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A Small Room for a Huge Influence
A Small Room for a Huge Influence
by Olivia Knapp
Angela Davis Lounge, April 6, 2023, by Olivia Knapp
A leader of the Black Freedom Movement, a hero, and a professor. Angela Davis isn't afraid to spark controversy for causes she believes in. And that’s why a multicultural lounge in one of the University of Michigan’s biggest dorms is named in her honor.
Mary Markley Hall is home to nearly 1,200 students, yet only one space is designated for the appreciation and collaboration of different cultures – Angela Davis Minority Lounge (“Angela Davis Minority Lounge”). Many Markley residents, including myself, flock to this study space, filled with luxuries in such an otherwise outdated building – natural light and comfortable chairs. As I sit here, I wonder how a few tables and colorful chairs accompanied by a minimally stocked bookshelf suffice to honor the extent of Angela Davis’ leadership and impact on society.
The name Angela means “messenger,” and Angela Davis has been a perpetual messenger of education (“Angela”). As a teen, she organized interracial study groups that were disbanded by the police (“Angela Davis Minority Lounge”). She proceeded to teach at nine universities and has given lectures on six continents throughout her career. Davis is also the author of ten books concerning social injustices (“Watch Live”). The surname Davis means “beloved” (Whelehan). The Angela Davis Lounge is a testament to the fact that Davis is a beloved figure at UMich.
Photo of Angela Davis (2020). Photo courtesy clickondetroit.com
“Federal Bureau of Investigation, Angela Yvonne Davis Wanted poster,” (1970). Photo courtesy: caamuseum.org
Davis hasn’t always been such a beloved figure. She became a focus of the public eye in 1969 after losing her first teaching job at UCLA because of her seemingly "radical" political views, which included involvement in an all-black branch of the Communist Party that opposed the Vietnam War (“Angela Davis Minority Lounge”). She remained in the public eye when she became the third woman ever placed on the FBI’s ten most wanted list in 1970 over her falsely accused involvement in the death of a California judge (Roman). Once acquitted in 1972, Davis shifted her focus to abolishing the prison industrial complex and improving education to prevent incarceration (Mejías). Her current research concerns how communities most impacted by poverty and racism are affected by imprisonment (Zaniewski).
The theme of the 2020 MLK Symposium at U of M – the “(Mis)Education of US” – aligns perfectly with Davis’ current activism. While she has no direct connections to UMich outside of lecturing at the symposium, in her keynote speech at the event, she remarked, “I have fond memories of visiting this campus over the years, and for me, the Detroit area has always been a center for important movements.” The respect is mutual – so many people lined up to hear Davis speak at Hill Auditorium during the cold Ann Arbor winter that an overflow was held in the Rackham building. Davis emphasizes that MLK himself would acknowledge that it is not only he and other prominent figures in the Black Freedom Movement that led to change. Unnamed people like the maids at the Montgomery Bus Boycott led the movement to accomplish all it did (“Watch Live”).
Angela Davis MLK Jr. Symposium Speech, 2020, by Scott Soderberg. Photo courtesy mlive.com
Photograph of Artwork in Angela Davis Lounge, April 6, 2023, by Olivia Knapp
Since the space was rededicated to Angela Davis on October 17, 1991, there have been multiple instances in which the lounge was vandalized and had trophies stolen (Patel). But it is the unnamed students who use the Angela Davis Lounge as a space to immerse themselves in UMich’s diverse community that should be remembered, not the dark sides of the lounge’s history. Davis herself is not remembered for the obstacles in her journey. In fact, they only strengthened her passion for educational reform. The same should be true for her lounge. Davis urges that “it is important for us to… recognize that the agents of history are not so much the leaders and the spokespeople, but rather the masses of people who develop a collective imagination regarding the possibility for a new future” (Zaniewski). It doesn’t matter that the Angela Davis Lounge isn’t a massive space with ornate architecture or modern tech amenities. It's the people who use this space that suffice to honor the extent of Angela Davis’ impact on society.
Works Cited
“Angela.” The Bump, 31 March 2023, https://www.thebump.com/b/angela-baby-name. Accessed 6 April 2023.
“Angela Davis Minority Lounge.” Michigan Housing, https://housing.umich.edu/cultural-lounge/angela-davis/. Accessed 29 March 2023.
“Federal Bureau of Investigation, Angela Yvonne Davis Wanted poster,” California African American Museum, 18 August 1970. https://caamuseum.org/learn/600state/black-history/blackistory-on-june-4-1972-angela-yvonne-davis-is-acquitted-of-conspiracy-kidnapping-and-murder-in-the-death-of-marin-county-judge-harold-haley. Accessed 10 April 2023.
Knapp, Olivia. Photograph of Angela Davis Lounge. 6 April 2023. Author’s personal collection.
Knapp, Olivia. Photograph of Artwork in Angela Davis Lounge. 6 April 2023.
Author’s personal collection.
Mejías, Antonio. “How Angela Davis Ended Up on the FBI Most Wanted List.” How Angela Davis Ended Up on the FBI Most Wanted List, 25 January 2023, https://www.history.com/news/angela-davis-fbi-most-wanted-list. Accessed 6 April 2023.
Patel, Nirali. “UMich RA comes back to find Black History bulletin board vandalized.” The Michigan Daily, 18 April 2022, https://www.michigandaily.com/campus-life/umich-campus-community-reacts-to-r-a-bulletin-board-vandalism-raises-concerns-on-racism-and-housing/. Accessed 6 April 2023.
Pendell, Carlin. “Multicultural lounges reopen at the University of Michigan.” The Michigan Daily, 5 October 2022, https://www.michigandaily.com/campus-life/students-staff-look-forward-to-newly-renovated-michigan-housing-multicultural-lounges-this-fall/. Accessed 6 April 2023.
Photo of Angela Davis. clickondetroit.com. January 15, 2020,
https://www.clickondetroit.com/all-about-ann-arbor/2020/01/15/political-activist-angela-davis-to-keynote-university-of-michigans-34th-annual-mlk-symposium/. Accessed 6 April 2023.
Roman, Meredith L. “‘Armed and Dangerous’: The Criminalization of Angela Davis and the Cold War Myth of America’s Innocence.” Women, Gender, and Families of Color, vol. 8, no. 1, Champaign: University of Illinois Press, pp. 87–111,
doi: 10.5406/womgenfamcol.8.1.0087. Accessed 6 April 2023.
Soderberg, Scott. Angela Davis MLK Jr. Symposium speech. MLive.com, January 20, 2020,
https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/2020/01/angela-davis-stresses-power-of-local-organizing-in-um-mlk-keynote.html. Accessed 6 April 2023.
“Watch Live: MLK Symposium featuring keynote speaker Angela Davis.” Diversity, Equity & Inclusion | University of Michigan, 19 January 2020, https://diversity.umich.edu/news-features/news/watch-live-mlk-symposium-featuring-keynote-speaker-angela-davis/. Accessed 6 April 2023.
Whelehan, Avril. “Davis.” The Bump, 8 March 2023, https://www.thebump.com/b/davis-baby-name. Accessed 6 April 2023.
Zaniewski, Ann. “Angela Davis celebrates movement's unsung heroes in MLK keynote.” The University Record, 20 January 2020, https://record.umich.edu/articles/angela-davis-celebrates-movements-unsung-heroes-in-mlk-keynote/. Accessed 6 April 2023.
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