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“Art and Politics: An Interview with Angela Davis,” by Dan Augustine, from The Toot, January 16, 1981.
In 1976 Ray Mondini hired activist and writer Angela Davis as a faculty member in what was then called the “World Studies Department.” During her 15-year tenure at SFAI, Davis’ course titles included “The Women’s Movement, Past and Present,” “Women, Music and Social Struggles in the 20th Century,” “Marxism and Art,” “Art and Politics of the Black Experience,'' as well as lecturing on current events—from the U.S. invasion of Grenada to the television mini-series, “Roots.” In Dan Augustine’s 1981 interview for the student newspaper, The Toot, Davis voices her concerns about Ronald Reagan and the resurgence of racism, as well as speaks very fondly of her teacher, Herbert Marcuse, and the need to “fight against police crimes….and doing work around prisoner’s rights.” She also references the School’s “tuition waiver program,” the need for more diversity on campus, and her being the faculty advisor for the students’ “Ethnic Arts Collective.”
For more on Angela Davis and SFAI see this specific link to UC’s Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archives virtual Matrix exhibit: Orbits of Known and Unknown Objects: SFAI Histories, Matrix 277
With permission, SFAA is re-posting the emails Jeff Gunderson Librarian/Archivist Anne Bremer Memorial Library has been sending out since March 2020. Please enjoy this magnificent archive.