By Sean Olson, University Relations
Angela Davis will speak at UNCG Jan. 17.
Angela Davis, one of the biggest names in black feminism, will be the Martin Luther King Day speaker at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Davis, 61, will deliver a speech entitled “Martin Luther King, Civil Rights and Human Rights: Future Trajectories” at 7 p.m. Jan. 17 in Aycock Auditorium as part of the university’s 2006 Martin Luther King Jr. birthday observance. The event is free and open to the public.
The media will have the opportunity to speak with Davis after the event at an invitation-only reception.
“The significance of Angela Davis to Martin Luther King’s legacy is the fact that she challenged and continues to challenge social inequality in our society. I am honored to her as keynote speaker for the Office of Multicultural Affairs Martin Luther King Celebration Program. ,” said Audrey Daniel, director of the office.
Davis is currently a tenured professor in the History of Consciousness Department at the University of California at Santa Cruz, but during the 1960s and 1970s, she was among a group of passionate and radical civil rights advocates. She was a member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), the Black Panther Party and the Communist Party. In the early 1970s, she became the third woman ever to appear on the FBI’s most wanted list for her alleged involvement in a prison escape. Her most recent works have concentrated on the abolition of the prison system, which she calls “the prison industrial complex.”
In addition, she has been honored on multiple occasions for her activism. In 1979, she was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize and named an honorary professor of Moscow State University by the Soviet Union. Following her arrest and her 16-month incarceration, a massive “Free Angela Davis” campaign was organized. John Lennon and Yoko Ono wrote “Angela” for Davis while the Rolling Stones released “Sweet Black Angel,” a song that chronicled her legal problems and advocated for her release. She was acquitted in 1972.
Following Davis’ remarks, the Office of Multicultural Affairs will present the MLK Service Award to a UNCG student. The award recognizes students, faculty and staff for their community activities and involvement that embody King’s service to humanity.
For more information on this even, contact the Office of Multicultural Affairs at 336-334-5090.
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