Professor Angela Y. Davis, renowned activist and Birmingham native, is the keynote speaker of the Metro Birmingham Branch NAACP’s 10th Annual Women History Celebration, one of the commemorative events honoring the 50th Anniversary of the 1963 Birmingham Civil Rights Movement.
The celebration salutes the women of the Movement and their unparalleled community service to the cause of advancement for the poor and oppressed. The event is free and open to the public.
Davis is professor emerita at the University of California and author of eight books, including The Meaning of Freedom: And Other Difficult Dialogues that was released last year. She is a much sought-after public speaker and is known internationally as an advocate for social justice.
“Angela Y. Davis is a Birmingham product, a distinguished author, professor and recognized voice for equality,” said Hezekiah Jackson IV, President Metro Birmingham Branch NAACP. “Her presence in Birmingham, Alabama, as we commemorate our 50-year quest for equality and economic empowerment, is both symbolic and historic, for she is a true piece of the history we celebrate.”
Davis spent her childhood in part of Birmingham’s Smithfield Community that became known as “Dynamite Hill” because of the racially-motivated bombings of homes owned by blacks who began moving into the all-white neighborhood in the ‘50s and ‘60s.
Sporting a large afro as a young woman, Davis became an iconic but controversial national symbol of African American resistance to racial and political oppression during the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. The FBI placed her on its “Most Wanted List” of top ten fugitives for her alleged role in heinous crimes. She successfully fought the charges and eventually cleared her name of the false allegations.
As a civil and human rights activist, Davis committed her academic career and life’s work to helping groups and individuals worldwide who experience racial and social injustice in courts and prison systems.
A feature film about her life as an iconic revolutionary and activist, Free Angela and All Political Prisoners, is set for release in theaters nationwide on April 5, 2013.
The Details
What: The Metro Birmingham’s 10th Annual Women’s History Celebration
Who: Featured Keynote Speaker Professor Angela Y. Davis, International Civil and Human Rights Activist
When: Saturday, March 30, 2013, at 7 p.m.
Where: Sixth Avenue Baptist Church
1101 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive SW
Birmingham, Alabama 35211
Book Signing – Prof. Davis will be signing copies of her latest book, The Meaning of Freedom And Other Difficult Dialogues, at a special reception from 5 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. in the church’s fellowship hall.
