Angela Davis’ Hidden Course In Resisting Racism

angela davis smiling with fist under chin sitting down
Adé Hennis
January 23, 2025

In the summer of 1969, Angela Y. Davis was eager to begin her career as a UCLA philosophy professor. But at California Governor Ronald Reagan’s insistence, the board of regents fired Davis in September. But Davis wasn’t going just to back down.

Davis appealed her firing, and the California Supreme Court ruled in her favor. However, the board of regents fired her again in 1970, for using “inflammatory language” in her speeches at protests. Reagan vowed she’d never teach in the University of California system again, a vow he thought he could keep.

Davis was implicated in a failed hostage attempt to secure the freedom of the Soledad Brothers in 1970, and she stood trial for attempted murder. Although she was acquitted, Davis believed that Reagan wanted her dead.

In 1975, to Reagan's dismay, Davis was once again a professor in California. She’d go on to continue her activism, fighting for prison reform across the country and running for vice president in 1980.

Angela Davis wasn’t a threat to Reagan because she was a professor; she threatened to uplift defiance against racism. Having our voices heard is vital because we can all teach racism a valuable lesson about resistance. Our words have power. Why else do they try to silence us?

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