The Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice hosts the 10th annual social justice speaker, Angela Davis, world-renowned author, feminist and civil rights activist.
The series is presented each year to bring students’ attention to social issues from an activist’s point of view.
Davis began her lecture by discussing her life-changing legal case from 1970 and its contribution to her autobiography.
“The autobiography begins as I’m preparing to go underground. Jonathan Jackson had just been killed, and he had weapons that were registered in my name,” said Davis. “The reason I had purchased the guns was because I had received many threats as a result of getting fired by the board of regents at [the University of California, Los Angeles] because I was a member of the communist party.”
Davis claims it was the guards of the courthouse who were responsible for the deaths that took place.
Because of her case, Davis’ name was put on the FBI’s top ten most wanted list. After spending some time in hiding, she was eventually found and incarcerated in New York.
“The forces of the state were so arrayed against those of us who were simply trying to struggle for a better world: a world without racism, a world without economic justice, a world without political repression,” said Davis.
Davis continued to speak about the prison industrial system, a phrase that she personally helped to popularize. This refers to the way that companies will benefit from the growth of prisons.
Every day, prisoners use hair brushes, soap and they eat three times a day. These are only a few of the things companies can benefit from. Inmates can also work for companies, making only pennies on the dollar.
Davis equals modern prisons with slavery and believes that we should be rid of them and find alternate means of dealing with crime.
“We have to take seriously the issue of developing alternative strategies to address harm. Strategies that do not require that one calls the police,” said Davis. “There are restorative justice strategies that have been taken up in schools and communities. For example, healing circles that bring together the person who perpetrated the harm and the person who was the target of the harm.”
She believes if people were taken more seriously and their needs were met with regards to mental and physical healthcare and unemployment, people would be less inclined to commit crimes in the first place.
“I don’t think it’s leaders that we need, I think we need organizers. We need people who are committed to bringing people together,” said Davis.
She believes that people committed to coming together is the first step in taking a stand.
For more information on the Social Justice series, contact the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice at 985-549-2110.