Dear friends,
as you will be aware, Angela Davis - an icon of the American Black resistance and struggle was to be award the Fred Shuttlesworth Human Rights Award by the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute in February. However, the award was hastily rescinded on 4 January, will little concrete explanation as to why. It has since come to light the a key reason is Davis' support for the Palestinian struggle and the BDS movement. (Please see my earlier post here).
A number of commentators and publications have made the argument that Davis is just the lastest Black solidarity activist to be targeted by Zionists for their solidarity with Palestine. I have included an articles addressing the issue from:
Other Black commentators and publications have also made the argument that the rescinding of the award to Davis shows by individuals and groups outside the Black community is an attempt to co-opt and control Black decision making and Black narratives.
In solidarity, Kim
*****
The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute has canceled its annual gala at which iconic Black scholar and activist Angela Davis was to receive a prestigious human rights award.
Randall Woodfin, the mayor of Birmingham, Alabama, expressed his “dismay” at the decision, which he said came “after protests from our local Jewish community and some of its allies.”
“The reactive decision of the BCRI did not create an opportunity for necessary consensus dialogue,” Woodfin added.
Davis is the latest prominent Black intellectual and outspoken supporter of Palestinian rights to be targeted by the Israel lobby.
Roy S. Johnson, a columnist for several Alabama newspapers, revealed Monday that those demanding the cancellation were “primarily – though not exclusively – from the city’s Jewish leadership, according to a source familiar with a decision that transpired quickly, and stunningly, in a span of just a few days.”
Last month, Southern Jewish Life, a communal publication serving southern states, ran an article criticizing the BCRI for honoring Davis, claiming that she is “an outspoken voice in the boycott-Israel movement, and advocates extensively on college campuses for the isolation of the Jewish state, saying Israel engages in ethnic cleansing and is connected to police violence against African Americans in the United States.”
While there is vocal and growing opposition to Israel’s policies among American Jews at large, the leaders of established Jewish communal groups, including the Birmingham Jewish Federation, tend to be strongly pro-Israel.
The Birmingham Jewish Federation was reportedly among the groups that pressured BCRI.
Others who pressured BCRI to ditch Davis reportedly included General Charles Krulak, a retired Marine commander and former president of Birmingham-Southern College.
Milstein
was named in a censored Al Jazeera documentary about the Israel lobby
leaked by The Electronic Intifada in November, as a founder and
financier of the anti-Palestinian smear website Canary Mission.
That same film, The Lobby–USA, also identified how Israel and its agents are targeting and attempting to co-opt Black leaders and activists in order to disrupt growing Black identification and solidarity with the Palestinian struggle.
Affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution, the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute was founded in 1992 to commemorate the city’s role in the struggle against institutionalized American racism.
In a statement Saturday, BCRI noted that in September its board “selected Angela Davis to receive the prestigious Fred Shuttlesworth Human Rights Award at its annual gala in February 2019.”
“Upon closer examination of Ms. Davis’ statements and public record, we concluded that she unfortunately does not meet all of the criteria on which the award is based,” BCRI stated.
“Therefore, on 4 January, BCRI’s Board voted to rescind its invitation to Ms. Davis to honor her with the Shuttlesworth Award.”
In November, Marc Lamont Hill was dismissed from his role as a CNN political commentator following an Israel lobby campaign of lies and smears misrepresenting a speech he made at the United Nations in support of Palestinian rights and BDS.
*****
***
“It’s actually quite exciting.… The issue of Palestinian human rights, and its relation to the struggle for civil rights for people of African descent in this country, is finally being discussed in an open way,” Davis told Democracy Now! on January 11, adding that the BCRI’s decision appears to be an effort to sabotage black solidarity with Palestine. “This was not primarily an assault against me as an individual; it was an assault against a whole generation of activists who have come to recognize how important internationalism is,” Davis said.
In its cryptic announcement on Saturday, January 5, the BCRI stated that individuals and organizations from “both inside and outside of our local community” had requested that the award to Davis be reconsidered. “Upon closer examination of Ms. Davis’ statements and public record, we concluded that she unfortunately does not meet all of the criteria on which the award is based,” but the BCRI did not specify what those criteria are. Several attempts to reach BCRI CEO Andrea Taylor were met with an initial willingness and then a drawn-out refusal to comment, as the story quickly became much more explosive than the BCRI likely anticipated.
