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

Incarcerated Workers in Alabama File Lawsuit to End Involuntary Servitude
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
10 May 2024
🖨️ Print Article

Black Agenda Radio · Incarcerated Workers in Alabama File Lawsuit to End Involuntary Servitude

Six incarcerated people in the state of Alabama have filed a lawsuit against their governor and the Commissioner of Corrections. Alabama’s prison system is the most overcrowded in the country, where Black people make up 26 percent of the population, but 53 percent of the prison population. Following a successful labor strike by incarcerated workers, Alabama voters approved an amendment to the state constitution that expanded the ban on slavery and involuntary servitude to prison. With their state court lawsuit, the plaintiffs seek enforcement of the amendment. Jessica Vosburgh is a senior staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights which represents the plaintiffs. She joins us from Birmingham, Alabama.

Prison Labor
Alabama prison strike
Center for Constitutional Rights

Related Podcasts

Involuntary servitude is slavery
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
Ending Prison Slavery in California
14 June 2024
Dorsey Nunn recently retired as Executive Director of Legal Services for Prisoners with Children (
Black Agenda Radio
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
Black Agenda Radio May 10, 2024
10 May 2024
In this week’s program we discuss a lawsuit filed by incarcerated people in Alabama, asking the state to end involuntary servitude, and also a conv
Black Agenda Radio
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
Black Agenda Radio February 2, 2024
02 February 2024
In this week's segment we hear about abolishing slavery that exists in the incarceration system, and also the second part of our interview on

More Stories


  • BAR Abolition & Mutual Aid Spotlight: Chicago Community Bond Fund
    Dean Spade and Roberto Sirvent, BAR Contributors
    BAR Abolition & Mutual Aid Spotlight: Chicago Community Bond Fund
    08 Apr 2020
    This arena of the mutual aid movement is energized by “a vision of the absence of prisons, jails, detention, and criminalization.”
  • Blacks May be Bearing the Brunt of Covid-19, But Access to Data is Limited
    Elizabeth Cooney
    Blacks May be Bearing the Brunt of Covid-19, But Access to Data is Limited
    08 Apr 2020
    The feds don’t keep racial data on the coronavirus, but local reports show Blacks are dying at multiple the rates of whites in some cities.
  • In 1918 and 2020, Race Colors America’s Response to Epidemics
    Soraya Nadia Mcdonald
    In 1918 and 2020, Race Colors America’s Response to Epidemics
    08 Apr 2020
    A century ago, In cities across the nation, black people struck by the flu were often left to fend for themselves.
  • Moral Leaders Demand Coronavirus Relief for Most Vulnerable
    Jessica Corbett
    Moral Leaders Demand Coronavirus Relief for Most Vulnerable
    08 Apr 2020
    The relief package “leaves out the majority of homeless, undocumented immigrants, the disabled, and anyone too poor to have to file taxes,” says the Poor Peoples Campaign.
  • Trump Sends Gun boats to Venezuela While the World Partners to Fight a Deadly Pandemic
    Vijay Prashad, Paola Estrada, Ana Maldonado and Zoe PC 
    Trump Sends Gun boats to Venezuela While the World Partners to Fight a Deadly Pandemic
    08 Apr 2020
     The Trump administration has used the fabricated narco-trafficking charges against Maduro and other officials as an excuse to intensify pressure on Venezuela.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us