Angela Davis

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¡LIBERTAD_PARA_LOS_PRISONEROS_POLITICAS!

American political activist, philosopher, academic, and author

Angela Yvonne Davis (born January 26, 1944) is an American political activist, philosopher, academic, and author. She emerged as a prominent counterculture activist in the 1960s, associated with the Civil Rights Movement, the Black Power movement, and the Communist Party USA. Davis is also a retired professor and former director of the Feminist Studies department at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Early Life and Education

Angela Davis was born in Birmingham, Alabama, and grew up in the "Dynamite Hill" neighborhood, which was known for its frequent bombings by the Ku Klux Klan. She attended Carrie A. Tuggle School and later Parker High School. Davis was awarded a scholarship to attend Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, where she studied French literature and philosophy. She graduated magna cum laude in 1965.

Davis pursued graduate studies at the University of California, San Diego, under the mentorship of the German-American philosopher Herbert Marcuse. She earned her master's degree in philosophy in 1968.

Activism and Arrest

Angela Davis became involved in the Black Panther Party and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). She also joined the Communist Party USA and became a prominent figure in the party. In 1970, Davis was implicated in the armed takeover of a courtroom in Marin County, California, in which four people were killed. She was charged with aggravated kidnapping and first-degree murder in the death of Judge Harold Haley. After spending 18 months in jail, she was acquitted of all charges in 1972.

Academic Career

Davis has taught at several institutions, including San Francisco State University, Rutgers University, and the University of California, Santa Cruz. Her research interests include feminism, African-American studies, critical theory, Marxism, popular music, and social consciousness. She has authored several books, including Women, Race, & Class and Are Prisons Obsolete?

Later Life and Legacy

Angela Davis continues to be an active voice in social justice movements, advocating for prison reform, gender equality, and racial justice. She has received numerous awards and honors for her contributions to social activism and academia.

Related Pages

• Civil Rights Movement
• Black Power movement
• Communist Party USA
• University of California, Santa Cruz
• Black Panther Party
• Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
• Herbert Marcuse
• Women, Race, & Class
• Are Prisons Obsolete?

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