She was a countercultural political leader in an era of change, held a spot on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List, and was a woman charged, arrested, incarcerated, tried, and acquitted of homicide, kidnapping, and conspiracy.
Angela Davis’ life, political associations, and trial are all outlined in the 2012 critically acclaimed documentary “Free Angela and All Political Prisoners,” directed by documentary filmmaker Shola Lynch. Lynch introduced her film at the Alamo Drafthouse on Tuesday as apart of the Texas Tech University International Film Series, presented by the College of Media & Communication’s Department of Journalism & Electronic Media, and the African American History Month Lecture Series.
Filmmaker Shola Lynch, right, speaks with Texas Tech University Professor Paul Hunton during a public Q&A session in the College of Media & Communication on Tuesday.
Lynch participated in multiple Q&A sessions. The earlier interview was held in the College of Media & Communication, hosted by Instructor Paul Hunton, KTTZ-TV unit manager and video production specialist, prior to the presentation of her film. Associate Professor Robert Peaslee, interim department chair of journalism and electronic media & communication, hosted another Q&A after the showing at the theater.
“For me, this film is a political crime drama with a love story at its center,” Lynch said, addressing the art of storytelling. “If Angela made this film, it would be totally political, with just a list of names and issues.”
“Free Angela and All Political Prisoners” begins with photographs and film of Aug. 7, 1970, the day of the Marin County courthouse incident.
According to the film, Jonathan Jackson, 17, armed with multiple guns, took control of a courtroom in Marin County, California. Jackson then armed the two African-American convicts and took Judge Harold Haley, the prosecutor, and three jurors hostage. A shootout with the police left Jackson, Haley, and the convicts killed by gunfire.
Davis had purchased guns involved in the incident. She had also been mailing and receiving emotional love letters from Jackson’s brother, inmate George Jackson.
Backtracking, the film shapes Davis’ background, a highly intelligent student who became involved with political activism, witnessing the wheels of racial and economical change.
“The world is changing; my world is changing,” Davis was quoted in the film, “and I want to be a part of it.”
According to the film, controversy surrounded Davis as she began teaching philosophy at the University of California, Los Angeles. Her personal stigma was mainly due to her membership in the Community Party and association with the Black Panthers. This infamy even drew about 2,000 students to her first lecture, but Davis was soon fired from her position for her political beliefs.
Weaving together firsthand accounts from photographers, journalists, personal friends of the activist, and Davis herself, the film then frames the story of Davis on the run from the FBI, knowing racial and political prejudice would skew her case. Throughout the process of her incarceration, trial, and after her eventual acquittal, speculation from the press and the public surrounded Davis.
Filmmaker Shola Lynch, right, speaks to Professor Robert Peaslee, Texas Tech University department chair for journalism and electronic media and communication, and the audience after the showing of her film at the Alamo Drafthouse on Tuesday.
“I don’t care whether you like or dislike her,” Lynch said after the showing of her film. “I don’t care whether you agree or disagree with her, but she really makes you think about certain things, and I think there’s real value in that.”
The filmmaker noted she believes our society’s stories are of upmost value culturally.
“When I entered this, I wasn’t sure I would ever get to a point where I would like her,” Lynch said with a laugh. “How do you go from being a philosopher grad, a nerd, to being a national political icon chased by the FBI? I didn’t understand. It was that curiosity that kept me engaged with getting to know the story.”
According to Lynch, she was surprised in researching Davis to discover the activist is naturally shy. While outspoken about policy, Davis is reserved with her personal life.
“I got to know her with the interview with her, but also the interviews with other people,” said Lynch, winner of the 2014 National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Image Award for Excellence for Best Documentary. “It is that collective storytelling.”
Lynch explained she enjoys audiences leaving the theater questioning, “What is justice? What is fairness? Who is a terrorist? Who isn’t?”
“We should not shut down the people that make us uncomfortable,” Lynch said to the audience, who met her statement with a vigorous wave of applause. “We should sit through it and process and see what we can learn from it and take what’s useful and leave the rest.”
Davis is scheduled to speak Thursday evening at the Museum of Texas Tech University as a part of the African-American Lecture Series held this month.
The Texas Tech College Republicans are currently petitioning the university to withhold Davis’ pay of $12,000, hoping to bar her from speaking entirely. The Facebook page, “Texas Tech College Republicans” shares their petition, “Do not pay Angela Davis $12,000 to speak at Texas Tech,” hosted on petitioning website www.change.org.
About Allison Terry
