Angela Davis swipes at Trump, attacks capitalism

Angela Davis lectures at Mid-South Peace and Justice Center's 35th anniversary banquet
at First Congregational Church in Midtown on Jan. 14. (Photos by Wiley Henry)

Intermittent applauses are par for the course whenever Angela Davis orates on hot button issues. No matter the venue, one can expect straight talk from her and a rousing response.

That was precisely the case on Jan. 14 when the noted activist talked about Donald Trump, capitalism, feminism, communism, and mass incarceration at First Congregational Church in Midtown.

Davis’s 40-minute address was ripe for the mixed audience of hundreds that swelled the church’s sanctuary, including the balcony, to celebrate the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center’s 35^th anniversary and annual fundraising banquet.

“We thought who better in these kinds of troubled times to get everybody focused on the work there is to come than Angela Davis,” said Brad Watkins, the center’s executive director. “We want to make sure we’re always connecting the future of this movement to the past.”

The theme – “Living the Legacy of Nonviolence” – evoked the image of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., said Davis, adding, “I come to realize that his legacy is not the legacy of an individual; it’s a collective legacy.”

Davis chats with 100-year-old supporter Mary Robinson.

Dr. King would never have become an internationally recognized figure if it had not been for poor black women and domestic workers, the professor emerita at University of California, Santa Cruz said.

The audience erupted in applause.

“We celebrate the legacy of Dr. King, but in doing so we celebrate our own potential as agents of history in a collective quest for freedom at a time when the forces of capitalism – fueled as they are by racism and hetero-patriarchy – threatens to push us back unless we say there is no other way to make America great again,” said Davis, referencing Trump’s campaign slogan.

“You know what we have to do. Considering the person who will be occupying The White House over the next four years represents precisely those forces of capitalism that have impoverished so many people who decided to vote for him.”

Not known to mince words, Davis said she really didn’t come to Memphis to talk about Trump, but couldn’t resist weaving him into the conversation. The Trump swipe was met with an ovation.

“His victory was predicated on an institution called the Electoral College, which is an institution of slavery,” she said. “In many ways, the inheritance of slavery is still with us.”

Davis also ventured into the area of race. “What was once claimed as the advent of a post racial era… that turned out to mark the new beginning of a new militancy…the recognition of structural racism, and a new approach to structural justice that recognizes the intersectionality of all of our struggles.”

Davis’s nonconforming views drew the attention of a 100-year-old wheelchair-bound supporter who was transported to the church from the King’s Daughters & Sons nursing home in Bartlett.  

“I wanted to hear Angela Davis,” said Mary Robinson, a retired Internal Revenue Service employee and former board member of the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center.

“I always admired her. She sticks to what she believes. She works for it, which is really important,” said Robinson, who has followed Davis since the ’60s.

“I don’t get around much, but I’m trying to keep up,” she said, adding: “I never thought about being 100, but I’m glad I’m here.”

An educator, author, social and political activist, Davis was a lightening rod of controversy in the ’60s when she led the Communist Party USA. She also associated with the Black Panther Party.

Davis rose to worldwide fame – albeit infamously – after a Superior Court judge charged her in 1970 with “aggravated kidnapping and first degree murder” in the death of a judge. She avoided arrest and landed on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted fugitives list.

Davis proclaimed her innocence. Supporters took to the streets, prompting a nationwide movement urging the powers-that-be to free Davis from jail.

Songs written in support of Davis played in rotation across the airwaves. A high-profile trial ensued in 1972 and an all-white jury acquitted Davis on all counts. 

“We need to build communities, rebuild communities. We need new organizations, new struggles,” she said. “We need to consolidate our communities. We need to recognize that we will have to struggle over the coming period like we’ve never struggled before.”

Davis concluded her speech with an old protest song and title of her latest book: “Freedom, after all, is a constant struggle.”

A panel discussion followed. Afterward, Davis signed posters and copies of her book. 

Incumbent, challengers spar at women-centered session

Mayor A C Wharton pitches his platform while Dr. Sharon Webb and Council members
Jim Strickland and Harold Collins listen intently. (Photo: Wiley Henry)

      The mayoral forum hosted by a coalition of women Tuesday evening at First Congregational Church was an ideal setting for mayoral candidates to flex their muscles in advance of the Oct. 8 municipal election and to layout the framework for the job of mayor.

      Mayor A C Wharton Jr., Council members Harold Collins and Jim Strickland, and former Memphis City Schools board member Dr. Sharon Webb, took advantage of the opportunity to discuss their platform and relay to the audience why voters should send them to City Hall.

