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


  • BAR Book Forum: Amy Cooper’s “State of Health”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Amy Cooper’s “State of Health”
    10 Mar 2021
    Unlike the US and other corporate-ruled countries, activists inside and outside of government collaborated to bring about radical social change in Venezuela.
  • BAR Book Forum: Rinaldo Walcott’s “The Long Emancipation”
    Rinaldo Walcott
    BAR Book Forum: Rinaldo Walcott’s “The Long Emancipation”
    10 Mar 2021
    “Black freedom” as a claim, as a possibility, challenges us to imagine and to produce new modes of life.
  • Newly Obtained FBI Files Shed New Light on the Murder of Fred Hampton
    Aaron J. Leonard and Conor A. Gallagher 
    Newly Obtained FBI Files Shed New Light on the Murder of Fred Hampton
    10 Mar 2021
    That all this time later we are still learning new information about Hampton’s killing is testament to the sheer volume of the effort aimed at this young revolutionary.
  • Black Civil Rights Lawyer in New Orleans Fights Back Against Exploitative Media Organization
    Jordan Flaherty
    Black Civil Rights Lawyer in New Orleans Fights Back Against Exploitative Media Organization
    10 Mar 2021
    Well-meaning whites think its quite alright to steal Black activists’ words – as long as their intentions are good, which is up to them to decide.
  • What Are Identity Politics? A Vision of Solidarity Rooted in Black Feminism
    Marian Jones 
    What Are Identity Politics? A Vision of Solidarity Rooted in Black Feminism
    10 Mar 2021
    The CRC never defined identity politics as exclusionary or intended to mean that only those who experience a certain oppression can fight to end it.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us