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

The “Great Contradiction” of US Incarceration
Black Agenda Radio with Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
10 Sep 2019
🖨️ Print Article

Donte Mitchell, a longtime prisoner of the State of New York, finds essential truths in the poem, “The Great Contradiction,” as it applies to the two million prisoners in US. “We want them to be a part of our community, so we isolate them from our community; we want them to have self-worth, so we destroy their self-worth….”

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


  • Pavan Kulkarni
    With PAIGC barred, Will Elections in Guinea-Bissau Legitimize a Neocolonial Dictatorship?
    15 Oct 2025
    Led by Amilcar Cabral, Guinea-Bissau was in the forefront of African anti-colonial movements. But independence for that nation in 1973 has been followed by continual struggle for true sovereignty and…
  • Gerald A. Perreira , Organization for the Victory of the People
    No to US State Terrorism in the Caribbean Sea No to US Plans for Regime Change in Venezuela Caricom Must Act Now
    15 Oct 2025
    The U.S. is using Guyana as a proxy to escalate aggression against Venezuela. This manufactured crisis, fueled by oil interests, risks dragging the entire region into war.
  • Chris Gilbert , Cira Pascual Marquina
    Culture and Resistance: The Palmarito Afro-Descendant Commune (Part II)
    15 Oct 2025
    Afro-Venezuelan communards on the southern shore region of Lake Maracaibo discuss the intersection of culture and organization.
  • Mohammad al-Ayoubi
    No Rule Without Resistance: Gaza’s Post-War Future and the Collapse of Foreign Illusions
    15 Oct 2025
    As western powers push technocracy over sovereignty, Palestinian resistance movements warn that there can be no reconstruction without liberation.
  • David Kenner
    Arab States Deepened Military Ties with Israel While Denouncing Gaza War, Leak Reveals
    15 Oct 2025
    Israeli and Arab military officials have come together for meetings and trainings, facilitated by U.S. Central Command, on regional threats, Iran and underground tunnels.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us