Political activist Angela Y. Davis, a professor at the University of California at Santa Cruz, will deliver the keynote address at the second annual Black Solidarity Conference on Friday, Nov. 1, in Commons Dining Hall, 168 Grove Street. The dinner will begin at 5 p.m., followed by Ms. Davis' talk on "Leadership and Empowerment." Her address is co-sponsored by the Chubb Fellowship and the Black Student Alliance at Yale. There is a $10 fee to attend the dinner and speech for those who do not have a Yale student meal plan. Preregistration is required for all. For registration information, call Tauheedah Rasheed at 436-1741. Ms. Davis became politically active growing up in Birmingham, Alabama, and later in New York City. In 1969 she came to national attention when she was removed from her teaching position in the philosophy department at the University of California at Los Angeles for her membership in the Communist Party. In 1970 she was placed on the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted List" and was the subject of an intense police search that drove her underground and culminated in one of the most controversial trials of the decade. During her 16- month incarceration, an international "Free Angela Davis" campaign was organized, leading to her acquittal in 1972. Harnessing the momentum of that campaign, Ms. Davis and colleagues founded the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, which continues its work today.
Over the last 25 years, Professor Davis has lectured throughout the United States as well as in Africa, Europe, the Caribbean, and the former Soviet Union. She is the author of five books, including "Women, Race and Class," and other works of feminist scholarship. She was recently elected to the board of directors of the National Black Women's Health Project. She also teaches the history of consciousness at the University of California at Santa Cruz, where she has been appointed to the University of California Presidential Chair in African American and Feminist Studies.
The Black Student Alliance at Yale and the Yale Black Pride Union are sponsors of the November 1-3 conference, "Empowerment 2000: Building Black Leadership for the 21st Century." The conference features a reception for Professor Davis, workshops and presentations, an intercollegiate talent show, special church service, and social events, held at a variety of campus locations. Registration for the conference is $20 for Yale students; $35 for others. That fee includes the Friday night dinner and keynote address. For further information, call Terri-Anne Davis at 436-1740.