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

Black Elites, and Many Black Voters, Supported Mass Black Incarceration
25 Jul 2017
🖨️ Print Article

Historian, author and activist Paul Street has high praise for James Forman Jr.’s new book, Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black America. Forman is a professor at Yale Law School and a former public defender in Washington, DC. His book “fills a giant hole in the literature,” illuminating the role played by “Black elites in the rise of the mass incarceration system,” said Street, himself an expert on race and the U.S. penal system. “Many ordinary, working class Black voters in the 70s and 80s have actively supported the racially disparate war on crime and drugs that ended up producing racist mass incarceration,” said Street, whose latest book is titled They Rule: The 1% v. Democracy.


More Stories


  • Issa Shivji
    The Petty Bourgeoisie in the Thought of Amilcar Cabral and Walter Rodney
    12 Nov 2025
    A deep exploration of Cabral’s and Rodney’s thoughts on the petty bourgeoisie and class struggles in Africa.
  • RaĂŻs Neza Boneza
    Macron, Madagascar, and the Return of France’s Old Colonial Ghosts
    12 Nov 2025
    In 2025, Françafrique didn’t die — it just booked a seat on a French military plane. Macron’s “Operation Rescue” proves that old habits still fly first-class.
  • The Cradle News Desk
    Israeli soldiers confirm Palestinian civilians murdered 'without restraint' in Gaza 'free for all'
    12 Nov 2025
    A new film shows that Israeli troops were encouraged to exterminate Palestinians, including women and children, by their politicians and Jewish religious leaders.
  • BAR Radio Logo
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio November 7, 2025
    07 Nov 2025
    In this week’s segment, we examine claims of a genocide against Christians in the African nation of Nigeria, and the geopolitical strategems behind the narrative. But first, we discuss the election…
  • Zohran Mamdani
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Zohran Mamdani and the Left
    07 Nov 2025
    Lance Hawkins joins us from New York City to discuss the recent election of Zohran Mamdani, who will take office as the mayor of New York City on January 1. Lance Hawkins is a community, labor, and…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us