When I heard Angela Davis was coming to campus, I knew she’d bring many of her beliefs and opinions with her. I was excited to see where she would take her talk and what specific ideas she would mention throughout. She mentioned a lot of the history during the early to mid 1900’s and the struggles that she as well as countless other had to endure. She also did not fail to mention about how Dr. Martin Luther King gave a speech on our campus many years ago. I wish that I attended UNE during that time because who knows the things he talked about and the stories he shared that day of his personal trials and tribulations. Angela did not fail to mention the positive ways in which our country has moved forward since the segregation period. She talked about how our country currently has more women in congress than ever before and how she personally saw this change happen over her lifetime. Angela went even more in depth on Women’s rights and when talking she said some quotes that interested me. One was “we shouldn’t say black lives matter, we should say all lives matter.” Personally, I know many that wouldn’t agree with this quote. This is because they feel that minorities, Blacks and Hispanics in particular, are targeted and not put into the same situations for success as others receive. While I don’t disagree with what Angela said I do believe that sometimes it is harder to be successful in my shoes than it is for some of my other friends. Another thing Angela mentioned was that people who go to prison become more violent when in prison. I once read somewhere that it costs more to keep an individual in prison than to send a youngin to school. I think we should shift our focus from all about keeping the country “safe” to educating our young citizens. The more educated we are as a people to more we can continue to walk in the right direction. I am thankful that I got to witness such a great speech and I hope we can continue to bring individual such as Angela Davis back on campus.
