A Recap Of Angela Davis At Marquette
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote an article about Angela Davis and what the community needed to know before the activist’s visit to the university. After attending the event, I wanted to recap it for those unable to attend.
I walked into the event around 6:30, half an hour before it was to start, and the room was packed. People from all around Milwaukee came together to see Dr. Davis speak at Marquette. I walked into a sea of such diversity and culture. Milwaukee’s community came together to see Dr. Davis and listen to what she had to say. As the event began, Dr. Davis walked out and it was as if I was at a concert. Everyone stood up, screamed, and applauded until their hands hurt. She gave the crowd a short wave and took a seat as the introductions began. Two students from Marquette read a passage from Dr. Davis’ book, and President Lovell stood to speak. President Lovell spoke for a short amount of time, as he knew the crowd was antsy for the main event. President Lovell mentioned how half the tickets to the sold out event had gone to members of the Milwaukee community, and he was excited to break the Marquette Bubble tonight. He ended with a thank you to Dr. Davis, and then she took the stage.
Dr. Davis took the stage to the roaring crowd standing and screaming. As I stood up, I noticed people’s eyes welled with tears, and before I knew it my eyes had become a bit watery. As a woman of color, it is so rare to see a crowd of people stand and cheer for another woman of color. This woman has been deemed a criminal, radical, and villain in this country due to her efforts to better us as a society. It was such an inclusive environment, one that I was proud to be a part of.
As the audience took their seats Dr. Davis commanded the stage. She touched on many subjects including the current election, Palestine, transgender rights and of course, feminism. Dr. Davis focused heavily upon a need for continuous action even if it does not produce immediate results. She emphasized a need for us to continue our hardships and fight on even when it is hardest. She ignited hope within a diverse crowd in the racially tense city of Milwaukee.
She touched upon the prison industry and spoke on Marquette’s controversial whitewashing of the Assata Shakur mural in 2015. She told personal stories of Assata Shakur and how Marquette’s removal of the mural removes a piece of history. Davis spoke on how Shakur and herself were one in the same, and said that, “If you googled Assata Shakur’s name [Davis] comes up sometimes.” She spoke on how wrongly portrayed Shakur was and the removal of the mural adds to the false narrative. With each point the crowd stood and screamed with passion. She ignited such emotion and fire within each person in the Al McGuire Center.
After much dismay and a forced encore, Davis concluded her hour and 20 minute speech by speaking about how “Water is a feminist problem” and we as a globe are interconnected with each other. Each of our individual problems is everyone’s problem. As she wrapped up and had a question and answer session with a few people from the audience, the crowd dispersed. Dr. Davis stayed for a bit to speak to the community offstage. I looked at my hands which were bright red by the end of the speech and left the Al McGuire with watery eyes and a sense of such community. Dr. Angela Davis brought together a community of so many different people across Milwaukee and Marquette’s campus in order to unify people across the board and declare a call for action.