Sexual Assumptions

Chat

Angela Davis on violence
  • when she was in the California State Prison - 1972
  • Interviewer: a year ago the black panthers were much more active. We heard much more about that type of struggle. Is the time of the black panthers past?
  • Angela davis: the black panthers still exist, and the black panthers are still extremely active in the Oakland community and communities all over the country. I’m not sure whether or not you are aware of what is now happening in the black panther party and the kinds of things that the members of that party are doing now.
  • Interviewer: no but tell me.
  • Angela davis: first of all, if you’re gonna talk about a revolutionary situation, you have to have people who are physically able to wage revolution, who are physically able to organize and physically able to do all that is done.
  • Interviewer: but the question is more, how do you get there? Do you get there by confrontation, violence?
  • Angela davis: oh, is that the question you were asking? yeah see, that’s another thing. When you talk about a revolution, most people think violence, without realizing that the real content of any revolutionary thrust lies in the principles and the goals that you’re striving for, not in the way you reach them. On the other hand, because of the way this society’s organized, because of the violence that exists on the surface everywhere, you have to expect that there are going to be such explosions. You have to expect things like that as reactions. If you are a black person and live in the black community all your life and walk out on the street everyday seeing white policemen surrounding you… when I was living in Los Angeles, for instance, long before the situation in L.A ever occurred, I was constantly stopped. No, the police didn’t know who I was. But I was a black women and I had a natural and they, I suppose thought I might be “militant.” And when you live under a situation like that constantly, and then you ask me, you know, whether I approve of violence. I mean, that just doesn’t make any sense at all. Whether I approve of guns. I grew up in Birmingham, Alabama. Some very, very good friends of mine were killed by bombs, bombs that were planted by racists. I remember, form the time I was very small, I remember the sounds of bombs exploding across the street. Our house shaking. I remember my father having to have guns at his disposal at all times, because of the fact that, at any moment, we might expect to be attacked. The man who was, at that time, in complete control of the city government, his name was Bull Connor, would often get on the radio and make statements like, “niggers have moved into a white neighborhood. We better expect some bloodshed tonight.” And sure enough, there would be bloodshed. After the four young girls who lived, one of them lived next door to me…I was very good friends with the sister of another one. My sister was very good friends with all three of them. My mother taught one of them in her class. My mother—in fact, when the bombing occurred, one of the mothers of one of the young girls called my mother and said, “can you take me down to the church to pick up Carol? We heard about the bombing and I don’t have my car.” And they went down and what did they find? They found limbs and heads strewn all over the place. And then, after that, in my neighborhood, all the men organized themselves into an armed patrol. They had to take their guns and patrol our community every night because they did not want that to happen again. That’s why, when someone asks me about violence, I just, I just find it incredible. Because what it means is that the person who’s asking that question has absolutely no idea what black people have gone through, what black people have experienced in this country since the time the first black person was kidnapped from the shores of Africa.
Via the bad dominicana
  1. zooeyandfranny reblogged this from lipsbetweenthehips
  2. antithestasia reblogged this from thefeministpress
  3. simplisticideals reblogged this from bloodmouthprince
  4. saekimchi reblogged this from khatman
  5. thefeministpress reblogged this from thenewwomensmovement
  6. starcatsfolly reblogged this from spicedpiano
  7. namosays reblogged this from khatman
  8. cobra-snake reblogged this from bloodmouthprince
  9. spicedpiano reblogged this from khatman
  10. khatman reblogged this from bossymarmalade
  11. lechatleplusgros reblogged this from tersaudades
  12. justwakethefuckup reblogged this from disciplesofmalcolm
  13. crippledwizard reblogged this from theywontstfu
  14. pragmatichominid reblogged this from diaryofamadmuslimwoman
  15. thevoxbox reblogged this from 4dbutterfly
  16. selfhatingsupervillain reblogged this from articlesofcleansingbreath
  17. articlesofcleansingbreath reblogged this from fuckyeahlgbtqlatinxs
  18. talldarkandbacon reblogged this from joosboks
  19. joosboks reblogged this from anotherfeminist
  20. forgivemyswag reblogged this from spaceblack
  21. lorenee88 reblogged this from spaceblack
  22. bunandcheese reblogged this from android-ink
  23. android-ink reblogged this from spaceblack
  24. madamebaglady reblogged this from africanphenomenon
  25. buzzybeebusy reblogged this from kickand-snare
  26. itsmesilly reblogged this from kickand-snare
  27. ownselfworth reblogged this from africanphenomenon
  28. maximillian004 reblogged this from spaceblack
  29. spaceblack reblogged this from amaalsaid
To Tumblr, Love PixelUnion

We're updating Fluid!

Soon, we'll be updating the look and feel of this theme. Read about the changes here. You can easily turn off this notification in the theme customization panel.

Close