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


  • Black Politics, Class Struggle and the Illusion of Centrism
    Russell Rickford
    Black Politics, Class Struggle and the Illusion of Centrism
    25 Mar 2020
    Black Democratic Party operatives seek to camouflage class antagonisms among African Americans and to equate racial progress with the feeble policies of “diversity and inclusion.”
  • Letters from Our Readers 
    Jahan Choudhry BAR Comments Editor
    Letters from Our Readers 
    25 Mar 2020
    This week the Democratic Party and the failures of US healthcare were on your mind.
  • BAR Book Forum: Aparna Mishra Tarc’s “Literacy of the Other”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Aparna Mishra Tarc’s “Literacy of the Other”
    25 Mar 2020
    The global citizenry shows increasing apathy towards each other’s social and political conditions.
  • BAR Abolition  Mutual Aid Spotlight: Ujimaa Medics
    Dean Spade and Roberto Sirvent, BAR Contributors
    BAR Abolition  Mutual Aid Spotlight: Ujimaa Medics
    25 Mar 2020
    Chicago’s  Ujimaa Medics bring a racial justice and cultural specificity lens to community health care through mutual aid.
  • Trump Using Virus to Privatize Government, Increase Repression
    Frank Chapman
    Trump Using Virus to Privatize Government, Increase Repression
    25 Mar 2020
    Trump’s administration is more interested in saving Wall Street and boosting their profits than they are in saving lives and meeting the needs of the people.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us