Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Davis worked as a philosophy lecturer at the UCLA during the 1960s, during which time she also was a radical feminist and activist, a member of both the Communist Party of the United States of America and the Black Panther Party. In a controversial decision, the University of California fired her from her job in 1969 because of her membership in the Communist Party.
In 1970 Davis became the third woman on the FBI's Most Wanted List when she was charged with conspiracy, kidnapping, and homicide, due to her alleged participation in an escape attempt from Marin County Hall of Justice. She evaded the police for two weeks before being captured, tried, and acquitted of all charges eighteen months later.
She has continued a career of activisim, and has written several books, including If They Come In The Morning (1971), Angela Davis: An Autobiography (1974), Women, Race & Class (1981), Women, Race and Politics (1989), Blues Legacies & Black Feminism (1999) and The Angela Y. Davis Reader (1999). A principal focus of her current activism is the state of prisons within the United States. She is currently a professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
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