A review by wellreadsinger
Angela Davis: An Autobiography by Angela Y. Davis

informative reflective

5.0

This autobiography is not like most as it is not only about the author. In fact, most of it is about other people, a collective of people that have been integral to her being able to do the work she does. The work of fighting oppression is constant. It is work that will require your empathy and your rage, but those emotions mean nothing if they don’t manifest into action. Little did I know that Davis would give me the keys for channeling my passion for it to serve a bigger purpose. 

That rage James Baldwin speaks of is one that I have been familiar with for some time now, but the fierceness has intensified over the last few months. I have been asking myself what do I do with it? Where is it supposed to go? Angela Davis understands that rage more than anyone should have to, but her relaying her knowledge in this book is what I had been needing. Davis reminds us that the emotions we experience as a community when faced with the horrors of our oppression are useless on their own, but powerful within organized struggle. 

Understanding intersectionality allows one to see that when Angela was found not guilty on all counts it was not an isolated victory for her. It was a victory for Franklin and Kendra Alexander, for Leo, Howard, Margaret, Fania. It was a victory for the Soledad Defense Committee, for the National United Committee to Free Angela Davis. Any defeat against our oppressors and these systems is a resounding reminder that collective liberation is attainable and (with work) imminent. Yes, the first step is to be moved by bearing witness to another’s struggle, but pure emotion will lead you nowhere but in a circle. 

Black women like Angela, Assata, and Afeni have been intrinsic in my evolution of thinking. Because of women like them I understand my history and this country’s history beyond what any school textbook deemed worthy of acknowledging. I now let my passion lead me towards liberation instead of a sporadic cycle of individual work. Freedom is undoubtedly a constant struggle, but when our struggles intersect the work does not feel as arduous when we come together.