Angela Davis' Fearless Fist Pump and Sudden Sob

When I look at images or video footage of the 1970s, Angela Davis, pumping her fist immediately comes to mind. For someone who was born later in the decade and did not have the opportunity to experience this moment in time, it has often appeared to be a time of  effortless fearlessness; a rare opportunity for an African-American woman to be sexy and an intellectual. 

But today, at 36, I know that it couldn't have been so easy to be sexy and an intellectual. It couldn't have been easy to be fearless. And it couldn't have been easy to be Davis. 

On June 4, 1972, the political activist and professor  was acquitted of murder, kidnapping and criminal conspiracy charges. For almost two years, Davis, who was an ally of the Black Panther Party,  awaited trial.  If convicted, Davis would have faced the death penalty for her alleged involvement in the murder of a Marin County judge. 

An article published in The New York Times provides a detailed summary of Davis' arrest, trial and subsequent acquittal. And it was this article that provided me with a glimpse of how uneasy it was to be Angela Davis in 197-anything. These words struck home the most: 

Miss Davis, who had shown little emotion through the 13 weeks of the trial, broke into sobs after the last verdict had been read. "This is the happiest day of my life," she later exclaimed.

Sobs? Angela Davis?  In photographs that I have seen of Davis during the Black Power Movement, she often appears stoic and (in some cases) depicted as menacing or dangerous. Never once have I thought of Davis as a woman whose life was on the line. I'd never thought of her as someone who lost so much (her professorship) because of her beliefs. I'd never thought of her as fearful.

Yet, the news account (whether intentional or not) showed her humanity in a way that I don't know if many people will ever understand.

So now when I think of Davis, I think of resilience.