Angela Davis Contributions

Angela Davis began her college career at Brandeis University to study French which granted her the opportunity to study abroad in France. In 1963, while Davis was in France four black girls were killed in a church bombing known as the 16th Street Church Bombing. This tragedy sparked Davis’ Passion for philosophy because she was personally affected by the bombing since she knew two of the killed victims.

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.

("Davis, Angela 1944–".) In her early years she was exposed to activism through her mother, Sallye Davis, she was involved with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), at a time in which it was very dangerous to do so. Her mother was also heavily involved with the Communist Party, she was involved in the civil right’s movement and was an organizer for the Southern Negro Congress. Since she grew up around such a heavy influence of Communist ideals, Davis developed a mindset geared towards equal rights at a very young age. Davis’ views started coming through in her academics at a very young age as well, in high school Davis did everything she could to start to an interracial study group, the group was “harassed, and then disbanded by the police.” Eventually Davis would go onto start herself a legacy that is greatly inspired by her mother. She would join the Black Panther Party after a horrible tragedy.

Rosa Parks - Rosa Parks is considered the mother of Civil Rights Movement. She had been a member of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) before she became a huge issue throughout the nation in the 1950s. On Dec. 1, 1955, she refused to give up her seat to a white man who asked her to get up for him. Parks was tired that day and did not feel like giving up her seat. She was arrested for disobeying orders to go to the back of the bus. This caused the Montgomery Bus Boycott. After a year, the Supreme Court supported the court order to integrate the buses in Montgomery. This also sparked the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s.

Throughout the African American civil rights movement opportunities were sought to spark a chance at improving conditions in the south. Rosa Parks refusing to give up her seat on the Montgomery, Alabama bus was the fire to that spark. Rosa, standing up for herself something anyone person in today’s world would do, was arrested and put in jail. While Rosa was in jail she caught the eye of many people in the Civil Rights Movement, including the leaders. The Civil Rights leaders protested her arrest and hired lawyers to aid her in her trial. Although she was found guilty and was fined fourteen dollars for the cost of the court case, which lasted on thirty minutes, she wasn’t done yet. Rosa Parks has affected the society we live in today in

She was a strong and determined civil rights activist who refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white person. She believed in rights for African Americans and had hope for the future she wanted. And when she refused to give up her seat, the bus driver had her arrested. She was later asked about her bold act, and said that “my refusal wasn’t because I was physically tired, but that I was tired of giving in.” Her attitude towards this dilemma sparked a rebellion against the oppression that was put upon African Americans and was called the Montgomery boycott. Which was when the black population of Montgomery boycotted the same bus company that racially discriminated Rosa Parks. This historical event was to be considered victorious, as 40,000 African Americans opted to walk to work instead of riding the bus, some even as far 20 miles. Without Rosa’s optimism today, who knows where we would be? Her optimism has shaped our world for the better by instilling hope for the cure of cancer that plagues this world. Racial

Dorothy Dandridge may seem to be like a beautiful and strong African American woman on the outside, but on the inside she held in a lot of pain. Dorothy Dandridge is an actress, singer, and entertainer, who no longer walk this green Earth, but when she did, she made history. Dorothy was the first African American actress to achieve a leading-role status. Dorothy also had a deeply troubled life and racism didn’t make her life any easier especially when it came to achieving her dreams, but she got through it and during her time, the early 1930’s through the 1960’s, that was saying something. Racism was a lot worse then what it is now, but it made it harder for African Americans to achieve their goals, especially African American women. Dorothy was very worth looking up to now and when she was alive. Dorothy Dandridge is a contribution to African American history because she was the first African American woman to be nominated for an Academy Award for best actress, how she fought all odds against her, mainly racism, and she made it possible to for other African American women to follow in her footsteps and look up to her as a role model.

Her path became rocky quickly. At first she wanted to make the students in her school aware of the mission/goals of the Black Lives Matter. She was met with dismissal of this movement by students, as well as, teachers. She was shunned by some she considered her friends. She felt an issue so important to the safety of her fellow students and those in her community would be embraced. It wasn’t, but this did not deter her from continuing to share the voice the movement, even when she stopped being so popular.

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.

She was able to get her name out into the public and she did not let the fact that she was African - American stop her she persevered through all of the hardships and finally made it. Angela is now known as the best radical African - American educator that help to influence many people's lives. Also, many people believe that she is a very energetic and enthusiastic women that always kept fighting for civil rights for women that also involve social issues. Angela Davis was very aware of all the racist things that had been going around during that time and in fact she had known that if she did not fight no one would do it for her so she got up and made it happen buy putting an end to all of this. Davis was always an independant women that did not want any help she wanted to do it all by herself and let her voice be

She showed them that they could be equal. The only difference was the color of the skin. She taught them that that wasn’t even a big difference. She fought segregation her entire life.

She was the first southern black female elected to the United States House of Representatives and the first African American woman to deliver a keynote address at a Democratic National Convention. She originally wanted to attend the University of Texas but since it was so segregated she don’t not get admitted and chose Texas Southern University, majoring in political science and history.

Ella was apart of the SCLC , SNCC,and NAACP, through those organizations Ella was able to help many lives. To begin, according to Susan Gushee O’Malley “She was named acting director of the SCLC and set about organizing the crusade to open simultaneously in twenty-one cities.”Ella just started to work for the SCLC ( southern christian leadership conference) in 1960. The purpose of SCLC was to keep black-based movement churches in touch with each other so they can work together for the rights of colored people. Second, according to msbush.wikispaces.com “She helped form what is known as the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), which helped show student's involvement in the civil rights movement, through nonviolent protest. This organization helped form Freedom Summer; an event which focused America's attention on the racism that occurred in Mississippi,

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.

One of the Champions of the American Civil Rights Movement was Rosa Parks. A native of Tuskegee Alabama, she was said by some to be the mother of the African American Civil Rights Movement. Making a living as a seamstress, she was highly involved in the local efforts of the N.A.A.C.P. (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) as well as exceedingly active in her church congregation, Rosa Parks would become infamous for simply refusing to be treated differently because of the color of her skin. Aboard the Cleveland Avenue bus coming home from work on the evening of December 1st 1955, an already weary Rosa Parks was instructed by the bus driver to surrender her seat to a Caucasian man who had boarded the bus subsequent to her. When she refused to do so, the police were summoned and she consequentially was arrested. This was her first time to be under arrest, but she conducted herself in a professional and dignified manner despite the extreme injustice she was being served (Johnson 212). Jo Ann Robinson called Rasa Parks a woman of "high morals and a strong character". She was exactly what the N.A.A.C.P. needed for a plaintiff in their proposed civil suit against the bus company (Marcus 260).