In its ongoing celebration of Black History Month, the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library’s (JMRL) Northside branch omitted damning history regarding honoree, Angela Davis.
A library display board entitled, “Black History Month” features a number of known black historical figures, each with a brief biography, including Davis, Billie Holiday, Shirley Chisolm, and Kamala Harris.
At the top of the board, under a section called “Memorabilia and Local History,” a 1960s-era Angela Davis is pictured adjacent a card with the following description:
Angela Davis
Political activist.
Advocated for the Black community, women, and LGBT+ COMMUNITY.
Professor of History at the University of California.
Founded the prison abolishment group Critical Resistance.
But, in their politically correct homage, is the JMRL painting an inclusive historical picture and examining the totality of Angela Davis?
According to online entries, additional facts about Davis describe her as:
- An American Marxist
- A longtime member of the Communist Party USA (CPUSA)
- Being engaged in far-left politics
- An affiliate of the Black Panther Party
- Publicly characterizing police officers as “pigs”
- A student of neo-Marxist philosopher, Herbert Marcuse
- Being fired from University of California, Los Angeles, for membership in the CPUSA and use of inflammatory language
- Subject of a manhunt for guns belonging to her having been used in an armed courtroom takeover, which resulted in the deaths of a judge and three other people.
- Becoming a fugitive, falsifying her identification, and changing her appearance to elude capture.
- Charged as an accomplice to conspiracy, kidnapping, and homicide—later tried and found not guilty on all counts.
- Characterizing imprisoned Soviet Jewry as, “Zionist fascists and opponents of socialism.”
- A supporter of mass-murderer, Jim Jones, of whom she said, “[I am] very deeply obligated to you for what you have done to further the fight for justice, to further the struggle against oppression, to further the fight against racism
- Awardee of the “Lenin Peace Prize,” as bestowed by Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev.
- A proud defender of the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia.
The JMRL invested significant time and resources in 2022 considering divesting itself from namesakes Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, because—despite their monumental and history-altering accomplishments—they lived flawed lives. Apparently, there was no similar effort put into investigating Davis and critically analyzing her actions and positions prior to her being honored in JMRL’s one-sided portrayal: clearly an historical whitewashing.
