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


  • The Crime Panic That Helped Elect Eric Adams Is Now Turning Against Him
    Ashoka Jegroo
    The Crime Panic That Helped Elect Eric Adams Is Now Turning Against Him
    02 Nov 2022
    Hyperbolic crime coverage by local media helped pave the way for former NYPD cop Eric Adams to become the mayor of New York City. But now that same media-manufactured crime panic is preventing Adams…
  • Liberal Democracy: The Bedfellow of Fascism
    Erica Caines
    Liberal Democracy: The Bedfellow of Fascism
    02 Nov 2022
    The struggle against fascism must include a struggle against liberal democratic collaborators.
  • Neo-Colonialism, International Finance Capital and the Necessity of Pan-African Sovereignty
    Abayomi Azikiwe
    Neo-Colonialism, International Finance Capital and the Necessity of Pan-African Sovereignty
    02 Nov 2022
    African Union member-states are facing a critical conjuncture as the looming threats of global conflict against imperialism threatens world peace.
  • The Brazilian Army in Haiti – Foreign Intervention and Domestic Politics
    Federico Neiburg
    The Brazilian Army in Haiti – Foreign Intervention and Domestic Politics
    02 Nov 2022
    The recent re-election of Lula da Silva to the Brazilian presidency is a reminder of the role that he played in the occupation of Haiti. The Brazilian military took the lead in the occupation…
  • Forced Labor in the Dominican Sugar Industry: A State Crime
    Socialist Workers Movement of the Dominican Republic
    Forced Labor in the Dominican Sugar Industry: A State Crime
    02 Nov 2022
    The US is complicit in allowing inhumane practices, including forced labor and wage theft among Haitian sugar industry workers in the Dominican Republic.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us