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DARK WORK: DEVALUED AND UNPROTECTED
DARK WORK: DEVALUED AND UNPROTECTED episodes
- Culture is the Seed of Resistance
Art and culture have always been at the heart of Black community resilience and resistance. In this episode of Dark Work, host Jaribu Hill speaks with Jackson State University Professor Mark Henderson, founder and artistic director of the performance troupe MADDRAMA. Professor Henderson also serves as the interim chair of the Department of Speech Communication and Theatre.
The two talk about how Professor Henderson developed MADDRAMA and how it serves as an entry point for young people into community organizing and understanding our shared history. He narrates his own journey and exploration from student to cultural steward.
This episode opening features a creative presentation by Elijah Johnson, a student fellow with the Mississippi Workers Center. Inspired by Assata Shakur, Elijah's passionate delivery shows the importance of creative avenues for communicating political ideals and expression.
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 website for more information.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
1 hr 3 min - No One Should Have to Die to Make a Living
Our second episode is appropriately titled "Dying to Make a Living—Casualties of Work," in honor of the thousands who die every year in U.S. workplaces, as a result of unsafe working conditions and employers' greed and callous disregard for workers' lives and well-being. Its release coincides with Workers Memorial Week, specifically Workers Memorial Day, celebrated each year on April 28.
In this episode, we feature the mighty testimony of Ms. Hazel Whiting, whose only son, Derrick Whiting, collapsed and died on the plant floor at Nissan in Canton, Mississippi. We remember Derrick Whiting and all those who lost their lives while trying to make a living. No one should have to die or be injured to make a living!
And if you're in Jackson on April 25, 2026, join us for our Workers Memorial Day commemoration on the State Capitol steps, 11 am -1 pm!
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 website for more information.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
57 min - Dark Work: Devalued and Unprotected
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 acknowledge the following participants and supporters who made this episode possible:
Anoa Changa-Peck, Consulting Producer
Rep. Rickey Thompson, Board President of the Mississippi Workers' Center for Human Rights
Jannie Kimber, Worker Member
Latasha Palmer, Program Manager at the Mississippi Workers' Center for Human Rights
Jetsany Castillo, Podcast Logo Design
Jaribu Hill, Executive Director and Host
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 website for more information.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
55 min
About DARK WORK: DEVALUED AND UNPROTECTED
From the publisher's feed
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 Mississippi Workers' Center for Human Rights has stood with low-wage Black and Brown workers in their fight for a living wage, safe jobs, and equal employment
opportunities.
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!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.