At 78, Angela Davis reflects on a lifetime of revolutionary activism

March 10, 2022 10:44 AM

In an interview with Simon Hattenstone in conjunction with the re-issue of her autobiography, nearly 50 years after its first publication, Angela Davis reflects on 60 years of formative episodes and how she has sustained her fight for civil rights across shifting, intersectional battlefields, without losing her optimism.
posted by drlith (15 comments total)

At 78, Angela Davis…

Yeesh. ‘Bout gave me a goddamn heart attack.
posted by obfuscation at 12:28 PM on March 10, 2022 [8 favorites]

That’s a pretty remarkable article. I was alive back then and didn’t hear a thing about her family or background - likely because she was being painted as “black revolutionary terrorist”. She had an amazing life and I wish her some measure of peace as she gets older.

As we all get older (eye roll).
posted by cybrcamper at 1:45 PM on March 10, 2022 [2 favorites]

Here in Minnesota one of the hosts on Minnesota Public Radio is named Angela Davis and it always confuses me. Of course last year she did a great interview with Angela Davis.
posted by misterpatrick at 2:11 PM on March 10, 2022 [4 favorites]

Living in the Bay Area I get to see her around periodically at rallies and so forth. I feel lucky to just be in her presence. One thing that I find striking that she sort of addresses in the linked interview is she's somewhat awkward as a public figure. I don't find her especially skilled as a public speaker - but she was slotted into a role as an activist celebrity, due to her commitment to deeply participating in communal struggle.

She's an incomparably brilliant thinker and shines most especially in her skill at presenting ideas and insights in a format that is accessible to all. Women, Race and Class was a life-altering book for me, and Are Prisons Obsolete similarly completely reframed the way most who might think of themselves as left thought about prisons. She embodies the ideals of a public intellectual - someone who doesn't just put lip service to the idea that the power of academia and the world of ideas is for all of us to use and benefit from.
posted by latkes at 2:24 PM on March 10, 2022 [10 favorites]

Thanks for posting this. Her biography is simply amazing.
posted by bluesky43 at 2:31 PM on March 10, 2022

“We talked about what it was like to grow up in a city where there were bombings all the time,” she says.

She isn’t exaggerating; Birmingham had the nickname “Bombingham” during the civil rights movement. Growing up as the target of that sort of terrorism must have affected her in ways most of us can’t imagine.
posted by TedW at 3:02 PM on March 10, 2022 [2 favorites]

This is a really great article. It gives a wonderful picture of her person, her journey, and her incredible work. I most definitely need to read her autobiography.
posted by obfuscation at 3:50 PM on March 10, 2022

I saw her speak in Canada in 2006. At the time I was only vaguely aware of her as a prominent academic; it was kind of mind-blowing to find out that this warm, friendly, mild-seeming person was once on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list as a "domestic terrorist" and had spent 16 months in jail as a political prisoner facing the death penalty.
posted by Gerald Bostock at 4:04 PM on March 10, 2022 [1 favorite]

Thanks for posting this, drlith. I'm a Brit, wasn't alive in the 60s, and somehow knew little of Angela Davis until just a few years ago. Then I watched the film 13th, which led me to stumble across that famous "You ask me about violence?" prison interview and was absolutely bowled over by it. The power of her argument, the story she has to tell, that incredible voice and the sheer power of her incredulity. And, somehow, now of all times, how strangely comforting to read this interview where a woman who has been through such extremis, still finds it in herself to be optimistic, and to recommend optimism as a prerequisite for progress and campaigning. Will definitely have to get on and read her autobiography.
posted by penguin pie at 4:31 PM on March 10, 2022 [2 favorites]

Angela Davis gave me a big hug goodbye once after a talk she gave in Oakland because I helped her carry some things to the car she was leaving in. It was really sweet, and genuine, and made my day.

I look forward to reading this, thank you.
posted by nikoniko at 6:38 PM on March 10, 2022 [5 favorites]

She is an amazing person, who made all the sacrifices.
posted by Oyéah at 7:33 PM on March 10, 2022 [2 favorites]

<3
posted by eustatic at 8:25 PM on March 10, 2022 [1 favorite]

Fantastic article. Shamefully, as an American I didn’t know very much about her life.
posted by freecellwizard at 9:00 AM on March 12, 2022

One reason she is so powerful is that her ego is always checked, she always refocuses on the needs and experiences of the most marginalized in a group. She could have talked endlessly about her own fears of being executed, instead she remembers the needs of the people incarcerated with her, who were not the face of any movement.

I heard a speech of hers once where she talked about how much she was learning about gender and society from the trans community - not in the sense of "oh, I get what they are going through now" but in the sense of "we have so much to learn from the trans community because they are truly interrogating gender and how it is taught and how it functions in society" - really emphasizing that this group "gets it" the most because they are most marginalized.

I love her voice, too. The "you ask ME about violence?" clip is incredible.
posted by Emmy Rae at 12:42 PM on March 12, 2022 [3 favorites]

Immediately after I saw this post initially I dove back into the docuseries 1971 on Apple TV, episode 5 — it opens with Angela Davis. She's incredible, and the docuseries overall is excellent. This ep does a great job at placing her and the movement within the larger changes happening at the beginning of that decade.

great post, thank you

* annoyingly the series seems to revel in showing dead people, from George Jackson to Attica to the manson murders and footage from vietnam – they put film up constantly. It's a lot, and definitely triggering. Otherwise the series is great tho, lol :/
posted by wemayfreeze at 1:37 PM on March 12, 2022