Emerson and Berklee Partner to Host Concert and Lecture with Activist, Author, and Educator Angela Y. Davis

On September 20 and 21, Emerson College and Berklee College of Music will host two public events with activist, author, and educator Angela Y. Davis, who is known internationally for her work to combat all forms of oppression in the United States and abroad. The idea to invite Davis to Emerson and Berklee campuses was sparked by Boston students protesting in solidarity last fall against racial discrimination taking place on and off campuses across the country.

On September 20, Davis will be recognized at the Berklee Performance Center with the Black Lives Matter: Meaning of Freedom Concert Honoring Angela Davis and on September 21, she'll give a keynote address on activism, popular music, and culture at Emerson's Cutler Majestic Theatre. 

Davis has conducted extensive research on numerous issues related to race, gender, and imprisonment. Her work has focused on the range of social problems associated with incarceration and the generalized criminalization of those communities that are most affected by poverty and racial discrimination. She draws upon her own experiences in the early ’70s as a person who spent 16 months in jail and on trial, after being placed on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted List. During her incarceration, a massive international “Free Angela Davis” campaign was organized, leading to her acquittal in 1972. Today, she is distinguished professor emerita in the History of Consciousness and Feminist Studies Departments at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

“It’s critical that we encourage students to be civically minded and engaged members of society. Angela Davis’s life’s work stands as a reminder of the impact that each of us can make in the world,” said Emerson College President Lee Pelton.

“From Birmingham to Brandeis, Paris and Frankfurt, and then Northern California, Angela Davis’s journey has been one of persistent and principled advocacy for radical change in the world. And of particular relevance, she thinks deeply about the role of music and culture in society,” said Berklee College of Music President Roger H. Brown.