Existing comment:
Angela Davis, born 1944
The scholar, educator, and political activist Angela Davis was the nation's most iconic revolutionary for a generation. Davis taught philosophy at UCLA as the Black Power movement intensified. She owned the guns used in an infamous courtroom shoot-out meant to liberate the Black Panther George Jackson. This 1970 incident left four people dead, and Davis became a fugitive, appearing on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List. Her two-year incarceration led to a "Free Angela" campaign, and her eventual trial and acquittal made international headlines. In 1972 John Lennon recorded "Angela" -- referring to Davis as a political prisoner and "people teacher" -- while the Rolling Stones dedicated "Sweet Black Angel" to her. In Blues Legacies and Black Feminism (1999), she located the origins of black feminist empowerment in the songs of Bessie Smith and Billie Holiday. Her Afro has always been a symbol of black pride and, as shown here, an example of cultural politics through style.
Stephen Shames, 1969 |