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


  • Carlos Ron
    “We will blow you out of existence”: Trump’s Caribbean spectacle
    08 Oct 2025
    What is being carried out against Venezuela is not an operation against drug trafficking but rather a regime change operation.
  • Ajamu Baraka interview
    ​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
    Trump's Gaza plan is 'pure fantasy'
    08 Oct 2025
    Ajamu Baraka joined RT News on October 3, 2025, to discuss Donald Trump's Gaza "peace plan."
  • BAR Radio Logo
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio October 3, 2025
    03 Oct 2025
    In this week’s segment, we discuss a lawsuit on behalf of the Shabazz family, seeking information on law enforcement coverups and possible involvement in the assassination of Malcolm X. But first, we…
  • Protests
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    UK Politics: Immigration, Racism, and Economic Crisis
    03 Oct 2025
    Roger McKenzie is the international editor of the UK-based Morning Star, the only English-language socialist daily newspaper in the world. He joins us from Oxford to discuss the politics of a growing…
  • Ilyasah Shabazz
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Shabazz Family Lawsuit Against the FBI and NYPD
    03 Oct 2025
    The investigation of the 1965 assassination of El Hajj Malik El Shabazz, Malcolm X, was compromised by the NYPD and the FBI from the very beginning by informants, coverups, false testimony, and the…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us