Social activist Angela Davis turned Ruby Diamond Concert Hall into a political science classroom Tuesday night as she reminded her captive, overflow audience that the revolution isn't over yet.
Challenges are present right here in Florida.
Sponsored by FSU’s Golden Tribe Lecture Series and the Student Government Association, the event was part of the university’s Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Week events.
The former 60s radical opened with a reference to the theme of this week’s activities, “Challenging Norms Unapologetically.”
“I can definitely relate to that,” she said, bringing her first round of applause from a multi-racial, multi-ethnic audience of mostly young women.
Her message resonated with Kayla Francis, an 18-year-old freshman from Fort Lauderdale. She said Davis’ appearance has been on her calendar for two weeks.
“I’ve always been passionate about social justice and Angela Davis is the queen of the civil rights movement," Francis said. "I had to come.”
Davis challenged President Trump’s irreverence toward Monday’s King holiday.
“This is the first Martin Luther King holiday since the current president took office,” she said. “Instead of a day of service, he played golf."
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She then told the crowd, “Here in Florida, we must stand up for Haiti,” referring to news reports of Trump’s reported derogatory comments on immigration policy regarding Haiti and African countries.
“Here in Florida and around the country and the world, it is incumbent upon us to understand the historical accomplishments of Haiti,” said Davis.
“If Haiti is the most impoverished country in the world, there is a reason for that,” Davis, a distinguished professor emerita at University of California, Santa Cruz.
In 1969 she lost her teaching position at UCLA after coming under fire from Gov. Ronald Reagan over her vocal support of communism and the Black Panthers. She sued and won back her job, but left afterward.
In 1970, she was jailed for 18 months on weapons charges following a courthouse shooting in California during the trial of George Jackson, one of three inmates known as the Soledad Brothers, who were accused of killing a prison guard. She was later acquitted.
Davis, whose focus in recent years has been on abolishing America’s prison system, implored the crowd to pay attention to plans by inmates in some Florida state prisons to strike in protest of an industry whose origin is rooted in post-slavery practices.
She was referring to threats by inmates in a handful of Department of Corrections prisons to strike in favor of fair payment for labor they provide inside the walls, a reduction in canteen prices and reinstituting a fair parole system for inmates serving lengthy sentences.
“What prisoners want is very simple: an end to price gouging on commissary items and a return of a real parole process,” she said. “It’s really a labor strike.”
Davis is a founding member of Critical Resistance, a national organization that supports dismantling America's prison industrial complex. Her 2003 book, “Are Prisons Obsolete?” often is noted by supporters of prison reform.
“The system today is more grounded in the institution of slavery,” she said, evoking applause from the audience. “That is why it is so important to pay attention. We are only now addressing issues that should have been addressed immediately in the aftermath of slavery.”
Throughout her address, Davis urged women to continue to be at the forefront of challenging injustices.
“When the women rise up, the entire world rises with them,” she said, to loud applause.
She pointed to the Women’s March held last year in Washington, D.C., and in other cities as evidence of the power of women united.
“The Women’s March gave us hope,” said Davis, who delivered the keynote address in Washington.
Coming full circle to her audience of mostly college students who formed an endless line outside before doors to the concert hall opened, the 73-year-old Davis said, “What’s exciting about this is the way young people have decided they aren’t going to take it anymore. Revolutions are always made by young people.”
Contact senior writer Byron Dobson at bdobson@tallahassee.com or on Twitter @byrondobson.