University of New England was very fortunate to have Angela Davis come for the 32nd Martin Luther King Celebration. Come to find out that in 1964, MLK was here on UNE’s ground when it was known as Saint Francis College. Davis talks about it was ironic that it was such a long fight to dedicate a day to acknowledge the long fight that King, along with many others, had to fight for their rights. This movement, known as the Black Freedom Movement, gives a much deeper understanding of discrimination. In addition Davis began to mention how women are uprising in today’s society. I also have noticed that. Although, I am not much into politics, I find it so empowering how these women took a stand and take risks to support what they believe. Angela Davis talked about how she found a connection between racial violence and gender violence. Growing up, she has experience much racial violence including the bombings of the church and shootings in her neighborhood. In addition, there was many cases of sexual assault. Rosa Parks was major topic that she talked about, not because she did not move to the back of the bus but because she was not as acknowledged for her involvement with other protests such as Scotsborough Nine. She also talked about current events going on such as Black Lives Matter protest. She believes that it should be changed to All Lives Matter because once black lives begin to matter then we will know that All Lives Matter. One issue that is being brought up today is the issue with R. Kelly. It emphasizes how much young black girls lives are not mattering as much is today’s society. I can connect with this because I have just watched the new documentary “Surviving R. Kelly”. Watching that film made me almost sick to my stomach as to how much he was able to get away with. I feel that if it was young white girls rather than black then the situation would have been handled much differently. Alos, I believe that money had a lot to do with R. Kelly getting away with as much as he did. This can also be said about Donald Trump today. Davis talks about Trump’s idea on building a wall and how it can create more violence while in reality most immigrants are women and children trying to escape from violence in their own countries. Davis is very active in human rights in Palestine. She recently had been offered a Human Rights Prize but it was then rescinded because of her involvement with Palestine. I believe that Davis does not need any prize for her efforts in human rights. Her impact will be just as effective as any prize would be. She ended her speech by relating back to quotes by Martin Luther King. She talked about how he would said how justice is indivisible. Hearing Angela Davis talk about her outlook on both past and current events caused me to think about these events in a different perspective.
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Hey Em! I love how you made a connection to Davis’s comment on the “Black Lives Matter” movement and the documentary “Surviving R. Kelly”. I just recently watched the documentary as well and totally agree with your statement that if it had been white girls, the situation would have been handled very differently. I really like how your blog post discusses many of the topics Davis covered in chronological order! I feel like I can imagine her speech all over again. My favorite line of yours is “I believe that Davis does not need any prize for her efforts in human rights. Her impact will be just as effective as any prize would be”. I could not agree with this more! This just goes to show how Davis does not need acknowledgement for her efforts, she simply does what she does because she is passionate about igniting social change. I also wrote about the uprising of women in my blog post. I said “One of my favorite parts of her speech was when Davis said we are witnessing a major uprising of women. All I can say is it’s about time. Women are making history, as the first Palestinian women was elected to Congress in 2018 and Maine saw its first female Governor in 2019”. I could not agree more that is it very empowering to see women take a stand for what they believe in!
I think a lot of points that you had made in this blog post were really good. I also really agree with a lot of the points. For instance, when you said “I find it so empowering how these women took a stand and take risks to support what they believe”, I strongly agree with this and think that it is so nice to see how much the gender of women have accomplished over the years. I liked the way you ended your blog post by saying you have a different perspective after listening to Angela Davis speak because I also feel that way!
Hi Emily! I really liked your words on her speech and all your connection. The part where you talk about how it was a struggle to acknowledge MLK day is something I also included. I also added the fact she stated that “it wasn’t until 2000 that all the states in America observed this holiday.” To me, that fact stuck because that doesn’t seem to be very long ago. Also, I thought the documentary that you brought in as a connection was interesting. Although I’ve never seen it, I thought it brings a good perspective in. I definitely agree that in the end seeing her take the stand does empower us women.
I really agree with you about women taking such huge risks to fight for their rights. I also likes how Angela Davis mentioned how many women are a part of big organizations and organize many movements. I like the quotes you used from her about all lives mattering. “She believes that it should be changed to All Lives Matter because once black lives begin to matter then we will know that All Lives Matter.” I used a similar quote about her saying “all lives matter.” I never thought of it like this until attending her speech. I think you mentioned a lot of good points she made!