the African Revolution
    The Lobito Corridor: US imperialism's latest plot against the Democratic Republic of Congo
    05 Feb 2025
    The Lobito Corridor is a key piece of infrastructure western powers are flooding with capital to pursue their imperialist aggression and exploitation of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
  • Fayha Shalash
    Buying the West Bank: Israel’s New Annexation Method ‘Catastrophic’
    05 Feb 2025
    Israel is accelerating its annexation of the West Bank through legal maneuvers that grant settlers direct ownership of Palestinian land.
  • Abdiel RodrĂ­guez Reyes
    Panama: Self-Determination and National Popular Unity in the Face of Imperialist Irredentism
    05 Feb 2025
    President Donald Trump's recent antagonisms toward Panama have illustrated the need for the Panamanian people to build power through popular unity.
  • Black Agenda Radio
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio January 31, 2025
    31 Jan 2025
    In this week’s segment, we hear about a community forum that will discuss the need to organize in the wake of an acquittal in the 2023 killing of Jordan Neely in the New York City subway system.
  • Friends of the Congo
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Maurice Carney Analyzes the Crisis in the Congo
    31 Jan 2025
    Maurice Carney is the Executive Director of Friends of the Congo. He joins us to discuss the ongoing humanitarian and political crisis in eastern Congo, where the Rwandan government continues its…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us