Last night my class went to see Angela Davis speak at Reed College as part of Reed’s observation/celebration of Black History Month. Author of one of the books we chose to read next quarter, Angela Davis is a wonder of a woman, and as explained on the Reed website:

Angela Davis is an internationally known writer, scholar, and activist who has been deeply involved in the struggle for economic, racial, and gender equality in the United States. Davis’ teaching career has taken her to San Francisco State University, Mills College, and UC Berkeley. She has also taught at UCLA, Vassar, the Claremont Colleges, and Stanford University. She has spent the last 15 years at UC Santa Cruz where she is professor of the History of Consciousness, an interdisciplinary Ph.D program, and professor of Feminist Studies. Davis is the author of eight books and has lectured throughout the United States as well as in Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, and South America. In recent years, her work has focused on the range of social problems associated with incarceration and the generalized criminalization of those communities that are most affected by poverty and racial discrimination. She draws upon her own experiences in the early ’70s, when she spent 18 months in jail and on trial after being placed on the FBI’s “Ten Most Wanted List.” She has conducted extensive research on numerous issues related to race, gender, and imprisonment. Her most recent books are Abolition Democracy: Beyond Prisons, Torture, and Empire (Seven Stories Press, 2005) and Are Prisons Obsolete? (Seven Stories Press, 2003). She is now completing a book on prisons and American history.

Personally, I have read a handful of her books and been deeply inspired by her body of work. Seeing this phenonomenal woman in real life was an experience I’m still trying to process. I sprained my ankle on Friday, and walking on it all weekend and then shoving myself into an awkward stairwell seat in order to see Angela Davis didn’t exactly do much for me…however, it was so worth it. My mind is abuzz with all the ideas I took away from last night. I can’t wait to get to class on Tuesday. Even if I have to hobble.