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 Ruling Elite’s War on Truth
    Chris Hedges
    The Ruling Elite’s War on Truth
    25 Nov 2020
    Venezuelan socialists and Russian intelligence are blamed for America’s ills, leaving corporate power, endless wars, austerity and deindustrialization blameless.
  • Billionaire-Owned Corporations Fail Workers During Covid Crisis
    by Institute for Policy Studies
    Billionaire-Owned Corporations Fail Workers During Covid Crisis
    25 Nov 2020
    A “Delinquent Dozen” companies have vastly increased fortunes for their owners and CEOs but provided inadequate protection for their workers.
  •  GOP Tried to Re-Imprison Jalil Muntaqim
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
    GOP Tried to Re-Imprison Jalil Muntaqim
    24 Nov 2020
    After 49 years as a Black Panther Party political prisoner, Jalil Muntaqim was released on parole, only to be rearrested for attempting to register to vote in his hometown of Rochester, New York.
  •  Colin Kaepernick: “Free Mumia”
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
    Colin Kaepernick: “Free Mumia”
    24 Nov 2020
    Abu Jamal “has had to endure this second-by-second assault on his soul for 38 years,” said banned football quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
  •  Community Control of Police = Autonomous Zone of People Power
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
    Community Control of Police = Autonomous Zone of People Power
    24 Nov 2020
    Pan-African Community Action organizer Netfa Freeman told a panel organized by Black psychology students at Bowie State University, in Maryland: “Community control of police is a w
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us