New York Committee To Free Angela Davis, Sponsor/Advertiser. Free Angela Davis now! United States, ca. 1971. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2016648496/.
This poster is a vital tool for teaching students about the historical roots of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, as it highlights the widespread public support Angela Davis received even when the FBI and the government sought to discredit her. This primary source provides insight into the fear and backlash faced by individuals, especially Black women, who stood boldly against systemic racism and the prison industrial complex during this era in US history. It also reveals how figures like Davis became symbols of resistance amidst widespread fears of the Black Panther Party and the Communist Party. Students can explore Angela Davis’s legacy as a proud Black woman who transformed from being one of the FBI’s most wanted individuals to becoming an advocate for peace. She continues to better society through her ongoing activism, children’s books that promote empathy, and her forward-thinking proposals for achieving racial, class, and gender equity.
This poster depicts Angela Davis, shown from the chest up. Wearing a shirt with a zigzag pattern, she turns her head to her right. Below the image is black text that reads "FREE ANGELA DAVIS NOW! / New York Committee to free Angela Davis. 29 West 15th ST. 7th Floor/ New York, N.Y. 10011. 929 2010."
This poster of Angela Davis—a renowned feminist, professor, writer, and prison abolitionist—was created in 1971 by the New York Committee to Free Angela Davis after her arrest on charges of three capital felonies, including kidnapping and conspiracy to murder. At the time, Davis was being held in jail, and this poster emerged as part of the broader “Free Angela” movement, which gained significant traction during her incarceration. While Davis had purchased the guns used in a courthouse takeover that resulted in the death of Judge Harold Haley and three Black defendants armed by Jonathan Jackson, her direct involvement in the events remained a matter of legal and public debate. She was ultimately acquitted of all charges, but this didn’t happen until June 1972.
This poster is featured in The African-American Mosaic, a Library of Congress resource guide for the study of Black history and culture. It was donated by Gary Yanker, described by the Library of Congress as “a collector of political and social propaganda posters.”
- What defines an influential public figure, and what factors shape their legacy?
- How does public sentiment about Angela Davis in 1971 compare to public sentiment today? What are the contributing factors influencing these shifts in perception?
- How can an individual demonstrate public disdain for systemic racism while simultaneously being victimized by the same systems?
- In what ways is Angela Davis unique as an activist and how does her life’s work relate to other writers, activists, and artists you know?
- Which of Angela Davis's ideas resonate with you the most, and in what contexts might you share these ideas with others?
NCTE Standards
NCTE.2: Students read a wide range of literature from many periods in many genres to build an understanding of the many dimensions (e.g., philosophical, ethical, aesthetic) of human experience.
- Students will read about Angela Davis and her legacy alongside other texts from various genres that relate to her mission in life and work. This will allow students to gain a multifaceted understanding of Davis's impact on society.
NCTE.7: Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions, and by posing problems. They gather, evaluate, and synthesize data from a variety of sources (e.g., print and non-print texts, artifacts, people) to communicate their discoveries in ways that suit their purpose and audience.
- Students will conduct research on topics both large and small related to Angela Davis and her influence on contemporary society. Through literature, video, and music, they will identify key aspects of her work that resonate with them. Students will then communicate their findings through writing, discussion, and presentations, as applicable.
- To begin teaching the context of this poster, educators can refer to this teaching guide created by a postdoctoral fellow at Rutgers University, which delves into similar newspaper photos and artistic depictions of Angela Davis. The guided reading questions may help address students' initial reactions to the poster itself.
- Angela Davis has provided a wealth of educational resources about her life and philosophy, including her autobiography, which details her life up until 1972 and provides crucial context for understanding this poster and the events surrounding it. Additionally, she has written several texts that explore her philosophies, including but not limited to Freedom Is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement; Abolition Democracy: Beyond Empire, Prisons, and Torture; Women, Race & Class, and Are Prisons Obsolete? Educators can use this poster alongside Davis’s writings and interviews, such as this one, to introduce a unit or lesson on systemic racism, prison abolition, and intersectionality. Sections of her writings on prison abolition could be taught alongside Bryan Stevenson’s Just Mercy (or the young adult version) and excerpts from Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, both of which discuss racism in the prison system. This material can also serve as historical context for a unit on The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas or other texts that explore the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement and its connections to the Civil Rights Movement.
- To make Davis’s legacy more accessible to younger students, she has also written children’s books, including Girls of the World, Prinsetta, and Delayed, Never Denied. Educators could introduce Angela Davis through one or more of these texts as a way to center her goal of promoting humanity and hope, even when her own humanity was questioned by those who sought to silence her. Students could read these texts and use them to pose their own questions, starting a character profile or drawing inspiration to create their own children’s stories.
- In addition to reading about Angela Davis, educators can teach about her impact during the “Free Angela” movement by exploring songs and artists who supported her through their art and lyrics. For example, songs like “Sweet Black Angel” by The Rolling Stones, “Angela” by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, and jazz musician Todd Cochran’s “Free Angela” provide an opportunity for educators to share the lyrics with students, asking them to analyze why these artists and the public supported Angela Davis. By playing these songs before introducing the photograph, students can pose questions about the historical context and draw thematic connections between the lyrics. Students could also add to this playlist using songs from today, demonstrating their understanding of the central messages, as well as a recognition that the Black Freedom Struggle continues through art, as well as other creative forms of activism.
- Additionally, Angela Davis was named Time magazine’s “Woman of the Year” for 1971. Students can read this piece by Ibram X. Kendi to learn more about why she earned this honor, then consider the factors that contributed to her being both beloved and viewed as a dangerous enemy by the government. Students could write or orally deliver an argument about who most reflects the values of Angela Davis in today’s society and why, or use this text to compare Davis with other influential figures of today.
- Individuals who challenge this source may take issue with Davis’s views on prison abolition or with her methods of protest. Additionally, some may object to discussing the violence surrounding these events.
Links to resources for approaching those topics
- While educators may choose to teach the full scope of the events leading to Davis’s arrest, and may disagree with some of her philosophies, the reverence Davis receives is evident in the celebration of these posters in places such as the National Museum of African American History & Culture. Moreover, because the charges against Angela Davis were ultimately dropped, educators can always point to the evidence supporting her acquittal, which can be found in the Angela Davis Legal Defense Collection at the New York Public Library.
- This is a photo of Angela Davis from the Library of Congress. It could be used as an alternative to the poster.
- This is a political poster that has Angela Davis advocating for candidates.
- “Angela Davis: Freed by the People.” n.d. Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University. https://www.radcliffe.harvard.edu/event/angela-davis-freed-by-the-people.
- Educators may find this 2020 Harvard Radcliffe exhibition about Angela Davis helpful in showing students more about her life and ongoing legacy.
- Davis, Angela Y. Angela Davis: An Autobiography. Haymarket Books, 2022.
- While her autobiography was originally published in 1972, educators may want to use excerpts from this text to share Davis’s story behind her arrest, directly from her own words.
- This excerpt of an interview from Angela Davis, where she explains her experience with violence and racism in America, offers another valuable way for students to learn more about her perspective and experiences.
- This famous FBI WANTED poster of Angela Davis details the kidnapping and conspiracy for murder charges she was accused of. The poster also highlights the enormity of the threat the FBI perceived her to be, as a Black woman civil rights activist and an active member of the Communist Party.
