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


  • Obama, Harris and the Ruse of Racial Representation
    Nelson Maldonado-Torres 
    Obama, Harris and the Ruse of Racial Representation
    26 Aug 2020
    Racial liberalism attempts to shape the perspectives of communities of color through narrow ideas of national belonging, Manifest Destiny, and the American Dream.
  • Federal Judge Tackles Police Immunity Law
    Marjorie Cohn
    Federal Judge Tackles Police Immunity Law
    26 Aug 2020
    The Black judge listed the injustices of “qualified immunity,” which allows police and other government officials to escape liability for their law breaking.
  • COVID-19’s Toll on People of Color Is Worse Than We Knew
    The Marshall Project
    COVID-19’s Toll on People of Color Is Worse Than We Knew
    26 Aug 2020
    Some coronavirus deaths, especially early on, were mistakenly attributed to other causes.
  • A Political Comeback for the Ages: Biden's Improbable Nomination
    Jon Jeter
    A Political Comeback for the Ages: Biden's Improbable Nomination
    26 Aug 2020
    The same corporate media that shamelessly boosted Biden’s candidacy, even when his popularity plummeted, never question his sudden comeback at the polls.
  • "Kamala Auntie’: On the Vulgarity of Bourgeois Identity Politics in 2020
    Julie Kuttappan
    "Kamala Auntie": On the Vulgarity of Bourgeois Identity Politics in 2020
    26 Aug 2020
    Harris’ identity as a woman of color has been propped up to cover for her decades-long loyalty to the ruling class, locking up working-class and poor people and deporting migrants.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us