We have Angela Davis with us who was born
in Birmingham, Alabama, and we have Alicia
Garza, the co-founder of the Black Lives Matter
movement.
And Angela, I was wondering if you could speak
directly to Alicia, I mean, in a sense, Alicia,
and if you could talk to Angela, about what
you feel you have inherited and what you - how
you are inspired, Angela, by Alicia, the next
generation.
Well, thank you so much, Alicia.
Thank you.
I am so happy that I survived and am able
to witness the emergence of this new movement,
and I see myself as witnessing it on behalf
of all of those who did not make it this far,
who are no longer with us.
I have felt so excited over the last several
years.
It doesn't seem as if it has only been, what,
four years now?
Because of the work that you, and Patrice
and Opal and the entire Black Lives Matter
and the entire Movement for Black Lives have
accomplished over this period is phenomenal.
As a matter of fact, before that period, you
hardly ever saw official acknowledgments of
racism.
Even Obama didn't talk about the problems
of police violence and racism.
And now, it's on the agenda.
In a sense, the fact that Trump was elected
can be attributed to this upsurge, this radical
upsurge, in the sense that so many people
did not discover in the opposing candidate
the person they needed to give expression
to this new consciousness, and I think it
is so important, Amy, for us to remind ourselves
that we are in the majority.
Some 25% of the people voted for Donald Trump.
You know, not only did Hillary Clinton get
3 million more votes, but if one considers
all the people who did not vote who are in
their majority, people who would not have
voted for Trump.
The organizing work that you are doing, the
contestation of the old paradigms of leadership,
the masculine-ness, individualistic, charismatic
forms of leadership, of the insistence on
collective leadership, the insistence that
finally women who have always done all of
the work, always, should be able to be seen
and should be able to receive the credit for
this.
I think it is because of the work that you
have done that now in Washington, D.C., as
the resistance takes shape, it is the Women's
March that represents the resistance of the
entire country.
Thank you so much.
Thank you.
I have to say one of the things I appreciate
so much about you is that you are not waxing
poetic about things that happened.
You are still very much in relationship to
all of us and still teaching us and still
learning from us and pushing us to get sharper,
to get stronger, and to keep fighting, and
that is really rare, so I just want to say
thank you.
Thank you for being a constant presence for
us.
You are always 100% available and paying attention,
and it means a lot to all of us.
I know that it hasn't been my experience with
lots of folks that -- people who have played
such incredible roles in social movements
continue to be present, front and center,
but also in a relationship with the new kind
of wave of activism and organizing that is
happening.
That is unique and special and critical, so
I want to say thank you for that.
I also just want to say you are one of my
greatest teachers.
I have a bookshelf full of your writings.
There is something very special and powerful
about what you have offered to all of us.
This unapologetic way of making sure that
we understand how intricately connected race
and class and gender is, and then pushing
that up against the state and state apparatus
and having us understand how we need to fight
that with the relationship between race and
class and gender and shaping our strategies
and our movements, is unmatched, so I want
to thank you for that.
We all still have a lot of questions about
what's coming and what we can expect, and
it is powerful to be able to be learning with
you, alongside of you, and knowing that you
are right there with us ready to tear down
the walls, and the last thing I want to say
-- I mean, there's so many, but we don't have
a four-day segment.
We only have a couple of minutes, but the
work you have done to inform not just us but
this nation and this world about the carceral
state and how it operates, to make it plain
so that we can really enter in to dismantle
it is phenomenal.
You are not just a professor, you are an organizer,
and the institutions and organizations that
you have helped to create and that still kind
of flourish today and really form the bedrock
to us understanding how to fight police violence,
how to create a world where we can all be
safe in real time, and how to really protect
each other and stand up for each other is
really, really critical, and so I just want
to say thank you for that.
I want to say thank you for shaping not just
our ideas but the fights that we have on the
ground.
The people that are locked down in D.C. right
now have been influenced by you.
The people that are taking action all across
this country have been influenced by you,
and I hope your heart is warmed by knowing
that we all know that and knowing that we
are just so forever grateful to you.
