Reading the Black Intellectual: Angela Davis

I’m no longer accepting the things I cannot change…I’m changing the things I cannot accept…Angela Davis

Saturday, September 16 | 10 am  Angela Davis: An Autobiography
Saturday, October 14 | 10 am  Women, Race and Class
Saturday, November 18 | 10 am Freedom is a Constant Struggle

Angela Davis: An Autobiography is not so much revealing as “exemplary.” Writing it was not an act of self-discovery; it was an act of political communication. Yet it is no prose poster. It takes its structure from her arrest, imprisonment, trial and acquittal and, for that reason and because the prison movement is her political work, it is sometimes the voice of Every Prisoner, a little familiar. But it is also a strong, idiosyncratic account of her childhood, youth and growth, and her choice of the Communist party as the agency through which to act. To the personal narrative she brings such precision and individuality that she reminds us out of what universal, bitter, private experiences the black movement coalesced in the first place.   New York Times October 27, 1974

Women, Race and Class…Angela Davis’ book is a rare effort–a case study of the interaction of issues of race and class within the women’s movement in America. She carries out her analysis through a chronological unfolding of the position of black women, the majority of whom are also part of the labour force, within American society.She studies their transition from slavery to freedom against the background of a number of particular issues raised at different times by the women’s movement, namely the issues of female suffrage, of resistance against rapists, if the right to birth control and abortion, and finally of housework .The picture that emerges from her analysis reveals uniformly non-participation of black women on these issues in the feminist movement….Malani Bhattachrya

In Freedom is a Constant Struggle Davis illuminates the connections between struggles against state violence and oppression throughout history and around the world.

Reflecting on the importance of black feminism, intersectionality, and prison abolitionism for today’s struggles, Davis discusses the legacies of previous liberation struggles, from the Black Freedom Movement to the South African anti-Apartheid movement. She highlights connections and analyzes today’s struggles against state terror, from Ferguson to Palestine.

All reads will take place in the Alumni Room and are free and open to the public. Please come ready to participate–not all of our meetings will be lead discussions. Books can be purchased in the Alumni Room beginning July 27.