Angela Davis

Angela Davis (1944 - ) is a prominent activist, author, and educator. She was born in Birmingham, AL and graduated from Brandeis University and spent time on graduate studies at the University of California, San Diego and the University of Frankfurt in Germany. She was a member of the Black Panther Party and the Communist Party. She was dismissed as a professor at University of California, Los Angeles because of her membership in the Communist Party in 1969.  Ms. Davis spent two years in prison because a gun registered in her name was used in a shooting that she wasn't present for.  Since her release in 1972, Angela Davis has advocated for prison reform and abolition.  She has been influential in the black feminist movement, as well.  She currently is a professor at University of California, Santa Cruz.

Angela Davis continues to speak out on issues of race, gender, and inequality in society. She recently spoke on CNN about the Trayvon Martin tragedy.  In 1970, in a speech titled "I Am a Revolutionary Black Woman", Ms. Davis stated:

"Further, if it is true the outcome of a revolution will reflect the manner in which it is waged, we must unremittingly challenge anachronistic bourgeois family structures and also the oppressive character of women's role in American society in general.  Of course, this struggle is part and parcel of a total revolution.  Led by women, the fight for the liberation of women must be embraced by men as well.  The battle for women's liberation is especially critical with respect to the effort to build an effective black liberation movement.  For there is no question about the fact that as a group, black women constitute the most oppressed sector of society" (Marable & Mullings 461).

As issues of gender and racial inequality continue to plague society, Angela Davis will continue to speak out.  She is a voice of resistance in a culture that is often quiet in times of struggle.