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 Ukraine Crisis Can't Save Biden
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    The Ukraine Crisis Can't Save Biden
    20 Apr 2022
    The U.S. propaganda victory over Russia will do Joe Biden and the democrats little good. Their willingness to act on their promises and meet the people's needs will be the deciding factors in…
  • Ukraine: A New Consensus on Whiteness?
    ​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
    Ukraine: A New Consensus on Whiteness?
    20 Apr 2022
    The Biden administration and corporate media cover up the existence of white supremacists and neo-Nazis in Ukraine. They are disappeared from the official narrative in order to get public buy-in for…
  • MANIFESTO: Africa in the Post-War World, San Francisco, April 1945
    Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    MANIFESTO: Africa in the Post-War World, San Francisco, April 1945
    20 Apr 2022
    When a new international order came into being with the organization of the United Nations in 1945, African people proposed their own visions for the post war world.
  • The Battle Against COVID-19 in Shanghai: A Human Rights Disaster?
    Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor
    The Battle Against COVID-19 in Shanghai: A Human Rights Disaster?
    20 Apr 2022
    China's "zero covid" strategy prevented the large number of deaths seen in the United States. But the challenges of stopping the Omicron variant in Shanghai, a city of 25 million people,…
  • BAR Book Forum: Interview with Matthieu Chapman
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Interview with Matthieu Chapman
    20 Apr 2022
    This week’s featured scholar is Matthieu Chapman. Dr. Chapman is Assistant Professor of Theatre Studies at the State University of New York at New Paltz.  His essay is “‘Away, You Ethiop!’: A…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us