Author and activist Angela Davis to speak during annual MLK Celebration
Angela Davis
Randolph College’s annual celebration honoring Martin Luther King, Jr., will feature a conversation with Angela Davis.
The event, which will be held at 5 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 22, in Smith Hall Theatre, is free and open to the public.
Through her activism and scholarship over many decades, Davis has been deeply involved in movements for social justice around the world. Her work as an educator—both at the university level and in the larger public sphere—has always emphasized the importance of building communities of struggle for economic, racial, and gender justice.
She is the author of 11 books, including Abolition.Feminism.Now, co-authored with Gina Dent, Erica Meiners, and Beth Richie and a new edition of her Autobiography, which was released in 2022 (the 1974 original was edited by Toni Morrison).
Having helped to popularize the notion of a “prison industrial complex,” she now urges her audiences to think seriously about the future possibility of a world without carceral systems and to help forge a 21st century abolitionist movement.
Wornie Reed, a professor of sociology and Africana studies at Virginia Tech and the director of its Race and Social Policy Research Center, will lead the conversation with Davis, followed by a Q&A with the audience.
“We are pleased to welcome Angela Davis as our Martin Luther King, Jr. speaker in January,” said President Sue Ott Rowlands. “One of the things this College has always done well is provide our students and community members with a broad range of perspectives. In order to teach our students to think critically and to develop their own opinions and viewpoints, we believe they must be exposed to different points of view and experiences. Dr. Davis is a prominent political activist, scholar, and author, who has made it her mission to share her life story and challenge audiences to join the struggle for racial, economic, and gender justice. She is an important figure in American history who will bring unique and valuable insight to our students as we honor Martin Luther King, Jr.”
