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


  • Club None Long To Belong To…*
    Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Club None Long To Belong To…*
    30 Nov 2022
                                                         
  • An African View On Ukraine
    Jacqueline Luqman
    An African View On Ukraine
    30 Nov 2022
    Dr. Fred M'Membe, President of the Socialist Party of Zambia, was a recent guest on the Sputnik program, By Any Means Necessary. He discussed an African view of the crisis in Ukraine.
  • China's Leadership Shines Bright in Asia's Moment
    Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor
    China's Leadership Shines Bright in Asia's Moment
    30 Nov 2022
    China shows leadership in Asia while the U.S. relies on threats and interference to get its way.
  • BAR Book Forum: Miguel Valerio’s Book, “Sovereign Joy: Afro-Mexican Kings and Queens”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Miguel Valerio’s Book, “Sovereign Joy: Afro-Mexican Kings and Queens”
    30 Nov 2022
    This week’s featured author is Miguel Valerio. Valerio is Assistant Professor of Spanish at Washington University in St. Louis. His book is Sovereign Joy: Afro-Mexican Kings and Queens, 1539-1640.
  • Is The “Conscience of the Congress” Unconscious?
    Dr.Wilmer J. Leon, III
    Is The “Conscience of the Congress” Unconscious?
    30 Nov 2022
    The Congressional Black Caucus has strayed far from the politics of its original members. Once called the "conscience of the congress," the group is made up of Democratic Party loyalists living off…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us