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
  • omnibus

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

Kalonji Changa
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
The Struggle for Liberation Amid Celebrity Culture
04 July 2025
We are joined by Kalonji Changa, who is a co-founder of Black Power Media, founder o
Gerald Horne
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
Gerald Horne Discusses His Book "The Capital of Slavery: Washington DC 1800 - 1865"
27 June 2025
Dr. Gerald Horne is an author and historian who currently holds the John J.
Rikers protest
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
Eric Adams Loses Control of Rikers Island to Federal Receivership
30 May 2025
Our guest is Melanie Dominguez, Organizing Director, New York with the Katal Center for Equity, H

More Stories


  • African Court of Human and Peoples Rights
    Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Judicial Sovereignty for Congo and Africa
    26 Mar 2025
    Western courts have imposed imperial justice on Africa, but African courts promise judicial sovereignty.
  • Jon Jeter
    In Complying With Trump’s Demands to Crack Down on Free Speech, Columbia Confesses That Money, Not Education, Is Its Goal
    26 Mar 2025
    Columbia University quickly rolled over for the Trump administration’s demands to suppress pro-Palestinian protests, pulling back the thin veil of liberal academic freedom.
  • Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Chasing Chuck Tumor's testicular cancer—or building Resistance to Stage 4 Capitalism?
    26 Mar 2025
    "Chase Chuck Tumor's testicular cancer—or build Resistance to Stage 4 Capitalism?" is the latest from BAR's Poet-in-Residence
  • Clau O'Brien Moscoso
    As Elections Near, Ecuador's Working Poor and Colonized under Siege - Part 2
    26 Mar 2025
    Ecuador was once a safe country with some of the best economic prospects in the region. Today, Ecuador has a nearly 500% increase in violent crimes and a marginalized population of poor, African, and…
  • Jacqueline Luqman
    It Is Time To Reckon With The Reactionary Rantings of ADOS/FBA
    26 Mar 2025
    The ADOS and FBA (American Descendants of Slavery and Foundational Black Americans) movements have gained influence by advocating for reparations exclusively for Black Americans descended from U.S.…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us