Research Guides: Angela Davis: Biography

Angela Davis (Born on January 26, 1944)

Angela Yvonne Davis, political activist, author, professor, and Communist party member, was an international symbol of the black liberation movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Meeting people from around the world convinced Davis of the importance of tearing down cultural barriers such as language, and she decided to major in French at Brandeis. She was accepted in the Hamilton College Junior Year in France Program, and studied contemporary French literat French literature at the Sorbonne, in Paris. Upon her return to Brandeis, Davis, who had always had an interest in philosophy, studied with the German philosopher Herbert Marcuse. The following year, she received a scholarship to study philosophy in Frankfurt, Germany, where she focused on the works of the Germans Immanuel Kant, Georg Hegel, and Karl Marx. Continue . . .

Source: "Davis, Angela Yvonne." Gale Encyclopedia of American Law, edited by Donna Batten, 3rd ed., vol. 3, Gale, 2010, pp. 364-367. From Gale Virtual Reference database.

eBook Collection

The Morning Breaks : The Trial of Angela Davis

Resources

In Defense of Angela: Profile of the Davis Defense Team 0 N MARCH 27, 1972, in a small heavily guarded courtroom in San Jose, California, Assistant Attorney General Albert W. Harris arose to make the prosecution's opening statement in the case of People of California vs. Angela Y. Davis. Thus began a trial which has had no parallel in American judicial history.
Interview with Angela Davis Tony Platt, interviewer.
Angela Davis and the Changing Paradigm of Academic Freedom in the 1960s Examines the way politically radical faculty were disciplined due to their political views using the cases of Angela Davis at the University of California, Los Angeles, and H. Bruce Franklin at Stanford University in the 1960's as examples. Emphasizes the FBI's campaign against radical students and faculty, as well as student-faculty involvement in the Communist Party and the antiwar movement, and the role of the American Association of University Professors in defending faculty free speech rights.
Scholar’s Symposium: The Work of Angela Y. Davis The author reflects on the issue on the prison system and the move of Angela Davis to abolish prisons in the U.S. He said that the growth of the prison system in the United States can be best answered by Davis's abolitionism. Furthermore, he argues that abolitionism will answer their fights for equality and social justice in the 21st century in the U.S. and that abolitionism calls for a change in their racializing democracy into a different democracy.

From Films On Demand database:

Abolitionist Values Angela Davis explains alternatives to the current justice system. Restorative Justice for Oakland Youth teaches kids how to resolve conflict through communication.
Cradle to Prison Pipeline One out of every 31 people in the U.S. is under the control of a correctional agency. Angela Davis argues that money spent on prison would be better used on education.
Argument for Rehabilitation Angela Davis explains abolitionist values. A L.E.A.D intern explains that she became involved with critical resistance through a personal tragedy.
Perpetuating Violence Angela Davis is convinced that the broken prison system is responsible for the pandemic of child sexual abuse.