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.