Angela Davis, a political and women’s activist, was one of the most renowned
figures of the 1960s counterculture and Civil Rights Movement.
Davis will be educating students on the state of the U.S. justice system on
Wednesday, Nov. 5. 
Courtesy of Public Information

 

Internationally-acclaimed author, activist and feminist Angela Davis, who has been on the FBI’s Most Wanted List, will speak at the 10th Annual Social Justice Speaker Series on controversial issues that have plagued America in recent years. 

The Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice invited Davis to speak on Nov. 5 at 2 p.m. in the Student Union Ballroom. The Southeastern Sociological Organization is co-sponsoring the event, which is free and open to the public.

“She is an iconic figure of the civil rights movements and black power movement,” said associate professor of sociology, Dr. David Burley. “Today’s generation doesn’t really know who she is and what she’s done, so we want to expose our student community to [her and] issues she addresses in her work.”

According to history.com, Davis was in connection to a shootout and later arrested. However, all charges were dropped in 1972. 

The social justice issues she is most involved with include gender, race, domestic violence and the prison system. She has spoken all over the world and written nine books. 

Davis will speak on racial injustice issues in the recent Ferguson case and the “prison-industrial complex,” a term that she has helped to develop and popularize. This complex refers to how the amount of inmates has greatly increased due to how companies profit off of prison-use as an industry rather than a means of keeping the peace. 

“[Her point is that] overall, the nation has a tendency to dedicate more resources towards prisons than to education,” said Burley. “We should be investing heavily in education instead of in prisons. This is a big issue especially in our state where we have more people in prison in Louisiana per capita over any other state.”

Burley also said that SGA, Arts & Lectures and the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences donated generously in order to support this event. He hopes the speaker will influence students to act on issues they are passionate about. 

“We always hope to inspire our student community into working towards greater social justice and get together with others of like minds and make the world a better place,” said Burley. “We hope it will inspire them to pursue careers in these areas.” 

In addition to the student community, other activists and people of interest from other universities are expected to attend.

For additional information, contact David Burley via email at [email protected] or the department of sociology and criminal justice at 985-549-2110.