Paige Hussey
1/18/2019
English 110
Who is Angela Davis?
Angela Davis is well known for being a radical African American educator and activist and was involved in a murder case in the early 1970s. Angela dealt with a lot of racial prejudice growing up in Alabama and saw first hand how serious of an issue it was, and still can be. As a young adult, Angela set up interracial study groups but they were unfortunately broken up by the police. Angela first went to college when she moved to Massachusetts and studied philosophy with Herbert Marcuse. Then she was a graduate student at the University of California, San Diego. This is were she in the late 1960s, joined several different groups such as the Black Panthers and Che Lumumba Club, this was an all-black branch of the communist party. After completing school Angela went on to teach at the University of California but had some trouble with administration because she was associated with communism. She was fired but fought back in court and got her job back, but ended up leaving in 1970 when her contract expired.
Angela was a strong supporter of three prisoners; John W. Cluchette, Fleeta Drumgo, and George Lester Jackson, they were known as the Soledad brothers. These three men were accused of killing a prison guard when several African American prisoners were killed in a fight with another guard. Many thought this was a political scem in the prison and was using these three men as scapegoats. In August of 1970 there was an escape attempt at George L. Jackson’s trial, which resulted in the death of several people in the courtroom. Angela had charges brought up for her involvement in this event, charges of murder. Angela served 18 months in prison but then was acquitted in June 1972.
Angela returned to teaching after taking some time to travel and do lectures. She currently teaches at the University of California and has written several books, including White, Race, and Class (1980) and Are Prisons Obsolete? (2003). Angela Davis has definitely seen how serious rasim can be and unfortunately that made her life more challenging than it should have been.
The TED talk with Anne Hallward, MD discussed the topic of shame and how everyone has a stigma about what is socially right and wrong. Also, how when we share those stories ,were we think people would run away from us if they knew, it actually heals us physically and how when people hear stories like that, it can heal them as well. I think Angela would connect with Dr.Hallward because Angela lived her life and is choosing to take that life and tell the story. So it can add to how the world is changing and being better understanding about people and how everyone is different, and we all think and feel different. This is ok, it is what makes us human.
Dr.Hallward also told a personal story about her father who she had to watch battle with Dementia for 16 years, and during that time she was pray for him to pass. She feared if people heard that, they would think that was awful to say, but in turn when she told this story during a speech in front of a hundred doctors, that people understood and had seen there patients families feel that same way. She was brave for sharing that story, and when we share, that is when the healing can begin.
Citation: http://www.history.com.topics/black-history/angela-davis
