ANGELA DAVIS (b. 1944)
Angela Davis is an American political activist, revolutionary icon, professor, and author who was an active member in the Communist Party and the Black Panther Party.
Born in Birmingham, Alabama in 1944, Davis was no stranger to the impact of racism and activism. In high school, Davis participated in a program that paired Black students from the South with white families in the North. It was there that she joined the school’s communist youth group.
Davis was very involved in the civil rights movement and believed that racism and capitalism were dangers to American justice. She was actively involved with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and the Black Panther Party.
Davis, frustrated with the lack of involvement women had in leadership roles within the Black Panther Party, gravitated towards the local chapter of the Communist Party. There she took on a leadership role and focused her efforts on ending capitalism.
Davis is most famous for her involvement with the Soledad brothers, who were accused of killing a prison guard. During their trial, an escape attempt was made and Davis was accused of taking part and charged with murder. Davis went into hiding and was put on the FBI’s most wanted list. She spent 18 months in jail without bail and was often kept in solitary confinement because the guards believed her ideas to be “dangerous.”
Davis’ time in prison only added fuel to her passion for equality and justice. She spoke out about prison reform, women’s rights, racial equality, and the inequality of capitalism. She is also an advocate for the LGBTQIA+ community, and came out as a lesbian in 1997 in an article for Out Magazine.
Davis’s most famous quote is the one that threads through all her activism: “I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept.”
Sources:
- National Museum of African American History and Culture
- Women’s and the American Story (WAMS)
- GLBT Historical Society
- Philadelphia Gay News
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