Angela Davis Addresses Exonians
“It acted as an overview for people [that] didn't have as much knowledge about Davis. It was a great time to educate people about history,” said Pinciaro.
Last Wednesday, nearly sixty Exonians traveled to the University of New England to hear Angela Davis’ speech, “Freedom is a Constant Struggle.” The activist, academic and author touched on the work of Martin Luther King Jr. and the important role of activists in uniting the factions of modern society.
Dean of Multicultural Affairs Sami Atif originally found out about the talk through the Muslim Student Adviser Khadijah Campbell. “Ms. Campbell informed me that Dr. Davis would be speaking in our area,” he said. “We were excited that over 60 students took part in our series with 57 attending the keynote remarks.”
The preparation for the lecture began with a series of prior events geared towards educating interested Exonians about Angela Davis’ writing. “[Dean Atif] wanted to make sure the students who are attending had at least some background information about Angela Davis rather than attending on the basis of just name recognition,” Office of Multicultural Affairs Administrative Intern Jessica Alvarez said.
The first event was a screening of the Black Power Mixtape, a film that documented the perspective of Swedish journalists who came to the United States to report on the Black Power Movement. The journalists focused on the movement’s leaders, including Angela Davis, and brought mainstream attention to their stories of urban unrest and revolution. “The film was a really great overview of civil rights activism during that time,” Alvarez said.
A lecture, presented by Atif and English Instructor Courtney Marshall, also preceded Angela Davis’ talk. They covered issues and discussion points concerning Black Feminism and Prison Abolition. “Both topics are pivotal components to the legacy that Angela Davis embodies,” Atif said.
Upper and lecture attendee Lilly Pinciaro described the mission of the talk. “[During the] lecture Ms. Marshall and Dr. Atif talked a little bit about the prison industrial complex and economic interests,” she said. “It acted as an overview for people [that] didn't have as much knowledge about Davis. It was a great time to educate people about history.”
At 10 a.m., Jan. 23, several Exonians missed the last half of Wednesday classes to travel to Angela Davis’ lecture. Senior Chandler Jean-Jacques described that the theme of the talk resonated with her. “I appreciated how the focus of her speech was the intersection of race and gender,” she said.
Jean-Jacques also noted the similarity between prior Exeter speaker and Pulitzer Prize Winner Viet Thanh Nguyen’s focus and Angela Davis’ message. “Similar to Viet Thanh Nguyen’s assembly speech, Davis talked about the military industrial complex, and how the destruction the US causes overseas greatly impacts the country domestically, regarding low-income Americans and the motivations behind refugees/immigrants,” she said.
Pinciaro also drew on the parallel between the two speakers, noting how dilemmas with representation were mentioned by both speakers. “Nguyen’s point that people should not expect one person to speak for a large group of people was echoed in Davis’ speech,” she said. “She mentioned that idea within the American democratic system; I hadn't connected those two.”
Senior Isadora Kron gravitated towards the thoughts that Davis mentioned in her speech, largely because some of these ideas were new to her. “She spoke about a lot of ideas that I had heard of but never delved into like abolition feminism,” she said. “Davis also really opened my eyes to a lot of concepts, even though I’ve read a lot about her.”
Some, including senior Jane Collins, described Davis’ speech as inspirational. “She was talking about how we, as Americans, always think we're the center of the universe, which is something I think I need to think about more,” she said. “Davis pointed out there are not only other human rights violations going on in our country, but also so many more in other countries that we are often hesitant to speak out about. So I think that was a good reminder for me to be thinking about more than just our own country.”
Another aspect of the talk that Pinciaro enjoyed was the group of Exonians who attended. “I originally made the assumption that the people who were going to attend would be all the people who are generally known as activists on campus,” she said. “I was pleasantly surprised by the people who attended and appreciated that the talk was open to all of the Exeter community.”
In the future, OMA will strive to continue to offer events such as this, despite the large time commitment these trips would entail. “I think we would love to continue events, but already with that it's time consuming,” Alvarez said. “At Exeter, it's really hard for students and faculty to carve out that space intentionally to take these field trips.”