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


  • Former Teacher Shani Robinson Tells Her Story of Prosecution By Fani Willis
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Former Teacher Shani Robinson Tells Her Story of Prosecution By Fani Willis
    01 Sep 2023
    Shani Robinson taught in the Atlanta, Georgia public school system.
  • Gun Violence and Racism
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Gun Violence and Racism
    01 Sep 2023
    Dr. Nicole Price is the Forbes Books author of Spark The Heart: Engineering Empathy In Your Organization.
  • Exonerations in New York State
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Exonerations in New York State
    01 Sep 2023
    Nick Encalada-Malinowski is Director of the Civil Rights Union campaign at Vocal-NY.
  • The Climate Crisis Will End When Capitalism Ends
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    The Climate Crisis Will End When Capitalism Ends
    30 Aug 2023
    The climate emergency won't end because of heartfelt pleas to the people and the interests who created the crisis. Ecocide will stop when capitalism ends.
  • EDITORIAL: Joanne Little: American Goes on Trial, Freedomways, 1975
    Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    EDITORIAL: Joanne Little: American Goes on Trial, Freedomways, 1975
    30 Aug 2023
    To mark the last days of Black August, we reprint below Freedomways’ 1975 editorial about Joanne Little, a Black woman indicted for killing her white prison guard and would-be rapist.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us