      The Memphis Area Women’s Council, the Coalition of 100 Black Women, the Shelby County LINKS, and First Congregational Church sponsored the forum.

      Issues particularly germane to women were topics – such as gender-based violence, crime and safety, access to good paying jobs, police brutality and an increase in both the minimum wage and the percentage of contracts awarded for women and minority-owned businesses.

      The panelists asked pointed questions during the 90-minute forum. The audience also submitted questions. Strickland and Collins, however, veered at times while responding to questions to hammer at Wharton’s record.

      When each candidate was asked what his or her administration would do to provide emergency shelter for transgender individuals, Wharton explained the difficulty of finding temporary shelter for women and women with children.

      “It’s difficult for a single woman to get shelter,” said Wharton, noting that his administration has already pulled together agencies that deal with homelessness. “We will continue to work to expand funding for the transgender, any population.”

      Collins saw a window of opportunity to lambast Wharton, asserting that he did not provide adequate housing for women when he served seven years as mayor of Shelby County and six years in his current role as Memphis mayor.

      “When we continue to say ‘I’m going to look for the answer. I’m going to find the right people’…after 13 years, we should have had something by now,” said Collins. “That to me is not effective leadership.”

      When the candidates were asked about bringing more women into their administration, Collins said, “Every woman that’s qualified, every woman that’s certified, will get an opportunity to serve in this administration.”

      Next up was Strickland. He said there was no reason why the city shouldn’t employ more female city directors. Of the 13, Janet Hooks, who heads the Division of Public Services and Neighborhoods, is the only female.

      “As mayor, my administration will reflect the city, the population of the city,” Strickland said.

      Wharton explained that it’s not a matter of getting jobs, but “making sure that women are in all critical positions.” He pointed to the WIN (Workforce Investment Network) program and various boards and commissions that women serve on as achievements.

      The question of domestic violence and improving safety for women prompted Strickland to bring up the Memphis Police Department’s more than 12,000 unprocessed rape kits that were uncovered in late 2013. The city council, he noted, provided $2 million to begin testing.

      Wharton didn’t refute the price tag, but instead pointed to the Family Safety Center as a place of refuge for women. He did say, matter-of-factly, that “there is no excuse for domestic violence and sexual assault. Zero!”       

      Collins in turn pointed out that the council was “the first to plant the seed” for the safety center. “We appropriated $750,000 to initiate the building of that program,” he said.

      Webb turned her attention to the audience, explaining that she knows firsthand about being a victim of domestic abuse. “Legislation doesn’t stop somebody from dying,” she said.

      As for improving the city’s transit system to access jobs, Wharton said he is seeking funding “right now” to reroute the entire transit system. “We don’t have to depend exclusively on MATA,” he said.

      “Memphis city government does not create jobs,” Strickland followed. “The city government provides services to create an atmosphere where jobs are created.”

      Collins said, “We know that the face of poverty in Memphis is a single woman. In Memphis, we should be ashamed of ourselves.”

      “The problem is a lot of women don’t know what’s available,” Webb said. “We need to revamp the transportation system and let it do what it needs to do.”

      Wharton took umbrage to Strickland’s assertion that the city wasn’t paying its bills and that the number of city contracts with female and minority-owned businesses have dwindled since he has been mayor.

      Strickland left halfway during the forum for another engagement. But Wharton didn’t let the councilman’s remarks go unchallenged.

      “I want to fact check Councilman Strickland,” he said. “Eighty-two percent of all invoices were paid in 30 days. When it comes to percentages, he’s just flat wrong, saying the numbers are down.”

      Collins said he would raise the percentage of city contracts to female and minority-owned businesses to 38 percent.

      The high crime rate and police brutality were sticking points for the candidates. Webb sees gang activity as a huge problem. She would talk to gang leaders to call a truce to stop the violence. She also said there should be mutual respect between the police and young black men.

      Wharton pointed to community policing as an effective deterrent. He also touted the Memphis Gun Down program to steer youth away from violence and a life of crime.

      Collins criticized Wharton for turning over the investigation of Darrius Stewart’s fatal shooting by a white police officer to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, which records are sealed by law.

      “That’s why I called for the justice department and the FBI right away,” he said, “because our people need to know the information.”

      After the candidates made their closing remarks, Wharton said in a side interview that it is his job to correct Strickland, Collins and any other inaccuracies.

      “Judge us not by what we promise but by what we’ve done,” he said.

      Regina Walker, a spokesperson for the coalition, said the group would not endorse mayoral candidates collectively. “The organizations will make their own independent endorsements,” she said.