Angela Davis is a prominent writer, feminist, political activist, and educator. She is most well known for her involvement in the civil rights and Black liberation movements, as well as for being a leading advocate for prison abolition. Ms. Davis rose to prominence in 1969 when her campaign to defend three black soldiers in Soledad Prison and her affiliation with the Communist Party led to her being fired from the University of California, Los Angeles. Following her own experience with arrest and imprisonment, in the early 1970s, she went on to found Critical Resistance, a national grassroots organization aimed to dismantle the prison-industrial complex. Along with prison reform, Ms. Davis has advocated for social issues related to gender, race and class and has authored many books and articles on these subjects.

Ms. Davis is currently the Distinguished Professor Emerita in the History of Consciousness and Feminist Studies Department at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Ms. Davis is icon of resistance as well as one of the most influential intellectuals in the United States.

Ms. Davis was nominated by numerous members of the HLS community, who noted “Angela Davis continues to inspire my hopes for the law,” “It’s because of activists like Angela Davis that I believe there is hope in making this world a more just society,” and “There should be more Angela Davis-es in the world.”

She earned her B.A. from Brandeis University, her M.A. from University of California, San Diego, and her Ph.D. from Humboldt University in Germany.