Angela Davis

In 1965, Davis flew to Frankfurt, Germany to begin her doctoral studies in philosophy at Johann Wolfgang von Goethe University. However in 1967, Davis decided that it was in her best interest to return to the United States, because of the growing racial conflict. When she returned to the United States, she enrolled in the University of California at San Diego, where she would obtain a master"tms degree in philosophy in 1969. In graduate school, Angela became very active in the political arena. During a workshop sponsored by the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), she met Kendra and Frank Alexander, who were both active members of SNCC, the Black Panther Party, and the Communist Party. Angela Davis was so intrigued by the political work of the Alexanders"tm; she moved to Los Angeles to join the Alexanders"tm in their work and joined the Communist Party in 1968.

Angela Davis was born January 26, 1944, to Sally E. Davis, who was an educator, and B. Frank, who was also an educator and a businessman. Angela Davis was born in Birmingham, Alabama, during a time of great political unrest and racism. She grew up in a middle class section of Birmingham, Alabama, that was known as Dynamite Hill, because of the frequent Ku Klux Klan bombings that occurred there. As a child, she was encouraged to fight for equality and civil rights while she was still in elementary school. Angela Davis had an extensive background in activism. Her parents had many Communist friends, and this influence prompted young Angela to join a youth Communist group. At age 15, Angela Davis left Birmingham to attend Elizabeth Irwin School in New York City. Unlike the segregated schools she attended in Alabama with inferior resources and curriculum, Irwin Hig