How about:
\setupitemize[each][text][before=]
Alan
On Sat, 13 Jan 2018 16:17:54 -0500
Rik Kabel
I would like to request the restoration of labels (\definelabel) to full citizenship in MKIV. While enumerations are more flexible in many ways, they cannot replace one particular use of labels if find necessary. Enumerations are paragraph entities, while labels are not so restricted.
I use labels displayed as numbers in the margin to serially identify quotations in a book about the development of quotation and misquotation, at the same time generating reference information for cross-referencing. While most quotations are blocks and can be handled by enumerations, many are in-line quotations, and enumeration cannot be used for these.
The wiki describes enumerations as the MKIV replacement for labels, and the documentation as far as I can see omits \definelabel. Unless there is something else supported in MKIV that can assume this function of labels, can we please have full support for labels? I would not want to see labels deprecated before the functionality is reproduced.
(Of course, if you can suggest how enumeration can be adapted to this requirement, or suggest an alternative mechanism, this request can be rejected.)