Full Text of Angela Davis Commencement Address

Angela Y. Davis, tenured professor in the History of Consciousness Department at the University of California-Santa Cruz, is known internationally for her ongoing work to combat all forms of oppression in the United States and abroad. Over the years she has been active as a student, teacher, writer, scholar, and activist/organizer.

In 1969 Professor Davis came to national attention after being removed from her teaching position at UCLA as a result of her social activism and her membership in the Communist Party, USA. In 1970 she was placed on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List, culminating in one of the most famous trials in recent U.S. history and a massive international "Free Angela Davis" campaign. Davis was acquitted of all charges in 1972.

Professor Davis remains an advocate of prison abolition and has developed a critique of racism in the criminal justice system. She is a member of the Advisory Board of the Prison Activist Resource Center.

She is the author of several books, including Angela Davis: An Autobiography.

In 1994, she received the distinguished honor of an appointment to the University of California Presidential Chair in African American and Feminist Studies.