By Doug
Tattershall
Today, Davis remains an
advocate of prison abolition and is critical of racism in the criminal justice system.
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Oct.
18, 1999 – (Lexington, Ky.) – Political
activist, author and one-time FBI fugitive Angela Davis will speak at 8 p.m. Friday, Nov.
5, at the University of Kentucky Singletary Center for the Arts. Davis is a professor in
the History of Consciousness Department at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She
is the author of five books, including two published last year: "Blues Legacies and
Black Feminism: Gertrude ‘Ma’ Rainey, Bessie Smith and Billie Holiday" and
"The Angela Y. Davis Reader."
Davis first received national attention in 1969 when she was removed from her teaching
position in the UCLA Philosophy Department because of her membership in the Communist
Party.
An advocate for black prisoners, she was accused in 1970 of supplying the guns used in
a failed attempt to free two Soledad Prison inmates while they were appearing in court, an
attempt that left four dead, including a judge and the inmates themselves. Davis was
placed on the FBI’s Most Wanted List while she was in hiding after the incident. She
was acquitted of kidnapping, murder and conspiracy in 1972.
Today, Davis remains an advocate of prison abolition and is critical of racism in the
criminal justice system.
"An Evening with Angela Davis" is sponsored by the UK
Department of English and the Women’s Studies Program.
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