Some people will tell you it’s Angela Davis’ gift for words that made her a cultural icon. There’s no doubt this well educated sister can blow. Her words flowed from a new black consciousness, one that elevated the minds of black workers the same way the notes from Miles Davis’ horn did in the smoke filled bars where they gathered at the end of their shifts. Long before “Occupy Wall Street” became part of pop culture vernacular, Davis, an outspoken socialist, linked the oppression of workers globally to the social-economic inequities African-Americans labored under in the civil rights era. Her willingness to boldly speak truth to power catapulted her to national prominence and gave her a powerful voice among the mostly male leadership of the Black liberation movement.
While these accomplishments alone are sufficient to make Davis an iconic figure for some, it’s not the reason I admire her.
There are others who marvel at her exploits. Outside of comic books, rarely has a black woman’s struggle against the forces of class power and privilege been so deservedly labeled “badass”. Davis took on the prison-industrial complex, challenging them both with her words and actions. Unwilling to play it safe, she stepped out of the ivory tower of academia onto the battlefield; advocating on behalf of prisoners and drawing intense fire for her views. As if imbued with special powers befitting a “for real” superhero, Davis overcame seemingly insurmountable obstacles: she was placed on the FBI’s “10 Most Wanted List”, arrested and incarcerated for an extended period of time then tried on capital murder charges. Yet, in the end, she was victorious, winning both an acquittal and her freedom.
For many, Davis’ exploits are part of a modern mythology that inspires and instructs the masses on how to challenge “the man” and live to tell the tale; in their opinion, this feat alone makes her an icon. However, it’s not the reason for my “girl crush” on her.
The thing I remember most about Angela Davis “the
revolutionary” was her ‘fro. Like
many young, black girls of the 70’s, her politics eluded me. It would be years
before I grasped the significance of her role as a black activist. Davis’
statement hair was both frightening and alluring to those of us in the
button-down world of the “press and curl” set. Frightening because her huge,
gravity defying ‘fro was a public proclamation of the natural beauty of Black
women which was the opposite of the “Eurocentric” beauty standards we followed
back in the day. Alluring because
Davis, standing before the international media in her glorious ‘fro, brought a “sexy”,
“coolness” to the civil rights movement that black girls like me identified
with. Her nappy crown was a black “thing”. Something we all could do simply by
putting down the hot comb and abandoning perm kits. While we may not have
understood Davis’ politics, a lot of us copied her look. To our mothers, Coretta
Scott King, represented the ideal woman of the civil rights era but Angela Davis
with her wild ‘fro and lack of regard for fashion—embodied a different choice. Women who chose to follow in her footsteps would place greater value on what they said and did than what they wore. Still, even Davis, a savvy political figure, used the media to cultivate a look that became a successful, international brand.
The Angela Davis ‘fro stands on equal footing with the Che Guevara beret as a signature look for young, revolutionaries of color. It’s Davis’ iconic look and what it meant to me as a young black girl coming of age in a time of great social and cultural change that I celebrate.
When the documentary film, “Free Angela”, comes out in April, (for more information go to: black bloggers connect ), I plan to attend wearing a big ‘fro wig in keeping with the “retro” revolutionary look we’ll see on screen. It’s not Davis’ politics alone that will make me buy a movie ticket; I’m going to sit in the theater remembering the power of her visual--for me it’s the ‘fro stupid!