Born: 1944 (Birmingham, Alabama)
Biography:
Angela Yvonne Davis is an American Marxist and feminist political activist, philosopher, academic, and author. She was born on January 26, 1944, in Birmingham, Alabama. Davis grew up in the Dynamite Hill neighborhood, which was marked by bombings targeted at middle-class black families who had moved there during the 1950s. This early exposure to racial violence and discrimination greatly influenced her life and activism.
Davis pursued her education at Brandeis University and the University of Frankfurt, where she became increasingly involved in far-left politics. She later studied at the University of California, San Diego, before moving to East Germany. In East Germany, she completed her doctorate at the University of Berlin, further deepening her academic knowledge and political beliefs.
Returning to the United States, Davis joined the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) and became active in the second-wave feminist movement, as well as the campaign against the Vietnam War. In 1969, she landed a position as an assistant professor of philosophy at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). However, her membership in the CPUSA led to the university’s governing Board of Regents firing her. After a court ruled this action illegal, she was fired again, this time for using inflammatory language.
In 1970, Davis became involved in a highly publicized event known as the armed takeover of a courtroom in Marin County, California. Guns registered to her were used in the takeover, resulting in the death of four individuals. Davis was charged with three capital felonies, including conspiracy to murder. She spent over a year in jail before being acquitted of all charges in 1972. This trial made her a polarizing figure, attracting both support and criticism.
Throughout the 1980s, Davis ran as the Communist Party’s candidate for vice president twice. She continued her activism and advocacy work by co-founding Critical Resistance in 1997, an organization dedicated to dismantling the prison-industrial complex. In 1991, she broke away from the CPUSA and played a crucial role in establishing the Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism (CCDS). That same year, Davis began teaching in the feminist studies department at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She eventually became the department director before retiring in 2008.
Despite controversies surrounding her support for political violence and the Soviet Union, Davis has received numerous awards and recognitions. She was honored with the Soviet Union’s Lenin Peace Prize for her contributions to peace and justice. In 1974, she was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame for her significant impact on women’s history and the feminist movement. In 2020, she was listed as the 1971 Woman of the Year in Time magazine’s special edition, 100 Women of the Year, which highlights influential women throughout history. Additionally, Davis was included on Time’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world in the same year.
Awards:
– Soviet Union’s Lenin Peace Prize
– Inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame
– Listed as the 1971 Woman of the Year in Time magazine’s 100 Women of the Year edition
– Included on Time’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2020.