Davis and others have cited an article in the Birmingham-based outlet Southern Jewish Life from December 23 criticizing the choice to honor Davis, penned by its editor, Larry Brook—who told The Nation he has been careful not to call her an anti-Semite. It outlines aspects of Davis’s activism and political opinions that are common knowledge, including her support for Palestinian-American Rasmea Odeh, her incarceration nearly 50 years ago, and her former membership in the Communist Party. Reports in the Alabama outlet AL.com named the Birmingham Jewish Federation as one of the organizations expressing dismay at the choice of Davis, along with the Birmingham Holocaust Education Center, which sent a letter to BCRI on January 2 specifying Davis’s support for BDS, which is “very troubling as it targets the Jewish people exclusively.” Both organizations were approached and refused to provide comment.
Maybe even more egregious than the BCRI decision itself is the fact that, as a museum dedicated to the heritage of the civil-rights movement and which honors figures who have spoken truth to power, it has left the matter shrouded in secrecy, dodging accountability and leaving plenty of room for speculation.
“The outrage has come from lack of transparency behind the decision,” DeJuana Thompson, a political organizer in Birmingham who grew up around the corner from Davis’s family, told The Nation. Thompson, who is part of the reconstituted Birmingham Committee for Truth and Reconciliation (it had been active at the height of the civil-rights movement in the 1960s), which is organizing an alternative event in February to honor Davis, said the news impacted her personally. “The BCRI has always held a significant place in my heart. It helped craft my activism learning about our leaders.… This is not the BCRI that I have known.”
For Thompson, the priority is honoring Davis in her hometown and showing that the BCRI decision does not speak for the community. “What I know to be true is that the silencing of black leaders and black women has been a perpetual thing—particularly in the South—for decades.” She says there is a diverse and inclusive group involved in organizing the alternative event, including Jewish residents.
Some media coverage, specifically reacting to Birmingham Mayor Woodfin’s initial statement attributing the decision to pressure from the “local Jewish community and some of its allies,” has presented a narrative in which Jews were collectively blamed for the decision.
Three of the BCRI’s top board members resigned on January 9, following protests from local activists who have called on the entire BCRI leadership to resign. The alternative, free, and open event to honor Davis—which she confirmed she will attend—has already been scheduled for February 16, the same date as the canceled BCRI gala. The Birmingham City Council unanimously approved a resolution of support for “the civil rights icon.”
The pro-BDS Jewish Voice for Peace circulated a letter of support for Davis signed by over 500 academics that specifies, “The decision seems to stem from a misinformed view that to advocate for Palestinian human rights is somehow offensive to the Jewish community.” The Jewish anti-occupation group IfNotNow, which does not endorse BDS, announced that it will award Davis a symbolic medal of honor, stating, “We cannot let the Jewish establishment and Christian Zionists use her support for Palestinian human rights as a reason to deny her the recognition she deserves.”
Even without all the facts out in the open, this incident is not occurring in a vacuum. It is the latest in a long-standing and widespread campaign to shut down those who are critical of Israeli policies and, specifically, those who promote Palestinian equal rights and BDS. Between 2014 and 2017, the nonprofit organization Palestine Legal dealt with nearly 1,000 incidents of censorship, intimidation, and suppression targeting speech supportive of Palestinian rights. “The Klan used to try and terrorize people who spoke out against racial terror and racial segregation, and unfortunately, the same tactics are being used here,” says Alicia Garza, co-founder of Black Lives Matter and strategy and partnerships director with the National Domestic Workers Alliance.
as you will be aware, Angela Davis - an icon of the American Black resistance and struggle was to be award the Fred Shuttlesworth Human Rights Award by the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute in February. However, the award was hastily rescinded on 4 January, will little concrete explanation as to why. It has since come to light the a key reason is Davis' support for the Palestinian struggle and the BDS movement. (Please see my earlier post here).
A number of commentators and publications have made the argument that Davis is just the lastest Black solidarity activist to be targeted by Zionists for their solidarity with Palestine. I have included an articles addressing the issue from:
- Electronic Intifada by Palestinian-American writer and activist Ali Abunimah
- Washington Informer by African American political commentator
- The Nation by Mairav Zonszein, an Israeli-American Jewish political writer and activist.
Other Black commentators and publications have also made the argument that the rescinding of the award to Davis shows by individuals and groups outside the Black community is an attempt to co-opt and control Black decision making and Black narratives.
In solidarity, Kim
*****
Angela Davis is latest Black target of Israel lobby
Lobby Watch 7 January 2019/ Electronic Intifada
The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute has canceled its annual gala at which iconic Black scholar and activist Angela Davis was to receive a prestigious human rights award.
Randall Woodfin, the mayor of Birmingham, Alabama, expressed his “dismay” at the decision, which he said came “after protests from our local Jewish community and some of its allies.”
