Angela Yvonne Davis is a professor of consciousness at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Over the last 30 years, she has been active in numerous organizations challenging prison-related repression. Her advocacy on behalf of political prisoners led to three capital charges, 16 months in jail awaiting trial and a highly publicized campaign then acquittal in 1972. Her books include Are Prisons Obsolete?, Blues Legacies and Black Feminism: Gertrude Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Billie Holiday and forthcoming from Random House, Prisons and Democracy.
[O]ne of America's last truly fearless public intellectuals. --Rep. Cynthia McKinney [D-Georgia] The Afro that blossomed around her face in the '70s has morphed into a contemporary natural, its sandy-colored hair flecked with gray. But there is no mistaking the consistency of her message, a pursuit of justice for those she believes are victimized by governmental policies and structures. --Newsday