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


  • The African Union, Israel and the Futility of Appeasement
    Marwan Bishara
    The African Union, Israel and the Futility of Appeasement
    08 Sep 2021
    The AU should be leading the fight against racism, not cozying up to racist regimes.
  • First National Congress of Socialist Movement of Ghana Charts a New Course for the Region
    Pavan Kulkarni
    First National Congress of Socialist Movement of Ghana Charts a New Course for the Region
    08 Sep 2021
    The First National Congress of the Socialist Movement of Ghana (SMG) – previously the Socialist Forum of Ghana (SFG) – was held from July 30 to August 1 in Winneba, a town in the country’s Cent
  • Louisiana Activists Mobilize to Prevent “Shock Doctrine” Policies in Wake of Ida
    Frances Madeson
    Louisiana Activists Mobilize to Prevent “Shock Doctrine” Policies in Wake of Ida
    07 Sep 2021
    (This article originally appeared in Truthout.)
  • Nicaragua in the Crosshairs of Empire
    Netfa Freeman , Danny Haiphong and Margaret Kimberley
    Nicaragua in the Crosshairs of Empire
    01 Sep 2021
    Danny Haiphong and Margaret Kimberley are joined by Netfa Freeman of the Black Alliance for Peace and Pan-African Community Action.
  • Why the U.S. Still Suffers from Covid
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Why the U.S. Still Suffers from Covid
    01 Sep 2021
    The Covid-19 crisis cannot be separated from the failed state.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us