EDUCATORS: FREE ZOOM EVENT with Dr. Angela Davis - Teaching as a Tool for Change: Angela Davis and Ericka Huggins (both former Black Panther Party members) in conversation; Wednesday, September 9; 4:00 PM EASTERN
Register for FREE at:
Please join for a conversation between Dr. Angela Davis and Ericka Huggins. Davis and Huggins will discuss the Oakland Community School and other ground-breaking educational work Huggins has been a part of since her early days as a member of the Black Panther Party's New Haven Chapter. An opportunity for teachers, parents, and others to hear about their work towards radical educational change and how we can still make change for the future.
This event is free and open to all.
Through her activism and scholarship over many decades, Angela Davis has been deeply involved in movements for social justice around the world. Her work as an educator – both at the university level and in the larger public sphere – has always emphasized the importance of building communities of struggle for economic, racial, and gender justice. She is the author of ten books, including Women, Race and Class; Blues Women and Black Feminisms: Gertrude “Ma” Rainey, Bessie Smith and Billie Holiday; Are Prisons Obsolete?; The Meaning of Freedom and Other Difficult Dialogues; and most recently, Freedom is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine and the Foundations of a Movement. She draws upon her own experiences in the early seventies as a person who spent eighteen months in jail and on trial, after being placed on the FBI’s “Ten Most Wanted List.” Having helped to popularize the notion of a “prison industrial complex,” she now urges her audiences to think seriously about the future possibility of a world without carceral (prison-related) systems and to help forge a 21st century abolitionist movement.
Civil Rights Activist Dr. Angela Davis was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame that prides itself on celebrating the achievements of transcendent women throughout the course of American history. Angela Davis was recognized for both her courage and accomplishments, along with nine other 2019 inductees, which includes lawyer Sarah Deer, New York Congresswoman Louise Slaughter, Gloria Allred, Jane Fonda, and Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.
Davis' Education:
Davis, born January 26, 1944, was recognized for her tireless work in “civil rights and women’s rights, against the prison industrial complex and for international justice.” But in addition to showering the former Black Panther with praise, Twitter made it a point to remind everyone why Davis’ induction is long overdue: "Freedom fighter Angela Davis grew up in Birmingham when it was called Bombingham. This was due to the fact the Ku Klux Klan conducted a campaign of terror on Black people and frequently bombed people’s homes. There are estimates that close to 80 bombs were set off in Birmingham." Angela Davis lived next door to one of the four girls bombed at the 16th Street Baptist Church on Sunday, September 15, 1963. Four members of a local KKK chapter planted at least 15 sticks of dynamite attached to a timing device beneath the steps located on the east side of the church. The black middle class neighborhood in which Davis grew up was called “Dynamite Hill.” Amidst this violent backdrop, Davis became a part of the civil rights and social justice movements at a young age. Taking a queue from her mother’s activism and the communist organizers in her community, a teenaged Davis organized many interracial study groups that were frequently busted by the local police.
Influenced by her segregated upbringing in Birmingham, Alabama, Davis joined the Black Panthers, SNCC, and an all-black branch of the Communist Party as a young woman. She became a professor at UCLA, but fell out of favor with the administration due to her ties. Davis was charged with aiding the botched escape attempt of imprisoned black radical and Soledad Brother George Jackson (Davis had purchased several of the firearms Jackson used in the attack) and served roughly 18 months in prison before her acquittal in 1972. At 28 years old, Davis became the third woman in history to end up on the FBI’s Most Wanted list. The federal charge was “unlawful interstate flight” because she had left California to avoid prosecution of the wrongful kidnapping and murder charges. When Davis was finally caught on October 13, 1970, President Nixon congratulated the FBI on their “capture of the dangerous terrorist, Angela Davis.” The arrest at the Howard Johnson Motor Lodge in Midtown Manhattan set off the nationwide “Free Angela Davis” movement among activists and artists.
After spending time traveling and lecturing, Davis returned to the classroom as a professor and authored several books. Dr. Davis has supported Palestinian causes and this year, after an angry outcry, the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute had to embarrassingly reverse its decision to deny Angela Davis its prestigious Fred Shuttlesworth Human Rights award.
Dr. Angela Davis is a prominent political activist, author of 10 books, academic scholar, and author of numerous groundbreaking works. Well-known for her emphasis on the ways that justice is “indivisible,” Dr. Davis has spent a lifetime working on civil rights and women’s rights, against the prison industrial complex and for international justice. Dr. Davis’ teaching career has taken her to numerous college campuses across the United States, and she has also given lectures in Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, and South America. She spent 15 years at the University of California Santa Cruz where she is now Distinguished Professor Emerita of History of Consciousness (an interdisciplinary Ph.D. program) and of Feminist Studies. Dr. Davis’ works have emboldened generations of students to critically address and respond actively to contemporary issues of injustice. Her powerful voice remains instructive today.
Ericka Huggins is an educator, former Black Panther Party member, political prisoner, human rights activist and poet. For 35 years Ericka has lectured in the United States, and internationally on human rights, Restorative Justice and, the role of spiritual practice in sustaining activism and promoting social change. Ericka was a professor of Sociology and African American Studies in 2014 and 2015 at Merritt College, the home of the Black Panther Party. There she co-created and taught a course titled, “The Black Panther Party-Strategies for Organizing The People”. In 2016, in recognition of the 50 th Anniversary of the Black Panther Party, Ericka regularly travels to speak on campuses and in community about the importance of an inclusiEDUCATORS: FREE ZOOM EVENT with Dr. Angela Davis - Teaching as a Tool for Change: Angela Davis and Ericka Huggins (both former Black Panther Party members) in conversation; Wednesday, September 9; 4:00 PM EASTERN
Register for FREE at:
Please join for a conversation between Dr. Angela Davis and Ericka Huggins. Davis and Huggins will discuss the Oakland Community School and other ground-breaking educational work Huggins has been a part of since her early days as a member of the Black Panther Party's New Haven Chapter. An opportunity for teachers, parents, and others to hear about their work towards radical educational change and how we can still make change for the future.
