• Angela Davis
    • Philosopher of race and gender who was influenced by Marxist ideologies and pro-black movements in the mid-twentieth century
    • Prominent figure of the black power movement in the late-60s to early 70s
    • Member of the CPUSA
    • Tried for murder and attempted kidnapping in 1971 for her involvement in a prison escape attempt
    • Her biography explores the rise of communist ideas during the 1960s and the decline of the communist world over the 1980s and 1990s
  • Early Life
    • Born in 1944 in Brimingham, Alabama to a middle class family
      • Birmingham was the hotspot for civil rights movements
    • Graduated high school at a desegregated school in New York, active in CPUSA youth organizations but not yet a member
    • Studied at Brandeis with Herbet Marcuse, a Marxist philosopher who encouraged tying Marxism with youth, racial, and anti-imperialist movements
    • Studied in Paris and Frankfurt with Marcuse’s colleagues before returning to the US; moves to San Diego to complete her education with Marcuse and becomes active in SoCal balck power movements
  • New Left, Third Worldism, Black Power
    • The 1960s saw the revival of communist ideas in the West through the New Left
    • Causes included:
      • More diversity in higher education; students are more involved in movements for social change
      • Anti-Vietnam War sentiment; more critique of capitalism and US imperialism
      • The Rise of the Third World as a geopolitical force; support for anti-imperialism grows
      • Black Power movement; Black Panther Party generalizes the black movement to the world, envisioning a struggle against imperialism and capitalism
      • Global Maoism; the new communist, anti-hierarichal China becomes a role model for youth movements, reflects demands of the youth
  • Davis in the 1960s-1970s
    • Davis is close to both the CPUSA and the Black Panther Party (BPP) but both organizations have differences
      • BPP is inspired by China and the Cuban Revolution, aims to gain power through inner-city neighborhoods and insurgency
      • CPUSA is inspired by Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, emphasizes a mass struggle of a multi-racial working class and is suspicious of the BPP’s “adventurism”
    • Davis joines the CPUSA because of the Che-Lumumba (Che Guevara and Patrice Lumumba) club which relates more to the black power movement
    • 1969 - hired as professor of philosophy at UCLA, conservative media is infuriated and Governor Ronald Reagan has her fired
    • Davis hires bodyguards after receiving death threats
    • August 1970 - one of Davis’ bodyguard attempts to free his brother from prison using a weapon registered to Davis
      • Police charge Davis with murder and attempted kidnapping which could lead to capital punishment
      • Davis goes into hiding but is arrested in New York by the FBI after several months of hiding
      • Stands trial in 1971 and is found innocent in 1972 by an all-white jury
  • International Solidarity
    • National United Committee to Free Angela Davis (NUCFAD) was a campaign led by communist and black power activists to raise awareness of Davis’ case and demand her release
    • 200+ US organizations and 60+ international organizations were founded around the world in support of her
    • Communist states especially support her to present themselves as in touch with the youth
      • Russia, Cuba, Ecuador, etc. create posters in support of her
    • As a member of the CPUSA, Davis is shown as a martyr and a poster-child for communism
    • After her aciquittal, Davis tours various communist states where she is greeted by tens of thousands of young people
      • Speaks alongisde various government officials; thanks people of the communist world for their support and struggle agaisnt imperialism and racism
    • Thought of as hypocritical, as she advocated for the abolition of prison but traveled to communist states that supported the imprisonment of minorities
  • Crisis and Decline of the Communist World
    • 1970s transforms the global economy and destabilizes the communist world
      • 1973 - OPEC raises oil prices which leads to global inflation but no economic growth, also known as stagflation
      • 1979 - Volcker Shock: The Fed raises interest rates to 12% which destabilizes US dollar loans; causes countries to enter a debt crisis in the 1980s which forces them to cut social spending and sell state assets
    • Communist and Third World states are forced to borrow heavily from international banks to cover costs during this decade, and the Volcker Shock makes their debt worse
      • Destroys the Third World as a geopolitical force and undermines the social contract of communist states (restricted in goods and freedoms but employment and basic needs are guaranteed)
      • Life becomes harder for the population due to cuts in social spending; unable to function
    • 1985 - Gorbachev tries to liberalize the political and economic system but makes clear that the Soviet Union will not help to protect from internal opposition
    • 1989 - Eastern Europe states are forced to relinquish power and open to the East
      • 1991 - The Soviet Union falls and the Berlin Wall is taken down
    • 1972 - China allies with the US against the Soviet Union, leads to capitalist reforms in 1976 led by Deng Xiaoping to reinvent their economic system
    • Revolutionary groups like BPP and SNCC are repressed by the FBI and IRS investigations, forced to declare bankruptcy
      • By the late 1970s, most revolutionary groups in the US are extinguished and major leaders are arrested, dead, in exile, or disillusioned
  • Communist Response to Decline of Communism
    • Violence: in the 1970s, small revolutions occur across the globe (Red Armies, Black Liberation Army, etc) but fail to take hold
    • New religious movements: radical countercultures turn into movements for internal spiritual renewal
    • Domestication: communist parties dissolve and turn into green parties or moderate-left parties, abandons visions of global change
    • Academia: attempt to teach the youth about communism to create generational change but is less practical than real change
  • What is Left of the Communist World
    • Eastern Europe states join the EU and transitioned into global capitalism
    • Soviet Union became capitalist and created an oligarch class due to the transfer of public wealth to private hands
    • China is now an integral part of global apitalism
    • Cuba, North Korea, Venezuela are crippled by US sanctions and embargoes which makes it hard to create communist world-building projects
    • All communist states have greater social inequality as a result of communism
    • Those who lived under communism do not wish to return to it
  • Davis’ Biography
    • Reflects the decline of the communist world
      • Leaves the CPUSA in 1991 after the decline of the Soviet Union and turns to academia at UCSC
    • Davis’ work has inspired BLM movements
    • Communism impacts the revolutionary ideas behind modern liberatory politics