“The reactive decision of the BCRI did not create an opportunity for necessary consensus dialogue,” Woodfin added.
Davis is the latest prominent Black intellectual and outspoken supporter of Palestinian rights to be targeted by the Israel lobby.
Roy S. Johnson, a columnist for several Alabama newspapers, revealed Monday that those demanding the cancellation were “primarily – though not exclusively – from the city’s Jewish leadership, according to a source familiar with a decision that transpired quickly, and stunningly, in a span of just a few days.”
Last month, Southern Jewish Life, a communal publication serving southern states, ran an article criticizing the BCRI for honoring Davis, claiming that she is “an outspoken voice in the boycott-Israel movement, and advocates extensively on college campuses for the isolation of the Jewish state, saying Israel engages in ethnic cleansing and is connected to police violence against African Americans in the United States.”
While there is vocal and growing opposition to Israel’s policies among American Jews at large, the leaders of established Jewish communal groups, including the Birmingham Jewish Federation, tend to be strongly pro-Israel.
The Birmingham Jewish Federation was reportedly among the groups that pressured BCRI.
Others who pressured BCRI to ditch Davis reportedly included General Charles Krulak, a retired Marine commander and former president of Birmingham-Southern College.
Support
for Palestinians
Angela
Davis, a Birmingham native, has long been an outspoken supporter of
Palestinian rights and an advocate of the BDS – boycott, divestment
and sanctions – movement to hold Israel accountable for its
violations and crimes against Palestinians.
Davis has also stood up for Rasmea Odeh, the Palestinian activist and torture survivor deported from the US in 2017 following a conviction for immigration fraud.
Adam Milstein, a major financier of anti-Palestinian groups, took note of the BCRI’s decision on Twitter:
st Davis has also stood up for Rasmea Odeh, the Palestinian activist and torture survivor deported from the US in 2017 following a conviction for immigration fraud.
Adam Milstein, a major financier of anti-Palestinian groups, took note of the BCRI’s decision on Twitter:
Milstein
was named in a censored Al Jazeera documentary about the Israel lobby
leaked by The Electronic Intifada in November, as a founder and
financier of the anti-Palestinian smear website Canary Mission.That same film, The Lobby–USA, also identified how Israel and its agents are targeting and attempting to co-opt Black leaders and activists in order to disrupt growing Black identification and solidarity with the Palestinian struggle.
Affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution, the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute was founded in 1992 to commemorate the city’s role in the struggle against institutionalized American racism.
In a statement Saturday, BCRI noted that in September its board “selected Angela Davis to receive the prestigious Fred Shuttlesworth Human Rights Award at its annual gala in February 2019.”
“In
late December, supporters and other concerned individuals and
organizations, both inside and outside of our local community, began
to make requests that we reconsider our decision,” BCRI added,
without naming or further characterizing the groups or their
objections.
“Upon closer examination of Ms. Davis’ statements and public record, we concluded that she unfortunately does not meet all of the criteria on which the award is based,” BCRI stated.
“Therefore, on 4 January, BCRI’s Board voted to rescind its invitation to Ms. Davis to honor her with the Shuttlesworth Award.”
Targeting
Black voices
Davis
is the second high-profile Black intellectual to be targeted by
pro-Israel lobby pressure in recent weeks.
In November, Marc Lamont Hill was dismissed from his role as a CNN political commentator following an Israel lobby campaign of lies and smears misrepresenting a speech he made at the United Nations in support of Palestinian rights and BDS.
Temple
University also faced pressure from the Zionist Organization of
America to dismiss Hill as a professor – a step it has not taken
amid warnings that this would violate Hill’s First Amendment
rights.
Hill called BCRI’s decision to withdraw its award from Davis “shameful.”
Hill is one of many people expressing consternation at BCRI’s decision to disinvite Davis who is widely recognized as a groundbreaking Black radical theorist, prison abolitionist and anti-racism activist who throughout her life has faced institutional pressure and persecution for her stances.
Hill called BCRI’s decision to withdraw its award from Davis “shameful.”
Hill is one of many people expressing consternation at BCRI’s decision to disinvite Davis who is widely recognized as a groundbreaking Black radical theorist, prison abolitionist and anti-racism activist who throughout her life has faced institutional pressure and persecution for her stances.
Alabama
columnist Roy S. Johnson also condemned the decision as an insult to
the memory of Fred Shuttlesworth, the preacher and leader in the
struggle against segregation for whom the BCRI award is
named.
