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: Pamela Ayo Yetunde and Cheryl A. Giles’s “Black and Buddhist”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Pamela Ayo Yetunde and Cheryl A. Giles’s “Black and Buddhist”
    18 Nov 2020
    Activists and community organizers have never known the precariousness of the threats they face today.
  • Sanctions Against Venezuela Will Continue Under Biden
    Vijay Prashad
    Sanctions Against Venezuela Will Continue Under Biden
    18 Nov 2020
    There is every indication that a Biden administration will maintain the punitive sanctions against Venezuela, suffocating the country during the pandemic. 
  • Biden-Harris and the Diverse Faces of U.S. Imperialism
    Tye Salandy
    Biden-Harris and the Diverse Faces of U.S. Imperialism
    18 Nov 2020
    From Obama v McCain to Biden v Trump, the good cop/bad cop drama of US imperial politics, continues.
  • Don’t [Mourn] Celebrate, Organize!
    Riva Enteen
    Don’t [Mourn] Celebrate, Organize!
    18 Nov 2020
    The same “injustice” system that unlawfully locked up the Central Park Five will continue unabated with Biden and his “top cop” sidekick.
  • We’ll Have to Fight Corporate Democrats for Medicare for All
    Margaret Flowers
    ​​​​​​​We’ll Have to Fight Corporate Democrats for Medicare for All
    18 Nov 2020
    We must not allow the Democrats to weaken our demand that every person in the United States have access to the care they need.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us