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treehugginpam's review against another edition
4.0
Amazing first-hand account of a highly intelligent feminist black-rights activist during the civil rights movement. Loved it.
gkim9779's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Really interesting account of angela Davis' life and work
grace_machine's review against another edition
4.0
Deeply impressed with how unindividual this is, constantly underlining the number of people and immense labor involved in her case, invoking nameless prisoners, chance encounters, and endless meetings and rallies. Davis’s prose is unadorned, unpretentious, and so has a real emotive power of accounting. The back of books quotes indulge the celebrity surrounding Davis, but she resists those platitudes at every turn. It seems to me that we still haven’t really heard her.
unit's review against another edition
2.0
A curiously flat and unrevealing biography that often lapses into self-righteous sneering. Davis sees the world with a repellent lack of nuance: you are either on her side, in which case you can do no wrong (amply demonstrated by her sunny account of forced labour in Communist Cuba), or an Enemy, and therefore fair game.
Her detachment reaches shocking extremes in her complete lack of empathy for the hostages slaughtered by the “beautiful” Jackson brothers. Her use of the passive voice is particularly objectionable here: “The judge, a shotgun taped to his neck.” Who was holding the shotgun? Who taped it to his neck? Her friend Jonathan Jackson, whose doomed attempt to free his psychopathic brother is seen by Davis as a tragedy to be “avenged”.
Upon hearing the news of George Jackson’s death – shot during an escape attempt that left five hostages (three guards and two prisoners) dead in his cell having been strangled, shot, and stabbed – her first thought is again “vengeance”. She extols “George’s example of courage in the face of the spectre of summary execution.” His summary execution of the hostages goes unmentioned.
The dehumanising and othering of her enemies blights the book. It’s impossible not to roll your eyes at lines like, "Because of the rules by which prisons survive, the only wellspring of passion left to their administrators is the proximity of pain and death."
As a portrait of a personality, the book is a failure. Angela Davis remains a shadow throughout, defined only by her elisions and evasions. She succeeds admirably, however, in showing the narrowness of a life lived in blinkers.
Her detachment reaches shocking extremes in her complete lack of empathy for the hostages slaughtered by the “beautiful” Jackson brothers. Her use of the passive voice is particularly objectionable here: “The judge, a shotgun taped to his neck.” Who was holding the shotgun? Who taped it to his neck? Her friend Jonathan Jackson, whose doomed attempt to free his psychopathic brother is seen by Davis as a tragedy to be “avenged”.
Upon hearing the news of George Jackson’s death – shot during an escape attempt that left five hostages (three guards and two prisoners) dead in his cell having been strangled, shot, and stabbed – her first thought is again “vengeance”. She extols “George’s example of courage in the face of the spectre of summary execution.” His summary execution of the hostages goes unmentioned.
The dehumanising and othering of her enemies blights the book. It’s impossible not to roll your eyes at lines like, "Because of the rules by which prisons survive, the only wellspring of passion left to their administrators is the proximity of pain and death."
As a portrait of a personality, the book is a failure. Angela Davis remains a shadow throughout, defined only by her elisions and evasions. She succeeds admirably, however, in showing the narrowness of a life lived in blinkers.
burstona's review against another edition
5.0
A really profound and insightful autobiography detailing Davis's childhood up to her infamous trial. What a treat to have such deep insights into the ins and outs of the Civil Rights movements. I feel so grateful that Davis survived the horrors of the racism in order to tell this story and continue being a proponent for social change.
courtthebookgirl's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
As previously mentioned, I’m no longer rating biographies and autobiographies, as that feels like I am trying to quantify a person’s experience and it doesn’t sit well with me.
I’ve read many of Davis’ other books and texts, and when I realized I hadn’t read this autobiography, I jumped at the chance to listen to it on audio with a Kindle companion. The audio is narrated by Davis herself, and this is the third book I’ve read that she’s narrated. Her voice is powerful and soothing at the same time, and I liked hearing her story in her words.
Having long been a student of Davis’ work, I knew most of her backstory so this wasn’t surprising so much as enlightening. A couple of years ago, I read 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐎𝐛𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞 and this has some of the same concepts/thoughts within it. I learn something new from Davis every time I listen to her. She’s the original activist, scholar, real deal.
A must read for anyone wishing to learn more about Angela Davis.
I’ve read many of Davis’ other books and texts, and when I realized I hadn’t read this autobiography, I jumped at the chance to listen to it on audio with a Kindle companion. The audio is narrated by Davis herself, and this is the third book I’ve read that she’s narrated. Her voice is powerful and soothing at the same time, and I liked hearing her story in her words.
Having long been a student of Davis’ work, I knew most of her backstory so this wasn’t surprising so much as enlightening. A couple of years ago, I read 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐎𝐛𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞 and this has some of the same concepts/thoughts within it. I learn something new from Davis every time I listen to her. She’s the original activist, scholar, real deal.
A must read for anyone wishing to learn more about Angela Davis.