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


  • Letters from Our Readers 
    Jahan Choudhry BAR Comments Editor
    Letters from Our Readers 
    12 Feb 2020
    This week you discussed Venezuela, racism in healthcare, and regime change in Libya.
  • BAR Book Forum: Jeff Ferrell’s “Drift”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Jeff Ferrell’s “Drift”
    12 Feb 2020
    Late stage capitalism and its wars have imposed a permanent state of dislocation and disorientation on much of humanity, the “drift” of an unstable system.
  • BAR Book Forum: Aishah Shahidah Simmons’ “Love WITH Accountability”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Aishah Shahidah Simmons’ “Love WITH Accountability”
    12 Feb 2020
    Simmons explores ways we can hold harm-doers accountable without getting involved with the very state that brutalizes Black and other communities of color.
  • Colombian Government Obstructs the Peace Agreement with the FARC Guerrilla Group
    Sebastián Navarrete Aldana 
    Colombian Government Obstructs the Peace Agreement with the FARC Guerrilla Group
    12 Feb 2020
    BAR’s reporter in Colombia explores how the US-backed regime is grossly violating the peace agreement with former FARC guerillas. 
  • How to Yellow-Cake a Tragedy: The New York Times Spreads the Virus of Hatred, Again
    K.J. Noh 
    How to Yellow-Cake a Tragedy: The New York Times Spreads the Virus of Hatred, Again
    12 Feb 2020
    The US corporate media, especially the Times, has turned a medical emergency into a racist campaign of ideological propaganda.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us