Unlocking Stories Held Hostage

We open our series with a bold conversation hosted by our founder and Executive Director, Jaribu Hill, offering a grounding in the concept of dark work and the 21st-century struggles waged for dignity and safety on the job. State Representative Rickey Thompson discusses his experience with Jim Crow work in the health care system during COVID. Also joining is Jannie Kimber, a worker organizer, who highlights the hidden truths about the manufacturing of the southern delicacy called catfish. We gratefully&nbsp;acknowledge the following participants and supporters who made this episode&nbsp;possible:&nbsp;Producer: Anoa Changa-PeckRep. Rickey Thompson, Board President of the Mississippi Workers' Center for Human RightsJannie Kimber, Worker MemberLatasha Palmer, Program Manager Jaribu Hill, Executive&nbsp;Director and Podcast Host

Dark Work: Devalued and Unprotected

This podcast was made possible in part by support from IRIS and Narrative Initiative. Save the Date! Two Legacies, One Movement Thursday, December 10, 2026 - Sunday, December 13, 2026 Join us in celebrating two 30-year milestones: The Mississippi Workers' Center for Human Rights and The Southern Human Rights Organizers Conference. We'll gather in Jackson, MS, for a conference and celebration of 30 years of fighting for workplace dignity and human rights. Visit our <a href="https://www.msworkrights.org/events/two-legacies-one-movement" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">website</a> for more information.

 UNLOCKING STORIES HELD HOSTAGE

Dark work had its beginnings in the bottom of rickety boats, where the strange and barely breathing human cargo was bound by sweat, blood, and circumstance. The block of wood was the weigh station where flesh sold as property stood to be catalogued into the free labor/auction block industry. Against this history of suffering, terror, and backbreaking toil, dark-skinned people harvested blood crops without shares, were strange fruit, and bore children to breed for cash crop labor.Here is where their descendants will tell of modern --day vestiges of dark work—of Jim Crow assignments—of modern-day acts of resistance and triumph. Each episode will lift the stories of workers who are often forced to trade their dignity for a paycheck. These real-life witnesses will share vivid and sometimes brutal details of job steering, wage theft, retaliation, denial of equal opportunities even when qualified, denial of safety and health protections, and the ongoing workplace battles waged to change the culture of work in Mississippi and other parts of the Deep South.For the past 30 years, the <a href="https://www.msworkrights.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Mississippi Workers' Center for Human Rights</a> has stood with low-wage Black and Brown workers in their fight for a living wage, safe jobs, and equal employmentopportunities.As we join with our members and supporters to mark this historic milestone, we are proud to bring you their lived testimonies. From catfish plants to fast food restaurants to fields and factories, you will hear the voices of those who often have been forced to suffer in silence. Their courage will inspire you in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds!

DARK WORK: DEVALUED AND UNPROTECTED

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1. Dark Work: Devalued and Unprotected