Angela Davis: Imagine a World of Freedom and Justice

A couple of weeks ago,  my pal Sussanne asked me if I wanted to go see Angela Davis with her. Um, duh. Cut to last week where our Intersectional Feminist book club took over UVA and headed over to the Orpheum for the event. As we entered the theatre we kept running into so many friends - one after the other! It was awesome. 

We took our seats in row 3 - row 3!! 

Cecelia Point came out on stage drumming her paddle song. She gave the territorial acknowledgement and spoke of her matrilineal heritage. She ended her greeting with thanking all of the revolutionaries - especially the women!

The Wild Women of Turtle Island then came out to perform the Women's Warrior Song, to which we all sang along. 

Angela Marie MacDougall (Executive Director of Battered Women's Support Services - shout out to CUPE 1936) came out to emcee the event and highlighted the diversity of the room. The Downtown Eastside Women's Centre, Massey Books, Black Lives Matter Vancouver, Black in Vancouver, Prison Justice Committee, UBCIC and various unions.

They screened a short video about the dark history of Gassy Jack and his wife, whose history has been erased.

Then it was time for the moment we were all waiting for - Dr. Angela Davis! She glided onto the stage, and it was amazing to be in her presence. She held the room. She held her space on the stage. She was truth.

She started her talk by acknowledging Canada's dark history and challenges of reconciliation with our indigenous peoples. She set the context by stating we are at a historical conjunction defined not by the election of Donald Trump but that women are on the rise all over the world. We are in a time where it is imperative to preserve the moments where we define ourselves as communities of struggle - to continue the amazing work of the 600+ women's marches that occurred earlier this year, all over the world. That mass demonstrations are really rehearsals for revolutions! YES!

She launched right into the conversation about gender-based violence. That after many centuries of routine abuse of women, there is finally some accountability for those insidious acts of abuse - Harvey Weinstein, Bill Cosby, Matt Later (that had broken that morning). She linked white supremacy to capitalism. She linked colonization, racism, sexism are all at the core of capitalism and coined a term I hadn't heard before - "racial capitalism." Wow.

She is the godmother of intersectionality. She kept making the linkages to the intersectionality if social justice struggles - they don't exist in a vacuum, one affects the other and when we call to an end of violence against women, we mean ALL women. She called out affluent white feminism for not being inclusive; for leaving black, indigenous, trans women behind. She referenced Hillary Clinton and her "glass ceiling feminism" problematic tones because the focus is on women who are already at the top of the hierarchy. That the heteropatriarchy reinforces the structures and systems that oppress race, class and gender - it makes it that much harder to fight back.

Race, gender, sexuality, class all work in conjunction with each other. She then made the most eloquent statement on the recognition that trans women are vital to our movement and if we don't include them in the conversation that we are all continuing the cycle of violence and oppression in our communities. When people refuse to accept the gender binary, that's when we are truly inclusive. 

She connected the dots between violence against indigenous women and the protection of indigenous land. That domestic violence and state violence don't exist independent of each other, especially when we live in a society that is overly reliant on police and prison systems.

This is all overwhelming and she brought back in by saying that while these social justice struggles are happening, they all don't happen at the same time and that we don't have to do everything all of the time. The creation and development of practices and theories to deal with this messy reality, is myopic in practice. She went into a detailed discussion of "carceal feminism" - talking about a future where we don't need prisons. That security isn't grounded in violent institutions like the police. She's been at this for a long time and shared her experience as an abolitionist of prisons. It wasn't that long ago that violence against women and sexual assault weren't considered crimes. 

So what is it we can do for freedom and justice for all? 

We recognize the intersection of everything. We recognize that carceal feminism is a paradigm that cannot go ignored. We call out toxic masculinities that continue to oppress women. We need to be specific about the kind of feminism that is radical and has the potential to lead us to a better future.

As she was entering into the last part of her speech I noticed that she never yelled. She never raised her voice. Her cadence was deliberate and measured and I found that incredibly effective. The labour movement has the tendency to get loud and yelly and grandstandy when (mostly men) want to make a point at a microphone. Dr. Davis really demonstrated that you don't have to do that to be heard.

Her call to arms for women of the world to not simply take the places of men, but to create radical social transformation. That we don't need to be like men, because that just reinforces and duplicates the structure that perpetuates the exact violence we are challenging.

She ended her speech with a poem by June Jordan called "Moving Towards Home" written after the massacre of Palestinians refugees.

Sharing space with Angela Davis was amazing. It was incredible to share the experience with so many of my friends who share the same values, who aren't afraid of having our privilege challenged and are truly invested in making this world a better place.

That is all.