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
Rikers Island, Slave Catching, and the Modern Carceral State
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
07 Mar 2025
🖨️ Print Article

Black Agenda Radio · Rikers Island, Slave Catching, and the Modern Carceral State

Darren Mack is co-founder and co-director of Freedom Agenda, an organization devoted to decarceration and system transformation, including closing the Rikers Island jail. In commenting on New York City mayor Eric Adams' plan to allow ICE to operate on Rikers Island, Darren Mack pointed out the history behind the name. Richard Riker was a New York City judge who worked with slave catchers and the kidnappers who captured fleeing enslaved people and free Black New Yorkers to send them to slavery in the south. Darren Mack joins us from New York City to discuss this history, the need to close Rikers Island, and the historical connections with the modern-day carceral state.

Rikers Island
Incarceration
Slavery
New York City
Eric Adams

Related Podcasts

Carmella Charrington
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
Deed Theft and Black Communities
22 May 2026
Leah Goodridge, a New York City-based attorney, housing advocate, and writer, is a memb
BAR Radio Logo
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
Black Agenda Radio April 24, 2026
24 April 2026
In this week’s segment, we discuss the importance of including African-descended people in discussions around climate change and a just transition
Carmella Charrington
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
Deed Theft and the Loss of Black Property
24 April 2026
Evangeline of the People’s Coalition to Stop Deed Theft, a grassroots New York City organiz

More Stories

  • Combat Nihilism: Revolutionary Optimism in the Age of U.S. Imperial Decline
    Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor
    Combat Nihilism: Revolutionary Optimism in the Age of U.S. Imperial Decline
    05 Oct 2022
    Optimism would seem to be counter intuitive given the many crises facing millions of people in the U.S. and around the world. But optimism backed up by revolutionary thinking is just what is…
  • Brazil’s Haitian Training Ground
    Jemima Pierre, BAR Editor and Contributor
    Brazil’s Haitian Training Ground
    05 Oct 2022
    Brazil is setting up for a run-off election between right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro and â€śleftist” former President Lula da Silva.
  • For African Americans, Employing a Radical Internationalist Perspective is not a Luxury, But a Necessity
    Dr. Gerald Horne
    For African Americans, Employing a Radical Internationalist Perspective is not a Luxury, But a Necessity
    05 Oct 2022
    Black people in this country must reconnect with the internationalist tradition in order to understand the crises taking place around the world and in the U.S. Domestic and international…
  • BAR Book Forum: Daive Dunkley’s Book, “Women and Resistance in the Early Rastafari Movement”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Daive Dunkley’s Book, “Women and Resistance in the Early Rastafari Movement”
    05 Oct 2022
    This week’s featured author is Daive Dunkley. Dunkley is Associate Professor in the Department of Black Studies and Adjunct Professor in the Department of History at the University of Missouri. His…
  • Ian pimp slaps Governor Woke Smoke— and The People pay
    Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Ian pimp slaps Governor Woke Smoke— and The People pay
    05 Oct 2022
                                                         
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us