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

“Respectable” Black Women Fought Mass Incarceration
Black Agenda Radio with Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
02 Mar 2020
🖨️ Print Article

Back in the days when 90 percent of southern prison inmates were Black, socially conservative Black clubwomen fought for prison reform, believing that “putting Black women in jail was hurting the Black community,” said Nikki Brown, professor of history at the University of New Orleans. The National Association of Colored Women, who practiced what we today call “respectability” politics, played a key role in creating alternatives to incarceration, said Brown, who authored an article titled, “Keeping Black Motherhood Out of Prison: Prison Reform and Woman-Saving in the Progressive Era.”

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


  • Marco Rubio in Guyana
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Marco Rubio Targets Guyana and the Caribbean Region
    04 Apr 2025
    Gerald Perreira is the chairperson of the Organization for the Victory of the People in Guyana. He joins us from Guyana to discuss U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s recent trip to Guyana,…
  • Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Trump Exposes the Elite Classes
    02 Apr 2025
    While Trump dedicates himself to making every conservative fantasy come true, millions wonder who will save them from the onslaught of the right wing fever dream. The answer is no one but ourselves.…
  • Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    ESSAY: Armed Struggle: Natural Response to Fascism, Martin Sostre, 1975
    02 Apr 2025
    “The question now is: What are we going to do about this murderous fascism?”
  • Peter and Victoire
    Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    The Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza Democracy and Peace Prize, 2025
    02 Apr 2025
    This year’s Victoire Prize went to ICTR lawyers David Jacobs and Peter Erlinder and Canadian journalist Jooneed Khan.
  • Jon Jeter
    Trump’s Tariffs Won’t Reverse Globalization or Resurrect America’s Dying Industrial Base
    02 Apr 2025
    Throughout history, trade restrictions have reshaped economies for good or for ill. As Trump increases tariffs across industries, it is clear that this move will not revitalize the economy as he…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us