Freedom is a Constant Struggle by Angela Y. Davis

In a piece for the Guardian, Davis argues that the concepts of “terror” and “terrorism” in the United States have come to encompass anyone who identifies with current fights against racism or capitalism. honor his life but draw attention away from the continuing struggles of the era. In a 2013 speech at Birkbeck University, Davis warns against viewing pivotal events in history as “closures” that give a sense of certain social problems as being resolved for example, statues of Martin Luther King Jr. She encourages support for Palestine by equating the Palestinian struggle to South African apartheid, and she compares the repression and imprisonment of Palestinians to mass incarceration in the United States. She picks up that argument in the third interview, arguing that society needs to work toward systemic change she also highlights the importance of intersectionality in progressive movements and notes that understanding of other movements around the world offers a way of better building toward that goal.ĭavis uses a speech a week after Nelson Mandela’s death to argue for collective effort rather than individualism, noting that the public treats him as a hero although he himself rejected individualism. She builds on the idea of collective effort in the second interview, introducing the idea of global solidarity by noting the similarities between struggles around the world, such as Ferguson and Palestine, and argues for an understanding of structural racism rather than treating events such as the killings of Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown as isolated incidents. In the first interview, Davis emphasizes the importance of collective efforts in progressive struggles and discusses the ills of capitalism, using the global prison-industrial complex as a prime example.

The book’s title reflects her foundational message that we must be prepared and willing to engage in struggles for freedom that are continuations of historical movements and will bring us closer to a better future.įreedom is a Constant Struggle opens with a series of three 2014 interviews between Davis, the interviewee, and Frank Barat. She advises her audience to deepen their understanding of what needs to be done as part of the struggle for freedom. Not only does she want her audience to see how struggles for freedom are connected, but she also wants people to commit to a lifelong fight against oppression throughout the world. However, at its heart, Davis’s book is a call to action for activists of the present and the future. Through the course of the collection, Davis discusses political movements throughout history up to modern day and covers a wide range of topics, including feminism, racism, and prison abolition.

Freedom is a Constant Struggle by Angela Y. Davis