This event is free and open to all.
Through her activism and scholarship over many decades, Angela Davis has been deeply involved in movements for social justice around the world. Her work as an educator – both at the university level and in the larger public sphere – has always emphasized the importance of building communities of struggle for economic, racial, and gender justice. She is the author of ten books, including Women, Race and Class; Blues Women and Black Feminisms: Gertrude “Ma” Rainey, Bessie Smith and Billie Holiday; Are Prisons Obsolete?; The Meaning of Freedom and Other Difficult Dialogues; and most recently, Freedom is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine and the Foundations of a Movement. She draws upon her own experiences in the early seventies as a person who spent eighteen months in jail and on trial, after being placed on the FBI’s “Ten Most Wanted List.” Having helped to popularize the notion of a “prison industrial complex,” she now urges her audiences to think seriously about the future possibility of a world without carceral (prison-related) systems and to help forge a 21st century abolitionist movement.
Civil Rights Activist Dr. Angela Davis was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame that prides itself on celebrating the achievements of transcendent women throughout the course of American history. Angela Davis was recognized for both her courage and accomplishments, along with nine other 2019 inductees, which includes lawyer Sarah Deer, New York Congresswoman Louise Slaughter, Gloria Allred, Jane Fonda, and Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.
Davis' Education:
Davis, born January 26, 1944, was recognized for her tireless work in “civil rights and women’s rights, against the prison industrial complex and for international justice.” But in addition to showering the former Black Panther with praise, Twitter made it a point to remind everyone why Davis’ induction is long overdue: "Freedom fighter Angela Davis grew up in Birmingham when it was called Bombingham. This was due to the fact the Ku Klux Klan conducted a campaign of terror on Black people and frequently bombed people’s homes. There are estimates that close to 80 bombs were set off in Birmingham." Angela Davis lived next door to one of the four girls bombed at the 16th Street Baptist Church on Sunday, September 15, 1963. Four members of a local KKK chapter planted at least 15 sticks of dynamite attached to a timing device beneath the steps located on the east side of the church. The black middle class neighborhood in which Davis grew up was called “Dynamite Hill.” Amidst this violent backdrop, Davis became a part of the civil rights and social justice movements at a young age. Taking a queue from her mother’s activism and the communist organizers in her community, a teenaged Davis organized many interracial study groups that were frequently busted by the local police.
Influenced by her segregated upbringing in Birmingham, Alabama, Davis joined the Black Panthers, SNCC, and an all-black branch of the Communist Party as a young woman. She became a professor at UCLA, but fell out of favor with the administration due to her ties. Davis was charged with aiding the botched escape attempt of imprisoned black radical and Soledad Brother George Jackson (Davis had purchased several of the firearms Jackson used in the attack) and served roughly 18 months in prison before her acquittal in 1972. At 28 years old, Davis became the third woman in history to end up on the FBI’s Most Wanted list. The federal charge was “unlawful interstate flight” because she had left California to avoid prosecution of the wrongful kidnapping and murder charges. When Davis was finally caught on October 13, 1970, President Nixon congratulated the FBI on their “capture of the dangerous terrorist, Angela Davis.” The arrest at the Howard Johnson Motor Lodge in Midtown Manhattan set off the nationwide “Free Angela Davis” movement among activists and artists.
After spending time traveling and lecturing, Davis returned to the classroom as a professor and authored several books. Dr. Davis has supported Palestinian causes and this year, after an angry outcry, the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute had to embarrassingly reverse its decision to deny Angela Davis its prestigious Fred Shuttlesworth Human Rights award.
Dr. Angela Davis is a prominent political activist, author of 10 books, academic scholar, and author of numerous groundbreaking works. Well-known for her emphasis on the ways that justice is “indivisible,” Dr. Davis has spent a lifetime working on civil rights and women’s rights, against the prison industrial complex and for international justice. Dr. Davis’ teaching career has taken her to numerous college campuses across the United States, and she has also given lectures in Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, and South America. She spent 15 years at the University of California Santa Cruz where she is now Distinguished Professor Emerita of History of Consciousness (an interdisciplinary Ph.D. program) and of Feminist Studies. Dr. Davis’ works have emboldened generations of students to critically address and respond actively to contemporary issues of injustice. Her powerful voice remains instructive today.
Ericka Huggins is an educator, former Black Panther Party member, political prisoner, human rights activist and poet. For 35 years Ericka has lectured in the United States, and internationally on human rights, Restorative Justice and, the role of spiritual practice in sustaining activism and promoting social change. Ericka was a professor of Sociology and African American Studies in 2014 and 2015 at Merritt College, the home of the Black Panther Party. There she co-created and taught a course titled, “The Black Panther Party-Strategies for Organizing The People”. In 2016, in recognition of the 50 th Anniversary of the Black Panther Party, Ericka regularly travels to speak on campuses and in community about the importance of an inclusive
grassroots movement that honors the voices of youth.
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