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Angela Davis, activist, poet, academic and writer, says she was "stunned" to learn last Saturday that the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute had canceled her invitation to honor her in her country next month. with the Fred L. Shuttlesworth Award for Human Rights.
However, in a statement released Monday, Davis revealed that she was still coming to Birmingham.
"Despite the regrettable decision of BCRI," she said, "I hope to be in Birmingham in February for an alternative event organized by those who believe that the civil rights movement right now must include a vigorous discussion of all the injustices that surround us. "
Davis, who turns 75 this month, did not give any details about the month of February.
BCRI decision to quash Davis sends out large reverberations
After informing him of his decision, BCRI's Board of Directors, Davis added, "rejected my requests to disclose the reasons for this decision. action. "
However, she later learned that" my long-term support for justice for Palestine was involved. "
" This seemed particularly unfortunate, "she said," since my freedom was assured – and my life was saved – by a vast international movement.
"And I have devoted much of my own activism to international solidarity and, more particularly, to the attachment of struggles from other parts of the world to the campaigns carried out by the forces of the United States. American order against the police. violence, prison industrial complex and racism more widely ".
In October, BCRI announced that it was celebrating Davis, who grew up on Dynamite Hill and eventually became an activist and revolutionary whose influence lasted from generation to generation. However, at the end of last month, as a result of an essay written by Larry Brooks, editor of Southern Jewish Life, she said she supported the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement (BDS) against Israel and other efforts that have caused discomfort in the Jewish community of Birmingham. 19659002] "The cancellation of this invitation was therefore not primarily an attack on me, but against the indivisibility spirit of justice.
"I support Palestinian political prisoners as I support the political prisoners currently held in the Basque Country, in Catalonia. , in India and other parts of the world. I have indeed expressed my opposition to the policies and practices of the State of Israel, just as does the same support for US support for the Israeli occupation of Palestine and for Israel. other discriminatory policies on the part of the United States.
featuring actor Danny Glover and actor / activist Harry Belafonte.
"My experiences at Elizabeth Irwin High School in New York and at Brandeis University in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and my subsequent studies in Frankfurt, Germany," she said, I have learned to be as passionate about the opposition to anti-Semitism as it is to racism.
"It was during this period that I was also initiated to the Palestinian cause. I am proud to have worked closely with Jewish organizations and individuals on issues of concern to all our communities during my life. In many ways, this work is an integral part of my growing awareness of the importance of protesting the Israeli occupation of Palestine. "
Monday, PalestineLegal, org sent this statement of support to Davis at AL.com:
" The decision of the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute (BCRI) to annul an honor bestowed on Angela Davis is the latest incident of a well-documented national campaign to censor and punish critics of Israel. Davis joins the long list of academics and activists who have been censored, fired, demobilized, defamed, harassed and targeted by frivolous lawsuits because of the concerted efforts of the Israeli government and anti-Palestinian organizations in the United States. United to silence the debate. "
Davis was particularly eager to return home.
" [It] will certainly be the highlight of my year, "she says," especially since I personally knew Reverend Shuttlesworth and I was going to school with her daughter Patricia because my mother, Sally B. Davis, worked tirelessly for BCRI early in her career.
"In addition, my most inspiring Sunday school teacher, Odessa Woolfolk, was the driving force behind the creation of the Institute."
Woolfolk
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