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

“Respectable” Black Women Fought Mass Incarceration
Black Agenda Radio with Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
02 Mar 2020
🖨️ Print Article

Back in the days when 90 percent of southern prison inmates were Black, socially conservative Black clubwomen fought for prison reform, believing that “putting Black women in jail was hurting the Black community,” said Nikki Brown, professor of history at the University of New Orleans. The National Association of Colored Women, who practiced what we today call “respectability” politics, played a key role in creating alternatives to incarceration, said Brown, who authored an article titled, “Keeping Black Motherhood Out of Prison: Prison Reform and Woman-Saving in the Progressive Era.”

Mass Black Incarceration

Related Podcasts

Involuntary Servitude in the Prison System
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
Involuntary Servitude in the Prison System
24 June 2022
Savannah Eldrige is the founder of Coaliton to Abolish Slave
White Capitalist Law vs “Uncontrollable Blackness”
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
White Capitalist Law vs “Uncontrollable Blackness”
01 September 2020
The United States “criminalizes Black Americans,” but Black men “are not looking to be controlled” by this racist system, said Douglas
 Getting Out the Word: #PrisonsKill
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
Getting Out the Word: #PrisonsKill
25 August 2020
The Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee, IWOC, “is committed to the militant organizing of prisoners that takes its leadership and focus from

More Stories


  • Brad Reed
    ‘Oligarchy Is on the Ballot’: Reports Uncover Unprecedented Sums Ultrarich Spent to Buy 2026 Midterms
    04 Nov 2026
    “In a democracy, it’s supposed to be one person, one vote, and the more one person can influence, the less egalitarian our system becomes,” said one expert.
  • Memphis City Council meeting
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Memphis Communities Fight Elon Musk's Data Center
    30 Oct 2026
    KeShaun Pearson of Memphis Community Against Pollution discusses the struggles against Elon Musk's data center and Memphis' compromised elected officials.
  • BAR Radio
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Report October 30, 2026
    30 Oct 2026
    In this week’s segment, we discuss Brazil's presidential election, where the incumbent president secured victory after losing in the first round of voting. But we begin with a conversation about an…
  • Brazil
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    How Lula Won in Brazil
    30 Oct 2026
    Robert Wilson analyzes Lula da Silva's comeback from defeat in the first round of voting in Brazil's presidential election.
  • Margaret and Sabby
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist , Sabby Sabs
    Trump ABANDONS Gulf States! Iran Base HIT!
    28 Oct 2026
    BAR Executive Editor Margaret Kimberley joined Sabby Sabs to analyze recent developments in West Asia.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us