Eine Autobiographie

Angela Davis' autobiography, first published in 1974 by Toni Morrison, is a classic of the Black liberation movement. Now, nearly fifty years later, the book is being reissued, demonstrating how relevant anti-racist, feminist, and socialist struggles for freedom and justice still are today. In "An Autobiography," Angela Davis describes her life journey; she recounts her childhood on the so-called Dynamite Hill in Birmingham, Alabama, her work with the Communist Party, the Black Panther Party, and the Soledad Brothers, and how she went from being a professor to one of the FBI's most wanted individuals. When Toni Morrison suggested to the then 28-year-old Angela Davis that she write a book about her life, Davis was initially skeptical and did not want to contribute to the trend of individualizing history. Thus, she wrote a deeply political autobiography that never neglects to look outward into the world. "So I didn't really write about myself. I didn't measure the events of my own life by their personal significance. Rather, I tried to use the genre of autobiography to view my life in accordance with what I considered the political significance of my experiences." Brilliantly, passionately, and emphatically written, "An Autobiography" is an unforgettable account of a life committed to radical change.