City Limits

"Nearly every single person on Rikers Island will be released at some point. And when they get out, they will need a place to live, said Darren Mack, a formerly incarcerated organizer with the Freedom Agenda project of the Urban Justice Center."

Amsterdam News

“Anna Pastoressa, a founding member of a leading campaign to close Rikers, Freedom Agenda, felt Adams’ comments calling detainees “some of the most violent offenders in the city” mischaracterized those actually held in the infamous jail... “These are presumably innocent people according to our Constitution and they are innocent until proven guilty.”

Rolling Stone

"Brian, a longtime activist [with UJC’s Freedom Agenda] who served a year in New York’s Rikers Island in 2006 and then two shorter stints years later for parole violations, says he is 17 months sober thanks to 12-step programs. “You’re not gonna keep drugs out of anywhere,” he says. “Instead of spending all that time and resources, they’d be way better spent and more effective put into education programs, self-help programs, 12-step programs. That’s what’s gonna get people off drugs.”

The Paper

“We stand with the GANGS Coalition to end this gang database this year,” Darren Mack, co-founder, and co-director of the Urban Justice Center’s Freedom Agenda said to the crowd at Brooklyn Borough Hall. “After that, we want all those resources that the NYPD utilized to operate that system to go back into our community.”

Mott Haven Herald

Darren Mack, Freedom Agenda spokesperson, whose organization advocates the closure of the jail, and who was formerly incarcerated on Rikers Island, said “the problem is there’s this chronic absenteeism.”

La Politica Online

Este plan no es suficiente para Edwin Santana, organizador comunitario del movimiento Freedom Agenda. Santana ejerciendo de maestro de ceremonias en una multitudinaria protesta frente al gobierno municipal, lanzó un mensaje claro para el alcalde Adams: "Ni arreglar ni reformar Rikers, la cárcel hay que cerrarla ya!"

Climate Check

In this episode, Eva talks with Darren Mack, a co-founder of Freedom Agenda and a survivor of Rikers.  They discuss the historic Renewable Rikers bills, Mack’s foray in activism, and how environmentalism and decarceration are intertwined.

NY1 Noticias

"La verdadera seguridad pública radica en recursos para nuestras comunidades, porque constantemente encarcelamos a las personas más vulnerables con problemas de salud mental, adicción a las drogas, pobreza", dijo Ashley Conrad, coordinadora de Comunidad Freedom Agenda.

WNYC Studios

"Eighteen people jailed at Rikers Island have died this year, the most since 2013. Darren Mack, co-director of the Urban Justice Center's Freedom Agenda, a member-led project organizing communities impacted by incarceration, joins us to discuss the continuing crisis, the activist response and the latest on efforts to close Rikers."

NY Amsterdam News

“2022 has become one of the deadliest years in the history of NYC Department of Corrections,” said [UJC's] Freedom Agenda co-director Darren Mack. “The dysfunction, chronic staff absenteeism, and lack of accountability has intensified. Advocates have been sounding the alarm and calling for urgent action from the City.”