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


  • Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright
    The Second Africa Climate Summit Reveals The New Face of Colonialism; Technocrats and Cryptocolonization (Part 1, The Setting).
    10 Sep 2025
    The Africa Climate Summit is a greenwashing front for a new wave of colonialism. Under the guise of "nature-based solutions," corporations like the Gates Foundation are pushing schemes that will turn…
  • Tracie Canada
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Tracie Canada’s Book, “Tackling the Everyday”
    10 Sep 2025
    In this series, we ask acclaimed authors to answer five questions about their book. This week’s featured author is Tracie Canada.  Canada is the Andrew W. Mellon Assistant Professor of…
  • Jill Clark-Gollub
    Why the SanctionsKill Campaign Supports BDS
    10 Sep 2025
    The SanctionsKill campaign exposes how US economic warfare kills civilians across the Global South. Meanwhile, the Palestinian-led BDS movement represents a legitimate tool of grassroots resistance…
  • Joshua Reaves
    From Refusal to Resilience: How Hurricane Katrina Birthed A Global Health Vanguard
    10 Sep 2025
    The US government left Black residents to die after Hurricane Katrina, refusing Cuba's offer of emergency doctors. This racist neglect exposed a truth that the US state would rather sacrifice its own…
  • Jacqueline Luqman
    The Military Occupation of Washington, DC: Then and Now
    10 Sep 2025
    The current military occupation of DC is not an anomaly but an escalation of a long war on Black communities, a more visible form of ongoing political subjugation.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us