To understand how any society functions you must understand the relationship between the men and the women. Angela Davis More Quotes by Angela Davis More Quotes From Angela Davis The work of the political activist inevitably involves a certain tension between the requirement that position be taken on current issues as they arise and the desire that one's contributions will somehow survive the ravages of time. Angela Davis issues political taken A fair trial would have been no trial at all. Angela Davis fair-trial has-beens trials We can't talk about the black community. It's no longer a homogeneous community; it was never a homogeneous community. Angela Davis homogeneous black community I'm suggesting that we abolish the social function of prisons. Angela Davis function prison social What I think is different today is the lack of political connection between the black middle class and the increasing numbers of black people who are more impoverished than ever before. Angela Davis class numbers thinking It doesn't surprise me that aspect of the black nationalist movement, the cultural side, has triumphed because that is the aspect of the movement that was most commodifiable and when we look at the commodification of blackness we're looking at a phenomenon that's very profitable and it's connection with the rise of a black middle class I think is very obvious. Angela Davis black class thinking Obviously there are some organizations that go out on the street and say we want an end to the capitalist system. But obviously that is not going to happen as a result of just assuming that stance. Angela Davis assuming organization want And I guess what I would say is that we can't think narrowly about movements for black liberation and we can't necessarily see this class division as simply a product or a certain strategy that black movements have developed for liberation. Angela Davis black class thinking Now, if we look at the way in which the labor movement itself has evolved over the last couple of decades, we see increasing numbers of black people who are in the leadership of the labor movement and this is true today. Angela Davis couple numbers people We have to look at for example the increasing globalization of capital, the whole system of transitional capitalism now which has had an impact on black populations - that has for example eradicated large numbers of jobs that black people traditionally have been able to count upon and created communities where the tax base is lost now as a result of corporations moving to the third world in order to discover cheap labor. Angela Davis numbers jobs moving That's true but I think the contemporary problem that we are facing increasing numbers of black people and other people of color being thrown into a status that involves work in alternative economies and increasing numbers of people who are incarcerated. Angela Davis color numbers thinking Well, we see an increasingly weaker labor movement as a result of the overall assault on the labor movement and as a result of the globalization of capital. Angela Davis economic-globalization results movement It's true that it's within the realm of cultural politics that young people tend to work through political issues, which I think is good, although it's not going to solve the problems Angela Davis issues people thinking Kids these days are kind of going back to Tupac and Snoop Doggy Dogg as examples of people that stand for something. Angela Davis example kids people When Bush says democracy, I often wonder what he's referring to. Angela Davis referring democracy wonder I don't know whether the movement crashed as a result of the overwhelming character of the institutions we set out to change. I think repression had a lot to do with the dismantling of the movement and also the winning of certain victories had something to do with the inability of the movement to take those victories as the launching point for new goals and developing new strategies. Angela Davis winning character thinking But at the same time you can't assume that making a difference 20 years ago is going to allow you to sort of live on the laurels of those victories for the rest of your life Angela Davis victory differences years Yes, I think it's really important to acknowledge that Dr. King, precisely at the moment of his assassination, was re-conceptualizing the civil rights movement and moving toward a sort of coalitional relationship with the trade union movement. Angela Davis kings moving thinking Had it not been for slavery, the death penalty would have likely been abolished in America. Slavery became a haven for the death penalty. Angela Davis death-penalty slavery america I'm thinking about some developments say in the 80s when the anti-apartheid movement began to claim more support and strength within the US. Black trade unionists played a really important role in developing this US anti-apartheid movement. Angela Davis support black thinking