A student who became an organizer
Angela Davis joined communist politics with work as a writer, teacher and organizer. Born in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1944, she grew up under segregation. She later studied French at Brandeis University , graduating in 1965. Philosophy became another major interest through her work with Herbert Marcuse . After studying in Frankfurt, she returned to America in 1967 to continue with Marcuse at UC San Diego . (p.xi) [1] (opening biography) [2]
Davis joined academic work to political action. Her later arguments linked capitalism with racism, the treatment of women and the prison system. In 2005, after leaving the Communist Party, she still called herself a communist. She argued that a socialist future remained necessary because capitalism depended on human exploitation. (“Politics and Prisons,” answer beginning “Although I am no longer a member”) [3]
More than one source of radicalism
Marcuse was an important teacher, but Davis's politics had other roots. She remembered her mother's activism and joined the Communist youth group Advance while in high school. She also recalled the impact of hearing Malcolm X at Brandeis. Later, she credited George Jackson with pushing her to study the prison system more deeply. These were distinct routes into her politics. (“Mother's Activism,” “Friends: Bettina Aptheker,” “Historic Events: Birmingham Church Bombing”) [4] (“Resistance, Language, and Law,” opening answer) [3]