Angela Davis And The Civil Rights Movement

In 1969, Davis came back the America and joined several radical civil rights organizations. She was a member of the Communist Party, USA and a member of the Black Panther Party along with being an assistance professor at the University of California- Los Angeles (UCLA). Governor at the time, Ronald Reagan, tried to terminate her position as UCLA professor because of her Communist affiliation, but that was overturned. Yet, devastation struck only a few months later.

She has risen from a poor background and was ranked the richest African American of the 20th Century, the greatest black philanthropist in American history and was once the world’s only black billionaire. She is also known as the most influential woman in the world, both older generations and young.

One of the most influential and inspirational women of all time was Rosa Parks. By one action she helped change the lives of a majority of African Americans and more importantly society as a whole. Rosa Parks sparked the attention of America when she refused to settle for the black (lower class)standards. Not only did she help change the lives for many African Americans but she helped equality for all men and women in the United States. By one brave women our world will be forever thankful.

Angela Davis discusses, women of Latina and black backgrounds who had no control over the number of children they would have or how they will live. Angela Davis believes this is what is separating colored/ immigrant women from participating in the

Rosa Parks, also called the “Mother of the Civil Rights Movement,” was given the NAACP's Spingarn Medal and the Martin Luther King, Jr. nonviolent-peace prize. Rosa Parks was also awarded the Eleanor Roosevelt Woman of Courage award in 1984. Rosa’s influence and impact on the society is one that can never be replaced. Rosa was not only the person who took that seat, but she has plenty of respect because of her personality as a strong willed woman. Where did all this began?

During the latter 19th and early 20th centuries racism and racial segregation were considerable problems. Mob violence, including lynchings were responsible for the deaths of thousands of black men, women and children, often for crimes they had no part in or which were not even committed. Ida B. Wells-Barnett was born into slavery by James and Elizabeth Wells during the Civil War. She attended Rust College, which was partly founded by her father in Mississippi. After Wells’ parents died of yellow fever, she attained a teaching position at a local school by lying about her age. After some time teaching she moved to Memphis with two of her sisters, where she acquired another teaching position and continued her schooling at Fisk University. While her professional life was moderately successful, her personal life was dismal, however, “it is the very qualities that problematize her personal relationships… that will impel her to undertake… a courageous crusade against lynching” (DeCosta-Willis). Being a freed black woman in the south, Wells had firsthand knowledge of the segregation and racial tension of the time. This knowledge and her experiences gave her insights about the South that were crucial in her successful crusade against lynching and segregation.

Rosa Parks, a very important and influential black woman in history. When a student is learning about Blacks fighting for equal rights, it is almost certain that the name “Rosa Parks” will be mentioned. The story that students are taught is that she was a quiet woman who had had enough and refused to give up her seat on the bus, which is not entirely true. Yes, Ms. Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man because she was sick and tired of being treated in such a horrible way, but she was not as quiet as everyone was taught to believe. Some might even say that history got the great Rosa Parks story wrong. An author by the name of Jeanne Theoharis definitely agrees to that. She agrees strongly that she wrote an article titled “How History Got the Rosa Parks Story Wrong”.

As a result, the black feminist movement developed, where black women were the sole leaders of the movement that liberated all people. Many black women believed that it was counterproductive for the Civil Rights Movement to neglect the needs of black woman because black men continued to use the same systemic oppression that white people used against them on black women. In “I Am a Revolutionary Black Woman,” Angela Davis writes that “black women constitute the most oppressed sector of society” (Davis 461). It is evident that black women have been super exploited by American society economically, sexually, and politically, making them the lowest on the social hierarchy. Because of black women’s low social standing, if the black woman is liberated, then everyone else will follow, which will ensure the liberation of all people. Thus, Davis argues that “women’s liberation is especially critical with respect to the effort to build an effective black liberation movement” (461). Unlike Hamer, Davis believes that black women should liberate themselves from the black man if they are too oppressive like the white man; black men should be held accountable for their chauvinistic efforts, and should embrace the fight for liberation of women just as black women supported the liberation of black men.

