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


  • Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Political violence has no place— Like home?
    17 Jul 2024
    "Political violence has no place— Like home?" is the latest from BAR's Poet-in-Residence.
  • Jalessah T. Jackson
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    “Reflections on Parenting and Revolutionary Struggle”: An Interview with Jalessah T. Jackson
    17 Jul 2024
    “Reflections on Parenting and Revolutionary Struggle” is a space for parent-organizers to share their experiences practicing liberated parenting that reflects revolutionary ideals. This week, Roberto…
  • Essam Elkorghli , Matteo Capasso
    Planning Crimes: 2024 NATO Summit’s Agenda
    17 Jul 2024
    This year's NATO Summit was a show of the West's commitment to warmongering and its plans to wreak havoc around the world to maintain its dominance.
  • SCOTUS 2018
    Bruce A. Dixon , BAR managing editor
    Obama and Democrats Share the Blame For Trump's Supreme Court
    17 Jul 2024
    The late Bruce Dixon, a Black Agenda Report co-founder and Managing Editor, provided this important analysis in 2018. We are told that the current composition of the Supreme Court with its…
  • Jake Johnston
    Give Peace a Chance in Haiti
    17 Jul 2024
    The West, especially the U.S. has kept Haiti in a state of instability in order to achieve its imperialist aims. The violence we see today in the country is the result of the violence inflicted on it…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us