Talk:Angela Davis

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Contents 1 Philosophy of Davis 2 Sexuality 3 Crap 4 quote from Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn 5 Notoriety Section 6 still a communist? 7 Article doesn't explain why she was acquitted of all charges. 8 mixed race? 9 Infobox 10 Bias

"Faced with THE racism of THE West Germans"... Who wrote this nonsense?

Stop accusing Germany of racism, just look at USA, there you have THE racism! Hmm.. garbage replaced with garbage, who woulda known!?? RMartinez

She had a very hard time finding an apartment, apparently because she was black. Fred Bauder 16:07, 29 July 2006 (UTC)

Interesting theory. If someone doesn't find an apartment quick enough it's obviously because he/she is black, at least if it's in Germany, isn't it? "the racism of the West Germans", such an offensive statement does not belong into an encyclopedia! (except if you can show that all West Germans are racists or have been at that time)

I changed this statement due to the following rule: "Controversial material (negative, positive, or just highly questionable) that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous". In fact, the old version WAS controversial and potentially libelous. New version is "having only a stipend of $100 a month to work with, she had great difficulty ...".

Angela Davis ran for Vice President with Gus Hall on the Communist Party in the 1970s or'80s (1980, I think). It'd be nice if someone added information related to this here.

She was a killer!!!!

Really? Whom did she kill? RickK 05:01, 24 Feb 2004 (UTC)

Angela Davis is an awesome individual. If you want a killer, go to the White House.

Damn Marxist kids nowadays.

Damn system agents.

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From the article: She claims to receive a large volume of email.

Now really, is this that important? Lots of people get lots of e-mail. We don't even know what a lot means. Is this supposed to imply something else? She has lots of fans? Detractors? Doesn't have very good spam filters? :) DanKeshet 21:03, Dec 10, 2004 (UTC)

I think it is relevant because should someone reading the article find her email address, they should know, like many other public figures, she is unable to answer all of it. Bill Gates is reputed to get 5 million messages a day, for example. Public figures vary in this respect. The last time I talked to Maurice Strong, for example, he claimed he answered all correspondence. I presume she receives email mostly from those who share her interests in prison reform. The gist of the matter, is that should a reader wish to contact her regarding matters of mutual interest, the best way is through her publisher. Fred Bauder 12:22, Dec 24, 2004 (UTC)

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The reference to "Malcolm X a West Indian activist" is wrong. If you read the article carefully, Davis must have met Stokely Carmichael after 1965. Since Malcolm X did on Feb. 21, 1965, she couldn't have met him in Great Britain. Also, Malcolm X was not a "West Indian activist", although his mother was born in the West Indies. AFAIK, there was an activist in Britain called "Michael X" who was active after Malcolm X died. "Michael X" very probably was from the West Indies. The article should be updated and the reference to "Michael X" should be updated, to ensure a logically correct timeline.

The comment about Michael X and Malcolm X is correct. Malcolm X dies in February 1965. Michael X was active in Great Britain.

I have finally corrected this in the article, I made the initial error. Micheal X is the person mentioned in her autobiography. Fred Bauder 10:59, May 20, 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Philosophy of Davis

Can we begin adding a substantive section on her positions and beliefs?

Of course, I just lost interest and never finished. Fred Bauder 23:04, 3 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Sexuality

I have noticed that someone removed information about Davis coming out as a lesbian. Was that person's action valid? Dinobrya 01:58, 28 January 2006

No, go ahead and replace the information. There were two sources. Fred Bauder 19:01, 9 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Crap

This article is a piece of shit. How could there not possibly be a section on "Criticism" for a person as contraversial as Davis?

This is a good article, leave it alone capitalist devil.

Let me explain why the article is the way it is. After watching her on Book TV, I got a copy of her autobiography and, working from it, I wrote almost all of the article. It only covers the first part of her life and, being based on her autobiography, has a sympathetic point of view. At a point, I lost interest and did not continue either her autobiography or write a critical section. Thus the article is both incomplete and lacks significant criticisms from opposing points of view. The solution is to do more work on the article, not complain bitterly about the work I have done. Fred Bauder 13:14, 12 April 2006 (UTC)

She was "segregated from the general population" through solitary confinement. I'm sorry this is just an obnoxious spin on it. It's silly.

--CJWilly 23:27, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

No, it is not silly; it is what happened. Fred Bauder 12:37, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

j. jackson and friends "disrupted" the mcclain proceeding? wikipedia has no credibility in politics (which is unfortunate given its excellence in many other areas), and this is an example of why. they murdered a judge. and you're sympathetic. shameful.

[edit] quote from Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

can someone post or paraphrase a rebuttal from Angela regarding the quote criticizing her by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn? It does not seem objective to only include that criticism, especially since it has the weight of a Nobel Prize recipient. --MM 06:41, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

I took it out as a clear violation of WP:NPOV#Undue weight. I gave a brief paraphrase of Solzhenitsyn's criticism, though even mentioning him at all seems less than obviously relevant. There's a trend in bios to dig up any random person who said anything bad about the biography subject; I think out of a misguided understanding of "balance". Solzhenitsyn is certainly notable himself, but there is a bio of him (and probably articles on his individual books; I haven't checked), which is where stuff on him should go.