In her speech “Political Activism and Protest from the 1960s through the Age of Obama,” Angela Davis argues that Black history involves a constant struggle for freedom. This struggle is meant to expand the liberties of not only Black people, but of all marginalized people, and it has occurred throughout history in all parts of the world. As a result, Davis asserts that Black history and activism are universally relatable. She continues to discuss activism in her speech, at one point declaring, “we have to learn how to imagine the future in terms that are not restricted to our own lifetimes” (Davis 117). Her declaration means that social change does not come about if people passively accept the world’s current state. Instead, social change occurs when people “imagine the future” (117) that they wish to live in and work at shaping all aspects of society so that it will progress towards the future they envisioned.

Angela Davis achieved many great things in her life and now she is getting recognized by many people on International Women's Day. She had worked very hard to become the person that she is today. Angela is an American Politician activist, who then become an academic scholar and which then lead to her becoming an author who has had her book read by many people. She was always involved in many marches all over including the Black Panther Party, and the Civil Rights Movement. Davis has always been involved in all different types of activities which played a big role in her life. After she started to get involved she has started to have a higher interest in such political and more informational things.

Angela Davis an Autobiography is a declaration of Davis’ life journey within “Bombingham” (Birmingham) Alabama to her political ties within Communist Party. Davis is a prototype of an anomaly within the US. She went from being placed on the FBI’s most wanted list, to escaping the death penalty, to becoming a professor at one of the premiere colleges within the US, University of California- Los Angeles . How did she do it ? What is Davis’ secret ? Simply becoming aware of the world she lived in, but was engulf in systemic ways of doing things.

She began helping her family in the cotton fields, at age six. By the time this future leader was in sixth grade, she dropped out. She joined the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) with the objective to register every Negro in Mississippi. Her mantra was, “I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired.” In 1963, she sustained, lasting injuries from a beating by the police for attempting to vote. That beating left her with an injured eye and kidney damage. After evicted from the plantation owner’s property for attempting to vote, the home where she went to live, was hailed with sixteen bullets by night riders. This role model gave others inspiration by reminding them, “We serve God by serving our fellow man,” and, “Nobody’s free until everybody’s free.” Her aphoristic insight continued to enlighten and encourage people for

Ida B. Wells-Barnett dedicated her life to social justice and equality. She devoted her tremendous energies to building the foundations of African-American progress in business, politics, and law. Wells-Barnett was a key participant in the formation of the National Association of Colored Women as well as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). She spoke eloquently in support of Marcus Garvey and the Universal Negro Improvement Association. The legacies of these organizations have been tremendous and her contribution to each was timely and indespensible. But no cause challenged the courage and integrity of Ida B. Wells-Barnett as much as her battle against mob violence and the terror of lynching at the end of

“The only tired I was, was tired of giving in” (Parks). I was tired, tired of being oppressed, and tired of being stepped on by the law, and my fellow people. That was the only tired i felt. The Montgomery Bus protest sparked a fire that would be felt throughout the entire country, and it was the spark that ignited the fire of the civil rights movement that shook the world. The boycott was the first of it, once light was shown on the problem, she began travelling cross country spreading information about civil rights, and sparking more peaceful protest. Rosa Parks was an important figure that changed the direction of the United States of America. She was trying to get home from work that day, but she turned into an icon for the civil rights movement, and shined a light on the unfair treatment of african americans.

Angela Davis was a prominent political activist in the United States. She was a member of the Communist Party of the USA where she ran for vice president in 1980 and 1984. She was also involved with the Black Panthers and the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee. Davis spent sixteen months in prison due to charges of murder and conspiracy but was acquitted of all charges and released. She has authored many books that delve into the social position of black women in America and the prison system. In Women, Race, & Class Davis discusses the diverse ways the women’s rights movements have mistreated and ignored black women’s struggle for freedom.