shardy1's review
4.0
Iconic Book. This was one of those books that regardless if you are in school or not you should definitely read!
simplybibliophiles's review against another edition
5.0
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | “Floating from activity to activity was no revolutionary anything. Individual activity-sporadic and disconnected-is not revolutionary work. Serious revolutionary work consists of persistent and methodical efforts through a collective of other revolutionaries to organize the masses for action.”
Angela Davis has long been one of my activist idols; however, I had no idea the extent of violence, suppression, and intimidation that she went through before and after her imprisonment. I mean, I had an idea. But I wasn’t even close. Her autobiography, different from most autobiographies I’ve read, is not arranged by chapters but in parts. Six parts that catalog the events surrounding the charges brought against her in connection to the August 1970 shoot-out involving Jonathan Jackson and the murder of him and a prominent judge. She writes in detail about the subsequent months-long hiding from the FBI and the 18 months she spent in jail before being acquitted in June of 1972. She also provides some insight into her childhood in Birmingham, Alabama, her travels abroad, and her time as the faculty at UCLA.
The autobiography is as eloquent as it is jarring. Davis writes with such precision that one can’t help but feel that they are there: feeling the intensity of the time, the stakes of her efforts, and yet the vigor of her voice and her inability to be unmoved no matter what was thrown against her and her community.
Also, if there are two things you get from this work:
1. Those that came before us were just made of different stuff. I cannot imagine living under that level of fear and intimidation, not to mention the threat of violence.
2. Ronald Reagan was demonic.
Angela Davis has long been one of my activist idols; however, I had no idea the extent of violence, suppression, and intimidation that she went through before and after her imprisonment. I mean, I had an idea. But I wasn’t even close. Her autobiography, different from most autobiographies I’ve read, is not arranged by chapters but in parts. Six parts that catalog the events surrounding the charges brought against her in connection to the August 1970 shoot-out involving Jonathan Jackson and the murder of him and a prominent judge. She writes in detail about the subsequent months-long hiding from the FBI and the 18 months she spent in jail before being acquitted in June of 1972. She also provides some insight into her childhood in Birmingham, Alabama, her travels abroad, and her time as the faculty at UCLA.
The autobiography is as eloquent as it is jarring. Davis writes with such precision that one can’t help but feel that they are there: feeling the intensity of the time, the stakes of her efforts, and yet the vigor of her voice and her inability to be unmoved no matter what was thrown against her and her community.
Also, if there are two things you get from this work:
1. Those that came before us were just made of different stuff. I cannot imagine living under that level of fear and intimidation, not to mention the threat of violence.
2. Ronald Reagan was demonic.
zekereadshorror's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
vivakresh's review against another edition
5.0
I just finished this book, Angela Davis: An Autobiography. I learned SO much. I knew about the trial, had seen clips of her making speeches in various documentaries. What those didn’t teach me was her deep academic roots, her path to activism and where she got her strength. Over and over in the book, she emphasizes the power people can have when they join together to protest and protect each other. Although she experienced horrific violence at the hands of racist neighbors in Birmingham and witnessed targeted killings by the FBI and “justifiable homicide” by the police of her Black friends and family, she repeats in the book the importance of working with people of all skin colors and backgrounds to lift up the workers of the world in solidarity against consolidation of power in the rich and corporations. An exciting and fast-moving memoir, I am so glad I picked it up. And did you know Toni Morrison acquired and edited it?
gigireadswithkiki's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
5.0
I've read a lot of memoirs that have been deeply moving, but Angela Davis' autobiography is moving in a much different caliber, serving as a life led by example to call for action toward prison abolition. Her story is saturated with her never-ending drive and determination for change, always making space in her life to defend the rights of unfairly targeted Black and Brown prisoners, even at the expense of her own personal career goals. Davis' account of her political journey is straightforward, taking care to highlight in both her life and in her movements, how the work accomplished toward social change is not accomplished by individuals but by mass movements headed by multiple people rallying together. This book was inspirational and extremely educational; I would highly recommend this read for anyone.
doruga's review
5.0
It is always very exciting to start a book I'm confident will probably be one of my all-time favorites. Thats how I started with this autobiography and Dr. Davis did not disappoint. This was a wonderful tale of resilience, commitment, and the incredible power of community organizing. Death to the "Hollywood Revolutionary" who only speaks well in a microphone and leaves it at that. Life to people like Angela Davis who are on the ground giving leaflets, calling on door to door, arranging meetings, and running political education schools. Despite the horrors seen and described in this book, I am left with an overwhelming sense of the hope and love she and her companions embody. Great great read and the preface to the 3rd edition (which she wrote just now in 2021!) was also a wonder to read.
terryjstokes's review against another edition
challenging
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
5.0
a riveting story of the Black Liberation Movement of the 60s and 70s.
authenticdmckee's review against another edition
5.0
Always inspiring to read true life stories of radicals who stand up for what they believe in and survive systematic abuse from the state, but coupled with the knowledge of everything Davis has continued to do for prison abolition since this autobiography was first written this one feels particularly resonant and inspirational.