Activist and educator Angela Davis led the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Lecture on Monday night — a lecture series honoring his legacy — in which she focused on relevant issues, including racism, persecution and fascism.
“Our world is always changing; history never stops unfolding,” Davis said.
The Bailey Hall event was a collaboration led by the Office of Spirituality and Meaning-Making, Black Student Empowerment, the Gender Justice Advocacy Coalition and several other Cornell and local organizations. Davis’ lecture, titled “The Struggle for Liberation Today,” was sold out, with a live-stream option available and a significant standby line.
Davis is known for her membership in the Black Panther Party and Communist Party. Davis came out as a lesbian in 1997 and has spotlighted the intersectionality between race, gender and class in her activism.
She founded Critical Resistance, a non-profit that aims to end the prison industrial complex by closing California prisons and offering education opportunities. Davis is currently a distinguished professor emerita at the University of California, Santa Cruz in the feminist studies and history of consciousness departments.
The event opened with an acapella rendition of the traditional spiritual hymn “Ride On, King Jesus.” The audience stood as the singers performed “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” the Black National Anthem initially written as a poem by James Weldon Johnson, leader of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
Sharifa Wip, associate dean of students and director of Black Student Empowerment and the co-chair of the lecture, welcomed audience members.
“We gather here tonight in the spirit of liberation, in the pursuit of justice and in celebration of Black History Month,” Wip said.
As she began her lecture, Davis referenced the current political climate, including the election of President Donald Trump, the conflict between Israel and Palestine and the renewed need to stand up for social justice issues in the United States. Davis emphasized that the struggle for freedom is a “collective practice” and the importance of women — especially Black women — and queer people in the fight for freedom.
“It’s about recognizing the power, the power that we can generate,” Davis said.
Davis spoke extensively about her work as a Palestinian solidarity activist. In response, the audience broke out in cheers of “Free, free Palestine,” which Davis encouraged and joined. She referred back to her time as a student at Brandeis University, where her Palestinian activism started. She congratulated Cornell activists for their continued critique of “the anti-democratic forces of the State of Israel,” despite the “banishing” of protestors.
Regarding Trump’s victory in the election, Davis said, “We will not be complicit in the kind of fascist program he’s trying to place [in the United States].”
Davis noted that more people did not vote in the 2024 presidential election than voted for either of the major party candidates, explaining that her decision to vote for Kamala Harris “wasn’t about who [she] liked or didn’t like.” Despite her “distaste” for Harris’ “political positions,” her decision was based on who she wanted “to fight with” and “engage.”
“We’re gonna fight with whoever is elected, but we can choose the parameters of that fight,” Davis said.
To finish, she called for the audience to “dismantle unjust systems” and “build a new world” around issues of immigrant deportations, abortion access, incarceration, transgender rights and Palestine.
“We stand together in this fight and I know that we will ultimately win,” Davis said.
After the lecture, Student Assembly Undesignated Representative-At-Large Karys Everett ’25 ran a question-and-answer session with Davis. The session included questions about student expression on Cornell’s campus, the University’s response to sexual assault on campus and what fascism means to Davis.
When Everett asked about continuing activism despite “blocks” placed against pro-Palestinian work by the University on campus, Davis offered advice about bravery.
“Being afraid doesn’t mean that we can’t act,” Davis said. “We can do the work and still be afraid.”
The event concluded with a standing ovation for Davis.
Local organizer Ariana Taylor-Stanley stood outside Bailey Hall distributing flyers for the Tompkins County Showing Up for Racial Justice Redistributing White Wealth Campaign.
“We’re so excited that Dr. Angela Davis is speaking in Ithaca,” Taylor-Stanley told the Sun. “We knew that lots of folks would be coming out to listen to her wisdom and learn more about this moment and what the struggle for racial justice looks like right now.”
Everett expressed that when “one is given the opportunity to be platformed,” they should do so to “advocate for those who are being oppressed by people in power.”
“The importance of figures such as Angela Davis on campus cannot be overstated,” Everett wrote in an email to The Sun. “I hope that students feel empowered to stand up for people rather than defending institutions. It is everyone’s place to care about subjugated people.”
Evelyn Mullen Walsh ’27 is a Sun contributor and can be reached at [email protected].