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 late Michael Ratner is still under attack due to his work on behalf of prisoners held at Guantanamo.
    Marjorie Cohn
    Samuel Moyn’s Unprincipled Attack on Human Rights Giant Michael Ratner is Shameful
    22 Sep 2021
    Michael Ratner and the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) were intimately connected to the Black Liberation Movement representing a number of activists in the crosshairs of state repression
  • Photo: Fabio Rodrigues Pozzebom/ABr – CC BY 3.0 br
    Nick Estes
    Indigenous People of Brazil Fight for Their Future
    22 Sep 2021
    Brazil's indigenous people struggle against an entrenched oligarchy determined to drive them from their lands and a right wing president who is supported by the U.S.  
  • The Money That Never Arrives in Cuba
    Rosa Miriam Elizalde
    The Money That Never Arrives in Cuba
    22 Sep 2021
    The United States has cut off channels for sending remittances to the island, leaving families who rely on the help – especially during the pandemic – without desperately needed resources.
  • Black and Asian American Workers Falling Behind in Getting Back Jobs
    Julie Yixia Cai, Dean Baker
    Black and Asian American Workers Falling Behind in Getting Back Jobs
    22 Sep 2021
    Economic recovery is uneven, with Black workers least likely to be employed in the wake of the covid pandemic.
  • Latin American and Caribbean Leaders Approve Historic Agreement at CELAC Summit
    Peoples Dispatch
    Latin American and Caribbean Leaders Approve Historic Agreement at CELAC Summit
    21 Sep 2021
    The heads of state of the regional block agreed on a 44-point declaration which addressed the strategy against COVID-19 and climate change and took a stand against the blockade on Cuba.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us