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Angela Davis Facts

Angela Davis Facts
Angela Davis is a notable black civil rights icon, university professor, former fugitive, and former member of the Communist Party USA. During the 1960s and 1970s, Davis was known for her often fiery invectives against the United States government, racism, and capitalism, and for her trademark afro haircut. Davis was born in Birmingham, Alabama in 1944, which is where she first came into contact with racism and radical politics, as her mother was an organizer for the Southern Negro Youth Conference, which was affiliated with the Communist Party USA. Davis studied philosophy, French, and German in college, earning a BA from Brandeis University, a MA from the University of California, San Diego, and a PhD from Humboldt University in East Germany.
Interesting Angela Davis Facts:
Through a program operated by the Quakers, Davis attended and graduated from a high school in New York City.
Before cult leader Jim Jones ordered the mass suicide of his People's Temple followers in Jonestown, Guyana in November 1978, Davis gave a speech on the group's behalf.
Davis was an acolyte of notable leftist philosopher Herbert Marcuse.
While a graduate student, Davis traveled extensively and lived in France and East Germany.
Davis personally knew some of the victims of the infamous 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama.
Davis' first teaching position was at UCLA in 1969, for which then Governor Ronald Reagan tried to have her fired for her membership in the Communist Party.
After a group of black militants took control of the Marin County, California courthouse in August 1970, which led to the death of a judge, Davis was charged with kidnapping and murder for supplying the militants with guns.
After about a month as a fugitive, Davis was arrested in New York.
Davis was acquitted of murder in June 1972.
John Lennon and Yoko Ono dedicated their 1972 song "Angela" to Davis.
Prison reform was a major issue that Davis' advocated for, which is how she came into contact with the "Soledad Brothers" and the men who took over the Marin County courthouse.
Although Davis advocated for prison reform in the United States, she refused to support such measures in eastern bloc nations, which brought her considerable criticism from some people, most notably Soviet dissident Aleksandr Solzhennitsyn.
Despite allying with an array of people and organizations across the left-wing of the political spectrum and within the Civil Rights movement, Davis was a critic of black nationalism.
During the early to mid-1970s, Davis traveled extensively throughout the communist world where she was well-received and was given many honorary awards.
A noted feminist, Davis criticized the 1995 Million Man March for its exclusion of women.
Davis came out as a lesbian in 1997.
In recent years, Davis has written and spoken against capital punishment and the United States government's War on Terror.
Davis is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel.


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