Political activist Angela Davis to speak at UMW

FREDERICKSBURG — American political activist, author and professor Angela Davis will visit the University of Mary Washington on Wednesday, serving as the 2012 James Farmer Visiting Lecturer and Black History Month keynote speaker.

The lecture will be held at 7 p.m. in George Washington Hall’s Dodd Auditorium.

Davis, a professor at the University of California at Santa Cruz, is also known for spending 18 months in jail and going on trial for her suspected involvement in a crime in California in the early 1970s, for which the FBI placed her on the “Ten Most Wanted List.”

A jury found her not guilty of the crime, during which a California judge was murdered as a courtroom was taken over.

Davis later became a leader in the Communist Party.

Back then, her involvement in the party and with the Black Panther Party drew her recognition. President Ronald Regan, decades ago, ousted her from a position at the University of California — it was reinstated — and later the courhouse incident that included murder and kidnapping with respect to the imprsisoned Soledad Brothers resulted in Davis becoming a wanted woman. Guns used in the takeover belonged to Davis, according to the case.

But Davis had her share of supporters, with songs being sung in her name by John Lennon and Yoko Ono (“Angela”) and The Rolling Stones (“Sweet Black Angel”). 

She was twice a candidate for vice president on the Communist Party USA ticket. She has taught at numerous colleges, including the University of California at Los Angeles, Vassar, the Claremont Colleges and Stanford University.

At the University of California at Santa Cruz, Davis is a professor of history of consciousness and professor of feminist studies. She has taught there for the past 15 years.

Davis has also penned eight books, including the most recent, “Are Prisons Obsolete?” and “Abolition Democracy.” She has also completed research on race, gender and imprisonment issues. 

A member of the executive board of the Women of Color Resource Center, Davis received a bachelor’s degree from Brandeis University, a master’s degree from the University of California at San Diego and a Ph.D. from Humboldt University.

Tracy Bell is managing editor of the Stafford County Sun. Reach her at tbell@insidenova.com.