ANGELA YVONNE DAVIS JUNE 4-1972

"When someone asks me about violence, I just find it incredible, because what it means is that the person who’s asking that question has absolutely no idea what Black people have gone through, what Black people have experienced in this country, since the time the first Black person was kidnapped from the shores of Africa."

Quote from Dr. Angela Yvonne Davis Distinguished Professor Emerita University of California, Santa Cruz

On Sunday, June 4, 1972, Dr. Angela Yvonne Davis a 28 year old African American professor was acquitted of criminal conspiracy, kidnapping and murder in San Jose, California. She had been implicated in aiding a courtroom shootout on August 7, 1970 in San Raphael, California that left 4 people dead, including Superior Court Judge Haley. Although she was not involved in the shootout Davis was alleged to be the owner of the guns used in the shootout. On August 14, 1970 an arrest warrant was issued for her arrest but the authorities could not find her. An all-points bulletin was then issued charging her with one count of murder in Judge Haley’s death and 5 counts of kidnapping because 5 hostages had been taken from the courthouse in an escape attempt. Davis (25 years old at the time) had been dismissed from her job as a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1969 because she was a member of the Communist Party. The Board of Regents, at the urging of then Governor Ronald Reagan had tried to prevent her from teaching at the University before she taught her first class. Reagan wanted the death penalty if she was found guilty of the August 1970 charges.

Failing to arrest Davis in August 1970 the government agency Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) placed her on their list of the 10 most-wanted fugitives. She was the third woman in the history of the FBI to be placed on its list of the 10 most-wanted fugitives. There was widespread speculation that Davis had fled the USA because there was international support for the “Free Angela Davis” campaign. She became an international symbol of the abusive White supremacist power of the American criminal justice system against African Americans.

On October 13, 1970, following an aggressive national search Davis was arrested in New York City and charged with conspiracy, murder and kidnapping. Richard Nixon who was President of the US in 1972 reportedly congratulated the FBI on having captured a “dangerous terrorist." Davis was incarcerated for approximately 17 months before her trial began on March 29, 1972. Davis made the opening statement at the March 29 trial which attracted a horde of international journalists: “The prosecutor has informed you that he will present evidence to prove that I purchased a number of weapons over a period of time. Testimony and exhibits will purport that some of the guns claimed to have been found on the scene at Marion County Civic Center are the same guns that I purchased. Out of this network of facts, he says, evidence will emerge to support his contention that I am guilty of the crimes as charged. We say to you that quite to the contrary, the evidence will prove that while I did purchase the guns, I did nothing to furnish Jonathan Jackson or anyone with the weapons which were utilized during the action on August 7.” According to History.com: “the weakness of the prosecution’s case and obvious political nature of the proceedings” attracted much international interest. Davis explained in her opening statement that her reasons for buying guns related to her childhood experience of living in a White supremacist culture where African Americans were constantly under threat of brutality or death at the hands of White people. She grew up in an African American community where guns were essential for protection against rape, murder etc. She further explained that “You will understand that for a Black person who had grown up in the south and particularly during that period, guns had to be a normal fact of life.” That the guns used in the shootout on August 7, 1970 belonged to Davis was insufficient evidence of her alleged responsibility or involvement and she was acquitted.

In 1972 during an interview with a European reporter Davis was asked if she believed in “violence” as a tactic for protests in social movement. Her reply included the quote at the beginning of this article (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2BIZy0HScM) Today in the 21^st century whenever Africans react to violent provocation whether it is police brutality, murder or other White supremacist ill treatment there is usually a similar question. It is sad and oftentimes frustrating that what Davis said more than 40 years ago remains relevant today.