17 Angela Davis Quotes That Everyone Should Read

In this year’s celebrations of International Women’s Day, the Women of the World Foundation made sure that Christmas came early by honouring London with the gift of Angela Davis.

Davis’s appearance at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall provided the English capital with a quasi-spiritual experience, which is sure to be imprinted on the audience’s minds for many decades to come.

The atmosphere was electric, and the human tapestry populating the more than two-thousand seats of the sold-out venue was unlike something I have ever seen. Most people got dressed-up in their finest clothes and gathered in a place radiating with a spirit of community and camaraderie, in order to soak-in the knowledge of a speaker upon a stage.

It was almost like Church on Sunday… but way better!

It was in the midst of this environment, that after taking a seat, I felt compelled to do something I rarely do at talks: take notes on my phone; Which proved to be a bit of a daunting task, because of the constant clapping combined with the attention-grabbing presence of Angela.

In the end, I believe it is relevant to share the following with you.

1- “We are Produced by History.”

This was said in the context that we, collectively and individually, are products of the historical facts we have been taught.

For example, the amount of details and events omitted from (and lied about in) history books — especially, to enlarge or absolve White/Colonial powers of the global North from past crimes–affects how societies, and its citizens evolve. This, in turn, has an impact on how certain malign institutions or practices are upheld and perpetuated.

2- “Movements have lives.”

With regards to social movements and how they are not immutable. Social movements go through stages and events that ensure their continual transformation and adaptation. Such is reflected in their practices, priorities and even focal issues.

3- “Movements produce knowledge.”

Social movements are not merely about protesting and demonstrating. They produce knowledge about the world around them and affect how societies perceive and conduct themselves throughout the ages. Concepts that are contemporarily self-evident, were once the object social movements (e.g. universal suffrage).

4-“I don’t know if we will ever reach a point in history where we achieved victory.”

This was said with regards to the ever-evolving face of social justice, and the constant need to fight for what is right. The more societies progress, the more they also uncover new issues that need to be addressed.

Some problems have always existed but suffered from a general lack of knowledge to see them, while others will emerge as a by-product of ever-morphing societies which create new dangers to its most vulnerable inhabitants.

5-“What does it mean to achieve freedom?”

Somewhat related to the transcendent theme in this article focusing on the perpetual cycle of new ‘victories’ and new ‘problems’.

In other words, and if I may venture a personal interpretation, I think the question could be reworded in a lengthier form: Freedom for who, and freedom from what?

6-“Leadership does not have to be individualistic (…) it can be collective.”

This was said in the context of the Black Lives Matter movement, in which there was no truly defined leader nor hierarchical structure.

The point is generalisable to most modern movements, which, as facilitated by new tools of communication (e.g. Social Media) allow for a form of collective leadership acting in a massified way towards communal goals.

7-“It is important to value the victories that we have won.”

Once more, the omnipresent concept of perpetual change is underlying the argument.

This time tough, it is approached from the perspective that we should not be demotivated by the fact that our goal is one that has no clear beginning nor end.

Rather, individual victories and progress should be celebrated and cherished, instead of continually focusing on everything that is yet to be achieved.

It is a similar sentiment to that encapsulated in Rise Against’s song ‘Tonight We Dance’.

8- “I do want to be criticised. (…) I think that critical engagement is so important.”

This is quite self-explanatory. If one if going to effect change, one has to be able to engage in the art of critical thinking. This in turn means that we need to engage critically with the world around us.

Therefore, considering that we are a part of said world, we need to have the capacity to critically think about ourselves, which sometimes comes in the form (or is triggered by) external criticism.

9-“How come that white women have come to symbolise as the universal marker for women?”

This one is self-explanatory.

10-“I cringe when I hear words like ‘diversity’ and ‘inclusion’.”

This was said in the context that certain meaningful concepts become hollow once adopted en masse by corporations and governments alike. Obviously, the problem is not the adoption of the words themselves, but rather their continual redefinition for commercial or political purposes, which then sees that the terms become popular but void of meaning.

In other words, just because the concepts are used to exhaustion in the mainstream, does not mean that they have remained faithful to their original meaning.

You can take a table and call it a chair repeatedly, to a point when the whole world will start calling all tables chairs. This does not mean that the table will magically become a chair.

11-“One cannot equate the criticism of Israel with words like antisemitism.”

It is possible to criticise a country for its policies without being gratuitously hostile towards its people as a whole.

12-“I call him the occupant now, because I have such trouble using the word President.”

#Trump!

13-“Children are the hope of the world.”

No further explanation required.

14-“Once they start co-opting our vocabulary, it is a sign that we have been effective. On the other hand, it is also a sign that we need to be even more radical.”

This is tied to issues explored above in quote number 10.

Basically, when concepts that were once on the fringes of society become mainstream, it is a sign that there was progress with regards to their acknowledgement.

At the same time, there are two reasons why social movements should double-down and not disperse with such achievement. First is the aforementioned bastardisation of meaning; Second, the fact that one can now move deeper onto the next issue, which was impossible to address before (see quote number 4 for more).

15-“I’m sorry, but there are just some people you do not want to have a conversation with.”

This was said during the Q&A, in response to an audience member who asked something in the lines of ‘how can one talk to people who simply don’t want to hear or lack the basic capability of understanding in order to engage?’.

Unlike the more idealistic belief that everyone can be reached and reasoned with, Davis acknowledged that there are some people who are too far off on the spectrum of hatred, arrogance, or ignorance. Consequently, it is a futile exercise to try and engage with them.

16-“I think that many people have forgotten that, if knowledge is to have any meaning, if it is to be useful, it should have an impact in the world.”

The production of knowledge for the sake of itself is a futile endeavour. Basically, to creation highly theoretical tools that never leave the classroom, manual, or scientific journal, is a wasted effort because it will not impact the world at large.

Knowledge for the sake of knowledge is an oxymoron, because it serves no practical purpose, and therefore is pointless.

17-“I think the quest for civil rights for migrants and refugees is one of the most important issues in the world right now.”

One can only agree with such a statement.

How the world as whole, and nations individually, react to contemporary tragedies will define the concept of Humanity for generations to come.

If we, as human beings who integrate countries and nations, cannot lend a helping-hand to those who are fleeing war, poverty, persecution, violence, or death, then the notion of Human Being (or Being Human) will be redefined for the worse.

*Note: These should not be taken to be one hundred percent, word-by-word (verbatim), accurate. But I can assure the reader that aside from the odd word or two, the information is integrally correct.