Dr. Angela Y. Davis
Dr. Angela Davis (close)
Angela Davis: A Strong Black Woman
By Safia Fasah
Once on the top ten most wanted FBI list, she is proud, strong, and determined; through arrests and accusations Angela Davis has remained an iconic advocate for women and under-represented minorities since the 1970s. Ms. Davis demonstrates her leadership skills as an activist, professor and founding member of critical resistance. She has taught in schools throughout California, and has published eight books. Ms. Davis was an instrumental voice in the Black Panther party in the 1970s and a member of the Communist Party after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Ms. Davis is known for her social justice work in the United States. Her vision is to attain race, class, and gender equality. One of the ways Ms. Davis persists in her pursuit of equality is as an advocate for the abolishment of the prison system.
Ms. Davis was born in Birmingham, Alabama on January 26, 1944. She grew up in a place that was nicknamed ‘Dynamite Hill’ due to all of the houses bombed by the Ku Klux Klan. She went to segregated schools until she moved to New York City. Ms. Davis attained degrees from several universities including Brandeis University, UC San Diego, and Humboldt University, she has degrees (more than one?) in philosophy. Ms. Davis had the opportunity to study in Paris for her degree in French,(BA or Master?) and upon returning to the U.S the civil rights movement of the 1960s hit her full force.
Ms. Davis joined the Black Panther Party, a revolutionary rights group created in Oakland, California.
Dr. Angela Davis
The Black Panther Party had many ideals from Malcolm X, equality for all by any means necessary. The Blank Panther’s wanted to create better communities, and set up many programs including giving out free breakfast to school children, setting up medical clinics, and rehabilitation centers. Even so, the Black Panther Party was often seen as too violent and opposing and had a negative reputation in main stream media. Ms. Davis also joined the Communist Party which was very controversial because she was an outspoken communist during the time of the Cold War. She joined the Communist Party because she felt that the only way that society would become equal for minorities would be in a classless society. Ronald Regan, then the Governor of California, fired her from her professorship at UC Los Angeles. Ms. Davis was an activist who advocated for equality for minorities, especially African Americans and women, during the civil rights movement era, and she still strongly expresses her opinions as a voice for under-represented minorities.
Today Ms. Davis is an advocate for the abolishment of the U.S prison industrial complex. The U.S has over 2.5 million imprisoned, with an overwhelming minority majority; about 60% of the men in prison identify as ethnic minorities. There are almost 1 million African American males in prison. The U.S has the most people in prison per capita in the world. Ms. Davis believes that our prison system is a form of serious oppression and draws many parallels between prison and slavery. Ms. Davis believes our prison system is so violent that it can’t possibly condone positive change in the prisoners; therefore, the prison industrial complex does not rehabilitate nor correct any problems in its inmates. Some of her views on the abolition of prisons is from her time in jail. Ms. Davis was connected to weapons used in a murder in Marin Country committed by men escaping from prison. Because of the weapons she was on the FBI’s top ten most wanted list. She fled authorities for two months but was caught and in jail for eighteen months. After her trial all charges were dropped. Ms. Davis did not let the law weaken her ideals or scare her from speaking out. She gained strength and stuck to the ideals of one of her favorite philosophers Marcuse, “It is the duty of the individual to rebel against the system”.
Angela Davis Button
Ms. Davis has been a respected activist, professor, and author for over forty years. Through out her career as an activist and author, Ms. Davis has kept sharing her knowledge continues to fight for social, racial, economic, and gender equality. She has spoken on every continent except Antarctica, and in all fifty United States. She is now a professor at UC Santa Cruz. She believes that the U.S prison system is corrupt and should be ended. Through her determination and education, Ms. Davis has made her voice heard and respected. Her life and accomplishments show us that we all have power, even when being pushed down or doubted because of race, class, or gender. Ms. Davis has never given up, and she will keep pushing. She is a strong, proud, and determined African American woman.
Safia "Fi-Fi" Jackson, an Oaklandish Scholar Goes to New York!
Safia Jackson is a High School Senior in Oakland, California, USA. Safia shows the potential for being not only a scholar but a musician as she has studied music and practiced the flute for years.
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Update 4/03/2011
Safia Jackson has been accepted to Columbia University in New York. She is set to get a good scholarship. So this is officially the article of a very young scholar. Be sure to login and leave a comment for this amazing young leader.