I think the question to keep in mind is: "Would Davis be any more or less notable if Solzhenitsyn had not given that particular speech?" And analogous questions in other biographies where "critics" are dug up. In this case, the answer seems to be a pretty unambiguous "not even close". I'm sure during her life thousands of fairly notable people have said critical things about Davis: the way to present those is in general summary, e.g.: "Many people have cricizied Davis for blah blah..." LotLE×talk 18:22, 12 June 2006 (UTC)

Solzhenitsyn's quote gives insight into Angela Davis' character. This isn't a fan page, and people need these quotes if they want an intimate glimpse into the subject's beliefs.User:gatsby×talk 20:15, 30 September 2006 (UTC)

There is clear evidence that Angela Davis was and probably remains a Marxist and a communist who for a significant period of time supported the ideology and policies of the Soviet Union. She probably still supports those of Cuba and remains a member of the Committees of Correspondence, an offshoot of the Communist Party USA. The article should reflect those facts, for good or ill. Legitimate criticism has been made of those positions and may properly be included in the article. I am responsible for the generally sympathetic point of view, having worked from her autobiography. I don't propose to delete that material, but encourage addition of material from more objective sources. Fred Bauder 12:26, 1 October 2006 (UTC)

Hi, I'm new to helping abut not new to wikipedia. This is a great developing article, but I noticed something that didn't make much sense to me. "In her view - contrary to historical experiences- democracy and socialism are more compatible than democracy and capitalism." I think that the aside, "contrary to historical experiences" is unnecessary and slanted. I am not saying that history has proved democracy and capitalism a good pair, or that it hasn't. I am saying that this statement is uncessary, because it is a culturally specific perspective, that if it were backed up by sources and appropriately cited, would frankly outweigh the comment that it was interjected into. I have not changed it yet, because I wanted to bring it to the attention of those better at this sort of thing than me. Well, what do you think? -HavePatience 02:04, 14 September 2006 (UTC)

I thought it was Ok, but it could be phrased better. As it reads now, it makes it seem that the question is settled. Not appropriate for Wikipedia. Fred Bauder 03:32, 14 September 2006 (UTC)

I agree with the above and removed the offending section --Gramscis cousin 17:52, 14 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Notoriety Section

The section segues from the death of Jonathon Jackson, George Jackson's brother, to the statement a .38 handgun registered to Angela Davis was found on George. This is a conflation of two incidents. Davis was accused of smuggling a 9mm semiauto pistol into Soledad that George Jackson used in his unsucessful breakout (the real perpetrator was likely an attorney).

Correct. George Jackson's escape attempt was a year later. Fred Bauder 16:23, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] still a communist?

this is a quote from a speech she gave in 1999, recorded on cd, "The Prison Industrial Complex" (ISBN-10: 1902593227; ISBN-13: 978-1902593227): "i was a member of the communist party. i am not a member of the communist party anymore but i still consider myself very much a socialist." granted, it does not say that she no longer considers herself a communist, but could be evidence in that direction. does anyone know anything about that? Paralysisordeath 02:33, 17 January 2007 (UTC)

She is associated with Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism. I am not sure if they or her would describe themselves as a "communist" party. Fred Bauder 20:20, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Article doesn't explain why she was acquitted of all charges.

The article doesn't explain why she was acquitted of all charges. It should. Right now, the article claims a huge amount of evidence pointing to her supposed guilt and then suddenly states that she was acquitted, with no further comments (apparently implying that the trial was manipulated by a communist conspiracy or something). --91.148.159.4 22:47, 22 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] mixed race?

she has quite light skin, is she mixed race?—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.112.7.212 (talk • contribs) 08:21, 1 March 2007.

No more than a whole lot of other African Americans. If you're asking if she's a halfie, the answer is heck, no. deeceevoice 12:57, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

"halfie?" Really, "halfie?" C'mon now, that's just foolish. And your incensed "heck, no" is only an appropriate response to an insult. If you're insulted by someone suspecting another person's race, and that insult is because you perceive one condition more desirable than the other, then you might as well put the sheet back on. I feel sorry for people like you.—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 216.51.36.67 (talk • contribs) 13:55, 5 April 2007.

"Incensed"? What do you know of my mood? Nada. Every time certain people see a light-skinned black person these days, they want to try to call them "mixed race." That's just hogwash. And, yeah, "halfie." Make of the term what you will. But you feel sorry for me? You who jumps to silly conclusions and indulges in puerile vandalism of people's user pages? Dang, bwoi. Grow up, get some common sense -- and get a clue. *x* User: deeceevoice 09:43, 7 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Infobox

I was thinking of adding an infobox to this article, but couldn't decide which to use -- writer, philosopher, person, etc. Any thoughts? Strobilus 20:39, 4 March 2007 (UTC)

A summary seems inappropriate. Fred Bauder 04:38, 5 March 2007 (UTC)

A person. Fred Bauder 15:08, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Bias

I've nominated this article to be checked for neutrality for the following statements, among others:

"She held the view that nationalism was a barrier to grappling with the underlying issue, capitalist domination of working people of all races." "Again, as at Brandeis, she was socially isolated;" "Initially alienated by the isolation of the campus" "Her solutions include abolishing prisons and addressing the class, race, and gender factors that have led to large numbers of blacks and Latinos being incarcerated"

E.t.c. It seems a bit pro-Davis, and it's written in a subjective, overly sensitive tone.Aristotle1990 23:34, 4 April 2007 (UTC)

• If your concerns are specific you may want to tag the individual sentences with {{Lopsided}}, to help work through them. Optigan13 06:30, 5 April 2007 (UTC)