HAP 126. Fugitive for Justice: Angela Davis

From RBG Communiversity eLibrary History of African Philosophy (HAP Podcast) Folder

Angela Davis and the Soledad Brothers_Short Film (1971)

Angela Davis became involved with the Soledad Brothers in 1970, when she led the campaign to free them from prison. Davis was a prominent public figure at the time, having been fired from UCLA for her political activism and affiliation with the Communist Party. She developed close friendships with the families of the Soledad Brothers, and corresponded with the men themselves. 

Here are some ways Angela Davis and the Soledad Brothers are connected: 

• The Soledad Brothers Defense Committee: Davis formed the Soledad Brothers Defense Committee, which included Jonathan Jackson, a close friend and bodyguard of one of the Soledad Brothers. 
• The Black Scholar: Davis wrote an article titled “The Soledad Brothers” in The Black Scholar in April 1971. In it, she argued that the charges against the Soledad Brothers were actually about their revolutionary insubordination and inciting dissent. 
• If They Come in the Morning (below): Davis edited a collection of writings about U.S. prisons and legal trials titled If They Come in the Morning: Voices of Resistance. The book included contributions from the Soledad Brothers and Black Panther Party members. 
• The Marin County Courthouse Incident: Davis was accused of supplying weapons to Jonathan Jackson in an alleged prisoner escape attempt. She was arrested and placed on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list. 
• George Jackson: Davis befriended George Jackson, one of the Soledad Brothers, who was serving a sentence for armed robbery. Jackson wrote two books, Soledad Brother (1970) and Blood In My Eye (1972). He was killed in prison in 1971 while allegedly trying to escape. 

If They Come in the Morning: VOICES OF RESISTANCE, Edited by Angela Y. Davis, with Ruchell Magee, the Soledad Brothers and Other Political Prisoners and a Foreword by Julian Bond

[From the front and back flaps] The trial of Angela Yvonne Davis in connection with the prisoner revolt by three black prisoners on August 7, 1970 at the Marin County Courthouse will be remembered as one of America’s most historic political trials, and no one can tell the story better than Miss Davis herself. This book is also perhaps the most comprehensive and thorough analysis of that increasingly important symbol — the political prisoner. Of her trial, Miss Davis writes, “I am charged with three capital offenses — murder, kidnapping, and conspiracy. My life is at stake in this case — not simply the life of a lone individual, but a life which has been given over to the struggles of my people, a life which belongs to Black people who are tired of poverty, and racism, of the unjust imprisonment of tens of thousands of our brothers and sisters.” “I stand before this court,” she declares, “as a target of a political frame-up which, far from pointing to my culpability, implicates the State of California as an agent of political repression….I declare publicly before the court, before the people of this country, that I am innocent of all charges which have been leveled against me by the State of California. “On the central theme of this book Miss Davis contends that “the offense of the political prisoner in his political boldness, his consistent challenges — legally or extra-legally — of fundamental social wrongs fostered and reinforced by the state. He has opposed unjust laws and exploitative, racist social conditions in general, with the ultimate aim of transforming these laws and the society into an order harmonious with the material and spiritual need and interests of the vast majority of its members. “Regarding his own defense, Ruchell Magee, the only prisoner who survived the same revolt and one of the many impressive contributors in this invaluable volume which includes George Jackson, Fleeta Drumgo, John Clutchette, James Baldwin, Bobby Seale and Ericka Huggins, states, “For over seven years I have been forced to stay in slavery on fraudulent pleas of guilty, made by attorneys, court-appointed attorneys, over my objection, over my plea of not guilty, and over my testimony of not guilty.”

Pop the document out from the upper right to read / expand / download.

If They Come in the Morning: VOICES OF RESISTANCE Audiobook

Learn more in RBG Communiversity Knowledge Media eLibrary (aka RBG Dr. Carter G. Woodson e-Library)

• Prisons, Slavery, Policing and Imperialism (The Correctional-Industrial Complex [CIC]) Folder
• BPM | BLM Audiobooks Folder
• BPM | BLM eBooks Folder
• NAIM eBooks, Tracts & Pamphlets Folder