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


  • ESSAY: Black Studies in the Age of Obama: John H. Bracey, Jr. 2011
    Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    ESSAY: Black Studies in the Age of Obama: John H. Bracey, Jr. 2011
    08 Feb 2023
    The late John H. Bracey, Jr. argued that Black Studies should be wedded to African liberation, not to the corporate-bureaucratic structure of the university.
  • Global Economic Forecast Reveals the Perils of U.S. Addiction to War
    Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor
    Global Economic Forecast Reveals the Perils of U.S. Addiction to War
    08 Feb 2023
    The U.S. has declared China to be an adversary, but its economic prowess cannot be eclipsed by a nation that is addicted to provocation and war making. 
  • Ruchell Magee Must Be Set Free!
    Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Ruchell Magee Must Be Set Free!
    08 Feb 2023
                                                         
  •  BAR Book Forum: Brian Jones’ Book, “The Tuskegee Student Uprising”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Brian Jones’ Book, “The Tuskegee Student Uprising”
    08 Feb 2023
    This week’s featured author is Brian Jones. Jones is Director of The New York Public Library’s Center for Educators and Schools. His book is The Tuskegee Student Uprising: A History.
  • BAR Book Forum: Interview with Moya Bailey
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Interview with Moya Bailey
    08 Feb 2023
    This week’s featured scholar is Moya Bailey. Bailey is an associate professor in the Department of Communication Studies at Northwestern University. Her article is “The Ethics of Pace.”
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us