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


  • Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Eric Nshimiye, Another Rwandan American Facing Trial in Another Rwandan Witch Hunt
    03 Apr 2024
    The totalitarian state of Rwanda is guilty of many forms of transnational repression, including the lawfare exemplified in the case of Eric Nshimiye.
  • Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Raymond Nat Turner at the UpSurge Jazz Celebration
    03 Apr 2024
    BAR's Poet-in-Residence will perform next week in New York City.
  • Marching protesters
    Shaka Shakur
    The New Modern Day Militarized Fort! 
    03 Apr 2024
    The wave of cop cities being constructed across the nation must be analyzed through the lens of settler colonialism and the state's effort to maintain its dominance by expanding the police state.
  • Capital One Arena
    Gus Griffin
    Another Sports Team Fleeces the People
    03 Apr 2024
    Through misleading deals, tax breaks, and false promises, capitalists and politicians plunder public resources for their own gain.
  • Palestinian flag
    Austin Cole , MIT Coalition for Palestine
    MLK Jr. Gala Action & MLK Gala Speech
    03 Apr 2024
    In response to campus repression tactics, a coalition of students and faculty at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) held coordinated disruptions during a university gala.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us