On this episode, we are joined by U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), who currently serves on the Senate Committees on Appropriations, Foreign Relations, Budget, and Environment and Public Works. The senator explains that the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution abolished most—but not all—slavery, permitting slavery or involuntary servitude “as a punishment for crime.” The punishment clause exception has led to the incarceration of millions of Black Americans since Reconstruction and continues to feed the current mass incarceration of people of color. Senator Jeff Merkley and Representative William Lacy Clay (D-MO-1) have introduced bicameral legislation to strike this clause in order to finally abolish slavey in the United States. The hosts for this episode are Clint Odom, NUL Senior Vice President of Policy & Advocacy, and Toni Wiley, NUL Director of Advocacy. From the National Urban League, For The Movement discusses persistent policy, social, and civil rights issues affecting communities of color. Discussed in this episode: National Urban League Black Black America African-American News Information Advocacy Politics 13th Amendment Constitution Ratify Slavery Imprisonment Civil War Black Codes Reconstruction 14th Amendment 15th Amendment Exploitation Racism Crime Criminal Justice System Mass Incarceration Injustice Families Bigotry Work conditions Confederate monuments Black Exclusionary Zone Due Process Voting Rights Restoration Voter Suppression For the People Act Private Prison Industrial Complex First Step Act Ava DuVernay 13th   Twitter: @senjeffmerkley Instagram: @senjeffmerkley