Angela Davis is a prominent activist, scholar, and author, known for her work in the areas of [[civil rights]], [[feminism]], prison abolition, and socialism. Davis was born on January 26, 1944, in Birmingham, Alabama. Raised in a neighborhood known as "Dynamite Hill" due to the frequent bombings by the [[Ku Klux Klan (KKK)]], she experienced racial [[prejudice]] and [[segregation]] from an early age. ## Young, gifted and Black Davis attended high school in New York City as part of an American Friends Service Committee program that sought to provide educational opportunities for gifted children from racially-segregated schools. She then went on to Brandeis University, where she studied philosophy under Herbert Marcuse. Davis spent a year studying at the Sorbonne in Paris and later completed her master's degree at the University of California, San Diego in 1968. As a scholar, she taught philosophy, first at the University of California, Los Angeles. However, her membership in the Communist Party led to her dismissal, although she was later reinstated. Davis became heavily involved in the [[civil rights]] movement and joined the Black Panther Party and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). However, she is probably most famous for her association with the Communist Party USA and her advocacy for prisoners' rights. In 1970, Davis was arrested and charged with murder, kidnapping, and conspiracy in connection with an armed takeover of a California courtroom. The event ended in the deaths of four people. She was held in jail for about 16 months before being acquitted in 1972. This event led to an international "Free Angela" campaign that demanded her release, turning Davis into a symbol of political repression and resistance. ## Social justice warrior After her acquittal, Davis travelled internationally, advocating for [[social justice]]. She continued her academic work, returning to teaching and writing, and she remained a prominent activist, particularly focusing on prison reform. Davis ran for Vice President of the United States on the Communist Party ticket in 1980 and 1984. Later, she left the Communist Party and helped to form the Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism, which broke away from the party. Throughout her career, Davis has authored several books. These include "Women, Race, & Class" and "Are Prisons Obsolete?", in which she puts forth the argument for the abolition of the prison system. Today, Davis is a Distinguished Professor Emerita at the University of California, Santa Cruz, in the History of Consciousness and Feminist Studies departments. She continues to lecture and write on a variety of issues concerning race, gender, and imprisonment. She remains a powerful voice in discussions of social justice and racial equality.