Customer Reviews

Angela Davis: An Autobiography

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book is a must read book, not only for the woman of color but for any American. The book is an in depth biography of how Angela Davis struggled and won against an establishment that oppressed her because of her political thoughts and beliefs. The one thing that this book does lack is a greater coverage of her personal life. It is mainly a book about her political life.

First off, for anyone who finds this book dry or boring, understand one thing: this is not pop fiction. You're not going to get neat drawn-out analogies that compares human struggle to a football game or any such nonsense. It's a very intelligent, articulate book that doesn't try to dumb down its message for the uninitiated. But it's also not rocket science. Read it with an open mind and any knowledge you may have of the 60's and 70's and you'll do just fine.

What is often misunderstood is that Ms. Davis did not like the idea of a 'personal' autobiography and was very reluctant to do the book in the first place. She didn't see herself as so special or disconnected in any way from the lives of the millions of struggling people that she and her struggle sought to better. So, she wrote a 'political' autobiography. Every facet of her own life that she chose to share with us is tied in some way to that struggle to bring dignity to the masses of human beings exploited throughout the world. What you walk away with after reading this book is how much she really does care the lives of people. It's not just a bunch of abstract ideas, neat theories, or some trivial intellectual excercise. It really is life and death issues. And she fought for the lives of many as if she would fight for her own.

I think the most important thing you walk away with, and what she wants you to walk away with, is a clear and powerful demonstration of just how much people can bring about real change when we work together collectively in mass and fight for what we believe is right. Time and time again, victory after victory, against what some would consider insurmountable odds, the will of the people were heard. Not because they elected some noble politician who changed it from within. And not because of the kindness of those in power. But because thousands of everyday people like you and me took to the streets and DEMANDED that obvious wrongs be made right. Anyone who takes for granted the 5-day work week, child labor laws, civil rights, humane working conditions, fair and equal compensation, should not take lightly the efforts of people throughout history like Ms. Angela Davis. We benefit from all those things because people got in the street, fought and died for those things. Check your history.

The bottom line is if you are looking for 'light' entertainment reading, you might not find it in this book. But, if you are politicially minded or even curious about the social environment of the 60's, this is a must read. If you care about the plight of black people and opressed people everywhere, get this book. If all you've ever known about revolution, black power struggle, and those damn communists is what you've read about in school or in the papers and you KNOW they're not telling the full story, get this book. Finally, if you know how messed up things are in this country but don't know what to do about it, your life will be changed by this book.

Peace!

A careful, political work of its time that has more to do with that challenging time in 1960s and 1970s America. It was written before the the current celebrity tell all genre of autobiography and might be less boring for those reading it in conjunction with other works of or about the times. One could wish for a newer work to put this dynamic thinker and political activist's life into perspective thirty years after the publication of An Autobiography, but one should not blame the author for creating a work of its time.

Angela Davis stands in my perspective as one of the most accomplished women of the postmodern era. This autobiography draws from her childhood to her young adulthood. Her account of prison life offers an unsentimental analysis of the sexual habits of women in prison. One factor that prevents me from giving this memoir a 5-star is her abandonment of her personal life as a woman. She focuses entirely on the black power movement. In closing, this memoir can offer women the strength to fight injustice but encouraging them to first empower themselves.

Not a particularly interesting or politically compelling book, except maybe to devout communists (are there any?) A radical departure from the left and just causes. Even Alexander Solzhenitsyn railed against her since she said she felt that USSR dissidents deserved imprisonment

One of the most socially divisive works I have ever read. In it Angela clearly continues establishment efforts to try to guilt trip America into giving her and other minorities a free pass to commit their own form of oppression in this day and age. Not worth the sitting required to read it.

I was really curious about Angela Davis,but I found this book really boring. It seemed really clinical and dry. I've read alot of autobiographies,and this one was really disappointing. She never really opened up.

The biography of the last greatblack activists of the 60's. Angelaproved that it is possible totake on the white establishmentand come out on top. Angela is the gift of blackamerica to all the downtroddenin this country. Read thisbiography of a real hero.

Ms.Davis has overcome so much and has led a charge.she takes on human concearns.she is a very bright Lady with alot of class.in a fair world she would have been President or at least Vice -President.cuz she has vision.a powerful book.

I have so much respect for Angela Davis. She has devoted her life to the struggle for human dignity. This book shows that she is extremely intelligent, articulate, and has a beautifull soul. After growing up hearing the establishments propoganda about Ms. Davis and the people's movement, it was refreshing to read the truth about the revolution in the words of a true revolutionary.