BRIDGEWATER —
Eighty-year-old Winston Boltol has a lot of respect for human-rights activist and ’60s radical Angela Davis.
“She punched a hole in culture,” said Boltol, who saw Davis speak at Bridgewater State College Thursday night. “She was one of the first to present an argument for a real sense of justice.”
Boltol, of Halifax, was one of more than 500 area residents and students and faculty who gathered at the Rondileau Campus Center auditorium for the college’s semi-annual Distinguished Speaker Series. The majority of the audience was racially mixed, and baby boomers or older, along with about 100 students and other young adults.
Davis sparked national attention in 1969 when she was fired from her teaching position at the University of California, Los Angeles, for being a member of the Communist Party.
In 1970, her name appeared on the FBI’s “Most Wanted” list. Authorities pursued Davis on false charges – murder, kidnapping and conspiracy – for almost two months due to her involvement with the campaign to free “The Soledad brothers,” three African-American brothers charged with murdering prison guard John V. Mills at California’s Soledad prison.
Davis’ 16-month incarceration and subsequent trial sparked the “Free Angela Davis” campaign, which led to her acquittal in 1972. Now a professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz, Davis, 66, has authored five books and lectured in all 50 states and abroad.
On Thursday, her lecture tackled issues of race, freedom and social justice in education, general culture and the prison system. Davis used personal anecdotes, quotes and teachings from one of her heroes, abolitionist Frederick Douglass. Her energetic charm and matter-of-fact sarcasm kept the audience captivated for more than 90 minutes.
“I want people to acknowledge race,” Davis said. “But I don’t want it to be the determinant of who gets to participate and who gets excluded.”
Davis said that generational gaps sometimes weaken the level of understanding between the young and old, so it’s crucial to encourage discussion among different age groups.
The historic events that shaped the lives of older generations are different than those events that will make up the histories
“She punched a hole in culture,” said Boltol, who saw Davis speak at Bridgewater State College Thursday night. “She was one of the first to present an argument for a real sense of justice.”
Boltol, of Halifax, was one of more than 500 area residents and students and faculty who gathered at the Rondileau Campus Center auditorium for the college’s semi-annual Distinguished Speaker Series. The majority of the audience was racially mixed, and baby boomers or older, along with about 100 students and other young adults.
Davis sparked national attention in 1969 when she was fired from her teaching position at the University of California, Los Angeles, for being a member of the Communist Party.
In 1970, her name appeared on the FBI’s “Most Wanted” list. Authorities pursued Davis on false charges – murder, kidnapping and conspiracy – for almost two months due to her involvement with the campaign to free “The Soledad brothers,” three African-American brothers charged with murdering prison guard John V. Mills at California’s Soledad prison.
Davis’ 16-month incarceration and subsequent trial sparked the “Free Angela Davis” campaign, which led to her acquittal in 1972. Now a professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz, Davis, 66, has authored five books and lectured in all 50 states and abroad.
On Thursday, her lecture tackled issues of race, freedom and social justice in education, general culture and the prison system. Davis used personal anecdotes, quotes and teachings from one of her heroes, abolitionist Frederick Douglass. Her energetic charm and matter-of-fact sarcasm kept the audience captivated for more than 90 minutes.
“I want people to acknowledge race,” Davis said. “But I don’t want it to be the determinant of who gets to participate and who gets excluded.”
Davis said that generational gaps sometimes weaken the level of understanding between the young and old, so it’s crucial to encourage discussion among different age groups.
The historic events that shaped the lives of older generations are different than those events that will make up the histories