In 1970, Angela Davis became only the third woman to appear on the FBI's most wanted list.
Born on January 26, 1944, in Birmingham, Alabama, Davis would grow up in a time of political and racial unrest. Her parents were both teachers who had many Communist friends, who would ultimately have great influence on Angela's future. She did, in fact, join a Communist youth group.
In 1960, She spent two years in Germany at the Frankfort School under the acclaimed teacher Theodor Adorno. In 1963 and 1964, she studied at the University of Paris, before returning to the United States and attending Brandeis University. After a return to Germany for graduate research, she enrolled at the University of California, San Diego where she received her Master's Degree. It was here that she began to keenly study the Communist Party.
In 1968, Angela became a member of the Communist party, as well as the Black Panthers. It was these associations that eventually resulted in her dismissal from her position as Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, Los Angeles.
It was here in 1970, that Davis appeared on the FBI's most wanted list. She was charged with conspiracy to free George Jackson with a shootout in front of a courthouse in California. Davis was also accused of arming prisoners in the Marin County courthouse with guns that were registered in her name. Finally, Davis was captured in a Greenwich Village hotel and charged with murder and kidnapping. She ultimately spent sixteen months behind bars, before being acquitted on all charges.
Released from prison in 1971, Davis published essays entitled If They Come in the Morning: Voices of Resistance. These essays detailed her beliefs and thoughts on racial oppression in the United States as well as Communist theories. She later wrote Angela Davis: An Autobiography. In 1980, she ran for Vice President of the United States on the Communist party ticket.
Angela Davis is now a tenured professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz and spends much of her time on the speaker circuit.
Other works by Ms. Davis are:
Source: Voices From the Gaps, Women Writers of Color http://voices.cla.umn.edu/authors/AngelaDavis.html