Angela Davis is a renowned political activist, academic, and author who has been involved in various social movements for civil rights, feminism, prison abolition, and global solidarity. She is also the ex-wife of Walter Davis, a former basketball player who played for the University of North Carolina, the Phoenix Suns, the Denver Nuggets, and the Portland Trail Blazers. In this post, we will learn more about Angela Davis’ life, career, family, net worth, and more.
Table of Contents
Angela Davis Biography Profile:
Field
Information
Name
Angela Davis
Nick Name
N/A
Date of Birth
January 26, 1944
Birth Place
Birmingham, Alabama
Age (as of 2023)
79
Gender
Female
Zodiac sign
Aquarius
Profession
Political activist, academic, and author
Nationality
American
Ethnicity
African-American
Home Town/State
Birmingham, Alabama
School
Elizabeth Irwin High School
College
Brandeis University, University of California, San Diego, Humboldt University of Berlin
Educational Qualification
Bachelor of Arts in French Literature, Master of Arts in Philosophy, Doctor of Philosophy in Philosophy
Religion
Atheist
Hobbies
Reading, writing, speaking, traveling
Marital Status
Divorced
Boyfriend/Girlfriend
N/A
Net Worth
$800,000 (estimated)
Early Life and Education:
Angela Davis was born on January 26, 1944, in Birmingham, Alabama, to B. Frank Davis and Sallye Bell Davis.
Her father was a teacher who later opened a gas station, and her mother was a teacher who was active in the NAACP.
She grew up in a segregated neighborhood that was known as “Dynamite Hill” because of the frequent bombings by the Ku Klux Klan.
She attended a Quaker-run integrated school and participated in civil rights demonstrations as a teenager.
She won a scholarship to study at Brandeis University in Massachusetts, where she majored in French literature and met philosopher Herbert Marcuse.
She spent a year studying abroad at the Sorbonne in Paris and became involved in radical student movements.
She returned to the U.S. and completed her bachelor’s degree in 1965.
She moved to San Diego and enrolled in a graduate program in philosophy at the University of California, San Diego.
She joined the Communist Party USA and became active in the Black Power movement.
She received her master’s degree in 1968 and went to Germany to pursue her doctoral studies at Humboldt University of Berlin under Marcuse.
Angela Davis Family Details:
Field
Information
Father Name
B. Frank Davis
Mother Name
Sallye Bell Davis
Brother(s)
Ben Davis (older), Reginald Davis (younger)
Sister(s)
Fania Davis (younger)
Wife/Husband
Hilton Braithwaite (ex-husband)
Children
None
Career Highlights:
Angela Davis returned to the U.S. in 1969 and became an assistant professor of philosophy at the University of California, Los Angeles.
She was fired by the Board of Regents for her membership in the Communist Party, but was reinstated by a court order.
She became associated with the Black Panther Party and supported the Soledad Brothers, three Black prisoners accused of killing a guard at Soledad Prison.
She was implicated in a failed attempt to free the Soledad Brothers from a courtroom in Marin County, California, in 1970, which resulted in four deaths.
She was arrested and charged with murder, kidnapping, and conspiracy, and placed on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list.
She was held in jail for 16 months before being released on bail.
She was tried and acquitted of all charges by an all-white jury in 1972.
She resumed her academic career and taught at various institutions, including San Francisco State University, Stanford University, Vassar College, Syracuse University, and Cornell University.
She wrote several books on topics such as feminism, race, class, prison abolition, and social justice. Some of her notable works include “Women, Race & Class,” “Blues Legacies and Black Feminism: Gertrude ‘Ma’ Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Billie Holiday,” “Are Prisons Obsolete?” and “Freedom Is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement”
She became a professor emerita at the University of California, Santa Cruz, in its History of Consciousness Department, and a former director of the university’s Feminist Studies Department.
She co-founded Critical Resistance, an organization working toward the dismantling of prisons, or what Davis and others have called the prison-industrial complex.
She received numerous awards and honors for her activism and scholarship, such as the Lenin Peace Prize, the Thomas Merton Award, the American Studies Association Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Angela Davis Prize.
She continues to speak and write on issues of social justice, human rights, and global solidarity.
Physical Stats and More:
Field
Information
Height (Aprox.)
in centimeters- 168 cm
Weight (Aprox.)
in Kilograms- 60 kg
Body Type
Slim
Figure Size
N/A
Eye Color
Brown
Hair Color
Black
Hair Length
Medium
Shoe Size
N/A
Favorite Things:
Favorite Things
Details
Favorite Colour
Red
Favorite Actor
Sidney Poitier
Favorite Actress
Angela Bassett
Favorite Movies
The Battle of Algiers, Malcolm X, Hidden Figures
Favorite Singers
Nina Simone, Aretha Franklin, Beyoncé
Favorite Food
Soul food, vegan cuisine, Ethiopian food
Favorite Books
The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du Bois, The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir, Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire
