Angela Davis: Activist, author and professor
In honour of black history month, let’s have a look into the life of Angela Davis.
“The process of empowerment cannot be simplistically defined in accordance with our own particular class interests. We must learn to lift as we climb” – Angela Davis
Growing up in Alabama, Davis was exposed to racial prejudice and segregation from an early age. In addition to her academic interest in socialism and communism, this sparked her journey as a radical civil rights activist. She was later recognized as a radical African American educator and feminist. As a university student at Brandeis University, she studied philosophy. She also studied important figures such as Karl Marx, Albert Camus, and Jean-Paul Sartre. She became an active member of the Communist Party’s Che-Lumumba Club and the Black Panthers, a political organization that challenged the police brutality faced by African Americans. Angela Davis is known for her involvement with the trial of the Soledad brothers in the 70’s. She is also well-known for her books, notably Women, Race and Class (1980) and Are Prisons Obsolete? (2003). Davis is a respected figure in activism for her courage and revolutionary thinking.
By Claudia Bruscia
