In light of Women’s History Month, Angela Davis is a woman who does not get enough praise for all of her accomplishments as an educator, writer, feminist, and a political activist. Rather she is widely know for facing murder charges in 1970; the movement to free her, and her work while incarcerated to abolish prisons.

From a young age Angela Davis knew what racial prejudice was due to her being a black girl growing up in Alabama in the 1940’s. Her neighborhood had been targeted by the Klu Klux Klan which led it to harbor the nickname “Dynamite Hill” because of how many homes would be targeted by the Klu Klux Klan. 

In her teenage years Davis  created interracial study groups, however, they had ended up being shut down by the police.

Davis studied philosophy while attending Brandeis University in Massachusetts, and she graduated from the University of California, San Diego. During this time in the late 1960’s Davis began to join multiple groups, which included but were not limited to, the Black Panther party, and the Che-Lumumba Club, an all black branch of the Communist party, with which she spent most of her time working.

In August of 1970, Jonathan P. Jackson, a self proclaimed revolutionary, invaded a California courthouse armed with the intent to free three prisoners. It led to a shoot-out. Jackson, along with a judge and two other people, died during the invasion. While Davis was not present during the shoot-out, one of the guns that had been used in the incident was traced back to her and she was alleged to have purchased it. At the time Davis was a university professor. 

Davis was charged with murder, kidnapping, and criminal conspiracy. Her case received not only national attention but also international as well. She went into hiding and was placed on the FBI’s Most Wanted List. She was caught by the FBI two months later and spent over a year in jail.

In response to her incarceration, a “Free Angela Davis” movement arose. There was an “Angela Davis Legal Defense Committee”, and there were even musicians writing songs in her defense, one of them being the Rolling Stones, their song “Sweet Black Angel” is dedicated to her. People would protest outside of her prison; no one would stop until Davis had been freed and got justice.

While this was going on Davis started to become concerned with the way the American prison system operated. She would be acquitted of all her charges in 1972. After she was acquitted, she founded Critical Resistance, an organization that centered around the abolishment of the police system. 

Davis also  publicly come out as a lesbian in 1977, during an interview with Out Magazine. A lot of her work including her books and lectures, along with all of the work she does as a professor bring to light the discrimination of members of the LGBTQ+ and Black community, in addition to the discrimination women face as well. 

Angela Davis is a woman who has shaped American history, but does not get the credit she deserves for all of her accomplishments and contributions to making the world a better place for the next generations to come. Davis still continues to do work as a political activist today. 

A quote from Angela Davis that is truly inspiring and that everyone should remind themselves everyday is, “I’m no longer accepting the things I cannot change, I’m changing the things I cannot accept.”