Shuttlesworth, Johnson wrote, “would not have bowed to anyone trying to dissuade him from honoring someone who fought the same fight – even if they fought with a different fervor, even if they were decidedly more revolutionary.”
But by disinviting Davis, Johnson added, “one of our most venerable cultural institutions, the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, did just that – it crumbled.”
Shuttlesworth, Johnson wrote, “would not have bowed to anyone trying to dissuade him from honoring someone who fought the same fight – even if they fought with a different fervor, even if they were decidedly more revolutionary.”
But by disinviting Davis, Johnson added, “one of our most venerable cultural institutions, the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, did just that – it crumbled.”
*****
MALVEAUX: Shame and Shade in Birmingham
If
anyone deserves a civil rights award, Angela Davis certainly does.
The activist and scholar has been on the front lines of the civil
rights movement all of her life. She has been especially active in
prison reform matters, but she has also been involved in other civil
and human rights issues.
When
I learned in October that she would get the Fred Shuttlesworth Human
Rights Award from the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, I was
absolutely delighted. I imagined the wide smile the daughter of
Birmingham must have flashed when she learned that she would be
honored.
Everyone
in Birmingham wasn’t thrilled, though. Some people in the
conservative Southern town seemed disturbed that she had been a
member of both the Black Panther Party and the Communist Party.
Others were concerned about her support of the BDS (Boycott,
Divestment and Sanctions) movement against the Israeli occupation.
She has said that she stands in solidarity with the Palestinian
people, and advocates for their fair treatment in Israel.
Some
ill-informed people consider the BDS movement to be anti-Semitic.
They suggest that any questions that one raises about Israel shows a
bias against Jewish people. But Davis, a lifelong human rights
activist, is concerned about the humanity of Palestinian people, as
well as other people.
And
she is rightfully concerned, as many of us are, about the spate of
laws recently passed that downright outlaw the BDS movement.
According to the Middle East Monitor, a teacher in Texas, Bahia
Amawl, refused to sign an oath that required her to pledge that she
“does not currently boycott Israel,” that she will not boycott
Israel and that she will “refrain from any action that is intended
to penalize, inflict economic harm on, or limit commercial relations
with Israel.”
Texas
is among some 25 states that have passed laws forbidding the state
from doing business with companies that boycott Israel! It will also
not invest pension funds in companies that support BDS. Thirteen more
states as well as Washington, D.C., have similar laws to the Texas
law pending, pitting people’s First Amendment rights of free speech
against support for Israel. And Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, in the
middle of a government shutdown, had the nerve to introduce national
legislation that mirrors the Texas law (actually, Illinois was the
first state to pass this discriminatory law).
Lots
of people in Birmingham aren’t having it. Though the Civil Rights
Institute has rescinded its award to Davis, there has been
significant protest about the decision. Birmingham Mayor Randall
Woodfin, who is a nonvoting member of the institute’s board and did
not participate in the decision to rescind the award (the city
provides the institute with about $1 million year in operating funds)
has expressed his dismay about the decision. Three board members have
resigned from the board. And Alabama columnist Roy S. Johnson has
written a fiery column accusing the Civil Rights Institute of
insulting Rev. Shuttlesworth and staining its own legacy. Johnson
says the Birmingham Jewish community may have been the loudest folks
pushing for Davis’ award to be rescinded, but not the only ones.
Who
rescinds an award after it has been granted for statements that were
not recently made, but are a matter of record? Angela Davis has long
been an outspoken activist, just like Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth was.
Nothing had been changed from the time Davis was notified of the
award and Jan. 4, when it was rescinded. The BCRI did not have to
honor Davis, but their canceling the award is a special kind of
insult. Fortunately, Davis has a thick skin, and she knows exactly
who she is. She didn’t cringe when then-California Gov. Ronald
Reagan had her fired from UCLA for her membership in the Communist
Party. She didn’t flinch when she was incarcerated for a crime she
did not commit. And she will not tremble because the BCRI rescinded
the award.
Indeed,
demonstrating the indomitable spirit that she is known for, Angela
Davis will travel to Birmingham in February for an alternative event.
And the Birmingham Civil Rights Museum has egg on its face. That city
showed a young Angela Davis who they were when the Four Little Girls,
some of whom she knew, were killed at the 16 Street Baptist Church in
Birmingham. And they are showing her who they are once again. Shame
and shade!
Unfortunately,
I’m not surprised. One of the founders of the Women’s March has
demanded the resignations of Tamika Mallory and Linda Sarsour because
they attended one of Minister Louis Farrakhan’s Savior’s Days.
