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

Slavery is Model for US Prison Book-Banning
Black Agenda Radio with Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
10 Sep 2019
🖨️ Print Article

Although First Amendment guarantees of freedom of expression apply to prisoners, the “catch is that these rights can be restricted in the interest of security,” said Professor Brittany Friedman, a sociologist at Rutgers University. Slavery sought to perfect the imprisoning of both mind and body, said Friedman, and is a model for pervasive book banning in US prisons.

Mass Black Incarceration

Related Podcasts

Involuntary Servitude in the Prison System
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
Involuntary Servitude in the Prison System
24 June 2022
Savannah Eldrige is the founder of Coaliton to Abolish Slave
White Capitalist Law vs “Uncontrollable Blackness”
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
White Capitalist Law vs “Uncontrollable Blackness”
01 September 2020
The United States “criminalizes Black Americans,” but Black men “are not looking to be controlled” by this racist system, said Douglas
 Getting Out the Word: #PrisonsKill
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
Getting Out the Word: #PrisonsKill
25 August 2020
The Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee, IWOC, “is committed to the militant organizing of prisoners that takes its leadership and focus from

More Stories


  • Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Slimy green cesspool reflecting capitalist rule
    22 Jul 2026
    "Slimy green cesspool reflecting capitalist rule" is the latest from BAR's Poet-in-Residence.
  • Essam Elkorghli
    NATO’s 77th Summit in Ankara, Türkiye: A Meeting of Warmongering and Endless Acronyms
    22 Jul 2026
    The engraved revolvers Erdogan handed out in Ankara showed that NATO has stopped pretending to be a defensive alliance and embraced its new role as the West's premier weapons trade fair.
  • Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez
    Cuba's President Responds to Marco Rubio's War Propaganda
    22 Jul 2026
    Cuba's president, Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez, posted this statement in response to the State Department report on his X/Twitter account.
  • Ruben Bauer Naveira
    The Global Food Crisis
    22 Jul 2026
    Faced with the blockade of vital oil routes, the extreme dependence of modern agriculture on fossil fuels foreshadows not only high prices but also a food shortage capable of generating global social…
  • Carlos Aznárez
    Zionist Expansionism in Latin America
    22 Jul 2026
    Free trade deals, water contracts, and military training programs are quietly binding one Latin American government after another to Tel Aviv.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us