June 08, 2020

From the Archives: Angela Davis - A Call to Action

On the night of October 10th, 1974, political activist, Angela Davis spoke to a packed audience at the Portland State University auditorium. As reported for the Lewis & Clark College Pioneer Log newspaper by managing editor Rob Rowe ’77, in attendance was a mix of “Old grey radicals, middle-aged revoltationaries, and dissent college students.” Davis, a well known activist, author, and academic, has spoken and taught on the subjects of class, feminism, and the U.S. prison system and was actively engaged with lefitis causes including the Black Panther Party, the Communist Party, and Marxist Feminism.
 

On the night of October 10th, 1974, political activist, Angela Davis spoke to a packed audience at the Portland State University auditorium. As reported for the Lewis & Clark College Pioneer Log newspaper by managing editor Rob Rowe ’77, in attendance was a mix of “Old grey radicals, middle-aged revoltationaries, and dissent college students.” Davis, a well known activist, author, and academic, has spoken and taught on the subjects of class, feminism, and the U.S. prison system and was actively engaged with lefitis causes including the Black Panther Party, the Communist Party, and Marxist Feminism. Davis, who at one time was both on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted list (1970) and Time magazine Woman of the Year (1971), presented on topics from George Jackson, Nelson Rockefeller, J. Edgar Hoover, President Gerald Ford, and President Richard Nixon’s accusation and arrest of Davis for terrorism.

In dialog with the audience Davis argued that the system is “poised against black people, Chicanos, Indians, and working whites” declaring “If you don’t defend the sisters and brothers all over the country who are suffering for us, then there’s not going to be any hope. For any of us.”

Davis spoke several times at Lewis & Clark, including notable lectures in 1981, on “Education and the Struggle Against Racism,” in 1984 on “Equality and Quality: Obtainable Goals in the U.S. Educational System,” and as a keynote speaker at the 2001 Gender Studies Symposium.

You can read articles from the Pioneer Log newspaper on these three Angela Davis events from the links below.

October 10, 1974, pg. 3.
http://digitalcollections.lclark.edu/items/show/33354

January 22, 1981, pg. 1.
http://digitalcollections.lclark.edu/items/show/33197

February 23, 1984, pg. 1.
http://digitalcollections.lclark.edu/items/show/33116