angela davis

b. 1944

Birmingham, Alabama

Activist, lecturer, author, abolitionist

Angela Davis is at the top of everyone’s list when we think about activism. Her mission is clear - rallying society to challenge systemic oppression of various institutions (prisons being a major one). As an educator, organizer, and author, Davis’s learnings and calls to action remain valid, even after 30+ years of first sharing them.

In the ‘50s and ‘60s, Davis was exposed first-hand to the racism in the States as she grew up in Birmingham, Alabama. She studied philosophy at Brandeis University, then attended the University of Frankfurt in Germany, and moved to California as a graduate student at the University of California, San Diego.

In 1969 the University of California, Los Angeles fired Davis from her teaching position due to her affiliation with the Communist Party and the Black Panther Party. Shortly after that, Davis was added to the FBI’s Most Wanted List and was jailed for sixteen months and acquitted in 1972.

At the time, Ronald Reagan was the governor of California and rallied to bar Davis from teaching ever again in the state school system. Yet, San Francisco State University hired her as an ethnic studies professor in the late ‘70s.

Since then, Davis’ name has become synonymous with abolition, urging us all to reflect on the time, money, and resources wrapped into the prison system rather than educating our youth.