Activist, scholar, and writer Dr, Angela Davis will present at Southwestern College’s Speaker Series on Wednesday, March 15th.
Born in Birmingham, Alabama in 1944, during Jim Crow, Angela Davis, a master scholar who studied at Sorbonne, became internationally known during the early seventies for her revolutionary involvement in the civil rights movement. Her activism catapulted with Davis organizing on behalf of three black prisoners accused of murder that caused Davis, to end up behind bars, charged with criminal conspiracy, kidnapping and first-degree murder.
A mass resistance movement by her supporters was formed, out of activism the term “Free Angela” was born. Eventually Davis was released and cleared of all charges.
Davis’ bold activism during the civil rights movement has left an undeniable imprint on the current ills of society. The living legends sense of pride and cultural awareness of her African roots, in particular the Afro hair style became a symbol of black power—“The Angela Davis Afro,” is iconic.
Today, Professor Angela Davis’ recent work has been the range of social problems associated with incarceration and the generalized criminalization of those communities that are most affected by poverty and racial discrimination.
Like many other educators, Professor Davis is especially concerned with the general tendency to devote more resources and attention to the prison system than to educational institutions.
Davis, recently retired from a professorship at the University of California Santa Cruz, during her talk will draw upon her extensive research on criminalization related to race, gender and imprisonment. Having helped to popularize the notion of a “prison industrial complex,” Davis will urge her audience to think seriously about the future possibility of a world without prisons and to help forge a 21st century abolitionist movement.
Wednesday, March 15, 2017
Gymnasium, Bldg. 1500
6:00 PM
Southwestern Community College District
900 Otay Lakes Road
Chula Vista, CA 91910