Revolutionary scholar and longtime activist Angela Davis delivered a powerful reflection on freedom, struggle, and collective liberation during a lecture at Tougaloo College.
She said Black history must be understood not only through trauma, but also through beauty, creativity, and joy forged in resistance.
Davis’ remarks opened a new lecture series hosted by Mississippi for a Just World (@ms4justworld) and were highlighted in a social media post shared by Black Joy (@readblackjoy). The event drew students, faculty, and community members eager to engage with Davis’ enduring scholarship on race, justice, and global liberation movements.
Speaking to the audience, Davis challenged long-standing narratives that frame slavery and oppression solely through violence and suffering. Referencing Nobel Prize–winning author Toni Morrison, Davis argued that such portrayals risk erasing the cultural and emotional resilience that sustained Black communities over centuries…