This special episode features highlights from a 2016 talk by Angela Davis – renowned political activist, scholar, and award-winning author – in her keynote address as Inouye Chair at the University of Hawaiʻi Law School. Despite being from a decade ago, Davis' commentary on freedom and inequality in the United States remains as pertinent as ever. Her talk draws on a vast array of topics, from systemic racism to feminism to the prison industrial complex. She asserts that we must employ abolitionist ideologies in the fight for equality against an elitist, capitalist democracy founded on oppression and slavery. In connecting prominent American political movements of the 21st century to Hawaiʻiʻs own battle with colonialism, she reminds us that freedom is a constant struggle everywhere, one that we must fight together.
Angela Y. Davis is known internationally for her ongoing work to combat all forms of oppression in the U.S. and abroad. She is best known for her political activism as a Black Panther, radical feminist, and Marxist during the 1960s and 1970s. Throughout her career she has advocated for the importance of incorporating race and sexuality into the study of gender inequality, making her one of the first scholars to recognize intersectionality. Professor Davis is also credited as one of the founders of second-wave feminism due to her scholarly work on womenʻs roles in politics and the home. Her articles and essays have appeared in numerous journals and anthologies, and she is the author of nine books, including Angela Davis: An Autobiography; Women, Race, and Class; Blues Legacies and Black Feminism: Gertrude “Ma” Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Billie Holiday; Freedom is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement and The Meaning of Freedom.
Robert Perkinson (moderator) is an associate professor of American Studies at UH Manoa and the director of the Better Tomorrow Speaker Series.