Young, Gifted and Black: BSA Conference Features Keynote by Angela Davis

Sometimes, to move forward, it helps to look back. So when the Black Students Alliance (BSA) started looking for a conference speaker who could inspire young people interested in social justice work, they called on Angela Davis—a scholar and feminist with a 50-year history of activism.

Davis will deliver the keynote address at the BSA’s 10th biennial conference, being held on campus Friday-Sunday, Feb. 6-8. Titled “Young, Gifted and Black: Black Visibility at Primarily White Institutions,” the three-day event is designed to raise awareness about black culture while also bringing together college students from around the region to build a broad network for education and activism.

A book signing will follow Davis’ address in John M. Greene Hall.

Conference Chair Gaïana Joseph ’17 says that when the BSA started to think about a keynote speaker for the event, Angela Davis “just came to be.”

“She’s someone a lot of people can relate to,” Joseph said of the longtime activist, whose work has encompassed civil rights, women’s rights, prison reform and other causes.

Conference committee member Gelonnie Smith ’18 agreed. “When we, as young people, thought about a conference focused on standing up to injustice, we wanted someone to inspire us,” she said.

Joseph noted that “a lot of people can identify with Davis’ struggle. She’s an amazing woman who’s fought on many fronts.”

In particular, Joseph is impressed that Davis has combined on-the-ground activism with a long history as an educator.

Formerly a member of the faculty at the University of California Berkeley, UCLA, Mills College and Stanford, among others, Davis spent the last 15 years of her teaching career at UC Santa Cruz, where she is now the Distinguished Professor Emerita of History of Consciousness, an interdisciplinary Ph.D. program, and of feminist studies.

The author of nine books, most recently The Meaning of Freedom and Other Difficult Dialogues, Davis has spoken at Smith twice before—in 1997, and again in 2001. In recent years, Davis has focused on social problems associated with incarceration and the criminalization of the communities most affected by poverty and racial discrimination.

For this, she draws on her own experience: In the 1970s, Davis spent 18 months in jail and on trial, after being placed on the FBI’s “Ten Most Wanted List.” She was ultimately tried and acquitted of conspiracy in a 1970 armed takeover of a Marin County, Calif., courtroom, during which four people were killed. 

Smith’s BSA conference will open on Friday evening with a 7 p.m. screening of Night Catches Us, a 2010 movie about a former Black Panther who returns to his Philadelphia neighborhood for his father’s funeral. “It’s great preparation for Angela Davis’ talk,” notes Joseph.

Friday night also features Art as Activism, a display of work in various media by students from Smith, Brown, Rhode Island School of Design and other colleges.

Saturday’s events include an alumnae tea, as well as workshops on community-building, allyship and other topics. “It’s an each-one teach-one approach,” noted conference organizer Gelonnie Smith.

Some 200 college students already have registered to attend the conference. For more information, visit ygbconference.com.

Registration is not required to attend Angela Davis’ talk, which will be held in John M. Greene Hall on Saturday, Feb. 7. Doors will open at 6:15 p.m., and introductions will begin at 6:45 p.m.

The event is open to the general public and is free to Five College students, faculty and staff with I.D. Admission for members of the general public is $5 (cash only; no checks or credit cards).

For additional information, text or call (646) 389-3670.