History Lesson 11 The New Chains

Brought to you by Baldy’s Music Group

The New Chains is a spoken word performance revealing how slavery’s end did not bring true freedom — it brought new systems of bondage. The plantation was replaced with the prison. The auction block was replaced with convict leasing. Shackles were exchanged for laws and policies that kept Black people trapped in labor and poverty.

The 13th Amendment promised emancipation but left one loophole: slavery was outlawed “except as punishment for a crime.” From that line, a new industry was born. Arrests soared, Black men were criminalized, and entire communities were funneled into forced labor. Corporations, railroads, and states profited while families were torn apart again.

This performance makes one truth undeniable: chains never disappeared — they changed shape. The prison walls, the patrol cars, and the courtrooms became the new plantation fields.