The Orbis

On February 21, Angela Davis spoke at a packed Stadium Club to Vanderbilt and Nashville community members, sharing insights from her background as a controversial activist, commenting on the current U.S. position in the world and challenging young audience members to make their voice heard.

She currently teaches at University of California Santa Cruz despite being told by then Gov. Ronald Reagan that she would never be allowed to teach in the California system again after being dismissed from UCLA at the age of 24.

Her comprehensive speech touched on issues ranging from the nature of racism to Condoleezza Rice to same-sex marriage to Abu Ghraib. Despite her being the first Black female as Secretary of State, Davis said she would "trade Condoleezza Rice with anyone who would halt the U.S. drive for empire."

She asserted that racism, while not as overt as in the past, is still deeply imbedded in society's material structure and stated that "we [African-Americans] have become accustomed to having the status of most oppressed and we have to do something about that."

She was deeply critical of the Bush administration and the war in Iraq: "George W. Bush thinks he's in the era of the crusades!"

Her talk was extremely well-received with frequent acclamations and audience members lauded her work and cited her as an inspiration. During the question and answer session, VPSU co-founder Noëlle Janka asked what ways students on a traditionally conservative campus could be effective activists. She answered that the students should fight campus injustices that could lead to real results, like the Living Wage campaign, for which she had been given a flyer.

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