Angela Davis on just how far we haven't come

The variety of faces peering up at Angela Davis as she takes the stage Thursday morning in the Strafford Room of the Memorial Union Building attests to how far society has come since she became a political and social activist in the 1970s. Members of the packed audience range in gender, age, ethnicity, and, most notably, race. After a twenty-one year stint, Davis returns to the University of New Hampshire to deliver the annual MLK Commemorative Address. Entitled Education or Incarceration: The Future of Democracy, her speech focuses on the abolition of the prison system in the United States and touches on other contemporary racial issues. The main topic of today is pinpointing exactly how far the nation has come with the ever present controversy of race.

In response to this question, Davis answers in a way a politician might by rewording the question to fit her answer.

“I would rephrase the question to: how far have we come to make a society where social justice prevails … We’ve come a long way and haven’t come far at all.”

This contradictory response set the tone for the remainder of the conversation. While Davis acknowledges the changes that have transpired over the past couple of decades, she is quick to remind us that there is still much to be done.

Growing up in Alabama during the 60s, Davis is no stranger to racism. She recalls returning to her childhood city as an adult and being surprised by all of the places she’d never seen before due to the segregation of the past. While separate water fountains, restaurants, and schools have long since disappeared, Davis now awaits economic equality.

Prison abolishment remains her primary campaign. Not only has Davis done time behind bars herself, but she also appeared on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted Fugitives List in 1970, making her somewhat of an authority on the subject. Davis argues that “to put people in prison means we are willing to accept the horrors of the world.” In other words, rather than figuring out what drives people to do such horrible things, it’s easier to toss them in jail. Davis explained that there are more people behind bars in the United States than ever, a statistic that doesn’t reflect highly upon the nation that prides itself on its institution of democracy.

Yet, how should the United States deal with crime if prisons are abolished? How are criminals to be punished? To this, Davis simply asks the audience to consider how many people that have committed crimes are behind bars versus those who are not.

“Who are the ones that end up going to prison?” she questions. “The ones who are most subject to surveillance.”

Although Davis doesn’t supply a completed game plan with strategies to abolish prisons, she does offer ways to lessen the need for them. The most noteworthy of which being education. Davis believes that if the government puts more funds towards education and less to the prison industry, there will be a fewer criminals. After all, according to Davis, most criminals become educated while doing time. Had these individuals possessed such knowledge earlier in their lives, they wouldn’t find themselves caught in the black hole of the United States legal system now.
After observing the changes that have encompassed the nation during her lifetime, including the recent election of the first African American president, Barrack Hussein Obama, Davis believes anything can be accomplished with organizational movement.

“This is the perfect time for organizational movement,” she proclaims. “Think of yourself as an activist wherever you are.”

Davis went on to declare that she is most inspired by the work that young people do. As the times continue changing, she believes elders have just as much to learn from youths as youths do from elders. Although she is always hesitant to give advice, Davis left the audience with two key statements. As she tells her students at the University of California Santa Cruz, “always question that which has never been interrogated.” Finally, Davis states that young people need “not be afraid to speak out, to be bold, creative, and imaginative, and take risks.” Indeed, there’s no telling how far the nation will be in a few short years if the younger generations of America heed this valuable advice.