Anticipation Builds as Angela Davis Prepares to Visit
The University of Oregon buzzes with excitement and anticipation for the upcoming visit of esteemed scholar and activist Angela Davis. Angela Davis, a compelling speaker known for her feminism, civil rights activism, and socialist views, is set to bring her invaluable insights and wealth of experience to the heart of UO.
The event, a collaboration between the Multicultural Center and ROAR Center, is scheduled for March 6 at 6 p.m. in Straub 156. It is part of the National Lawyers Guild’s “Week of Abolition,” which runs from March 4–7 and will feature several other events. The talk is open to the public.
Angela Davis: A Brief Overview
Born on January 26, 1944, Angela Davis is an American political activist, scholar, and author. Her groundbreaking work spans decades and encompasses various social justice issues, including civil rights, feminism, prison abolition, and the intersections of race and class. Davis, who grew up in the segregated South, rose to international prominence in the 1960s and 1970s for her involvement in the Civil Rights Movement and her affiliation with the Black Panther Party.
Some of Davis’s most influential work touches on her views on the U.S. prison and criminal justice system, influenced in part by her own experiences with it; in 1970, she was arrested on politically charged accusations that she supplied weapons to be used in a botched courtroom jailbreak which left four people dead. Davis fought the charges and was acquitted on all counts two years later. For much of her career, she was a member of the Communist Party and ran for vice president with that party twice.
Davis's scholarly contributions are foundational to critical studies in gender, race, and class. Her work, including the groundbreaking book "Women, Race & Class," has left an indelible mark on academic discourse. Her activism for prisoners' rights and against systemic racism has resonated with contemporary movements for justice and equality. This has propelled her to the status of one of the most noteworthy contemporary feminist and socialist thinkers in the United States.
Campus Excitement
Davis has come to campus in recent years before. In 2016, she delivered the keynote address during UO’s Pride Week. The campus community seems excited about her return, with the ROAR Center’s Instagram post about her visit garnering over 1,200 likes and Students for Justice in Palestine’s repost of it at over 450.
Davis's visit is not merely a lecture but an invitation to engage in meaningful dialogue and reflection. Billed as a “thought-provoking discussion about apartheid in Palestinian rights, capitalism, prison abolition, and their intersections with higher education,” her talk will highlight a term that has already seen plenty of action around Palestine and broader attention to the conflict in general. Davis has been outspoken about the Palestinian issue for a while and wrote “Freedom Is a Constant Struggle” in 2016, addressing her views. Davis’s visit will conclude with a private meet-and-greet the following morning.
As Angela Davis prepares to step onto campus, the anticipation is palpable. Her visit represents an opportunity for the university community to hear her insight at a critical point for activists and organizers in Eugene and the country. Her radical background, mass appeal, and continuing cultural relevance will prove to be a thought-provoking discussion.