Marc Lamont Hill lost his CNN commentary gig because he spoke up for
Palestinian rights. Alice Walker has been criticized because she
supports BDS. Now Angela Davis is being denied an award. When is
enough going to be enough?
For
the record, I support Palestinian rights. And I support Israel’s
right to exist. Are the two incompatible? I think not. The one-state
solution, with a right to return, and full citizenship rights for
Palestinians makes sense. But Israel is not about to budge, and BDS
as an attempt to influence it. States passing laws to outlaw free
speech erodes the first principle of our Constitution and undercut
the actions at the very foundation of our nation. Remember the folks
who dumped tea into the Boston Harbor because of an unfair tax? Today
that action might be against the law!
***
The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute’s Insult to Angela Davis Has Boomeranged
Scholars, activists, and grassroots organizers have flocked to her defense, a testament to the growing strength of intersectional solidarity for Palestinian rights.
By Mairav Zonszein
January 15, 2019/The Nation
It
has been nearly two weeks since the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute
walked back its decision to honor renowned scholar, civil-rights
activist, and Birmingham, Alabama, native Angela Davis with its
annual Fred L. Shuttlesworth Human Rights Award, and yet the BCRI
remains embarrassingly silent over what led to the withdrawal. It
issued a statement on January 14 through an external PR firm, which
is apparently handling all further media inquiries, in which it
assumed responsibility and apologized for the poor handling of the
award and its aftermath. “In hindsight, more time, conversation and
consideration of diverse viewpoints should have informed our decision
to rescind our nomination, and we were silent for too long
afterward.”
Davis,
Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin, and local reports all indicate the
decision was largely, though not exclusively, due to pressure from
Jewish individuals and organizations over Davis’s outspokenness on
Palestinian human rights and vocal support for boycott, divestment,
and sanctions (BDS) against Israel.
“It’s actually quite exciting.… The issue of Palestinian human rights, and its relation to the struggle for civil rights for people of African descent in this country, is finally being discussed in an open way,” Davis told Democracy Now! on January 11, adding that the BCRI’s decision appears to be an effort to sabotage black solidarity with Palestine. “This was not primarily an assault against me as an individual; it was an assault against a whole generation of activists who have come to recognize how important internationalism is,” Davis said.
In its cryptic announcement on Saturday, January 5, the BCRI stated that individuals and organizations from “both inside and outside of our local community” had requested that the award to Davis be reconsidered. “Upon closer examination of Ms. Davis’ statements and public record, we concluded that she unfortunately does not meet all of the criteria on which the award is based,” but the BCRI did not specify what those criteria are. Several attempts to reach BCRI CEO Andrea Taylor were met with an initial willingness and then a drawn-out refusal to comment, as the story quickly became much more explosive than the BCRI likely anticipated.
Davis and others have cited an article in the Birmingham-based outlet Southern Jewish Life from December 23 criticizing the choice to honor Davis, penned by its editor, Larry Brook—who told The Nation he has been careful not to call her an anti-Semite. It outlines aspects of Davis’s activism and political opinions that are common knowledge, including her support for Palestinian-American Rasmea Odeh, her incarceration nearly 50 years ago, and her former membership in the Communist Party. Reports in the Alabama outlet AL.com named the Birmingham Jewish Federation as one of the organizations expressing dismay at the choice of Davis, along with the Birmingham Holocaust Education Center, which sent a letter to BCRI on January 2 specifying Davis’s support for BDS, which is “very troubling as it targets the Jewish people exclusively.” Both organizations were approached and refused to provide comment.
Maybe even more egregious than the BCRI decision itself is the fact that, as a museum dedicated to the heritage of the civil-rights movement and which honors figures who have spoken truth to power, it has left the matter shrouded in secrecy, dodging accountability and leaving plenty of room for speculation.
“The outrage has come from lack of transparency behind the decision,” DeJuana Thompson, a political organizer in Birmingham who grew up around the corner from Davis’s family, told The Nation. Thompson, who is part of the reconstituted Birmingham Committee for Truth and Reconciliation (it had been active at the height of the civil-rights movement in the 1960s), which is organizing an alternative event in February to honor Davis, said the news impacted her personally. “The BCRI has always held a significant place in my heart. It helped craft my activism learning about our leaders.… This is not the BCRI that I have known.”
For Thompson, the priority is honoring Davis in her hometown and showing that the BCRI decision does not speak for the community. “What I know to be true is that the silencing of black leaders and black women has been a perpetual thing—particularly in the South—for decades.” She says there is a diverse and inclusive group involved in organizing the alternative event, including Jewish residents.
Some media coverage, specifically reacting to Birmingham Mayor Woodfin’s initial statement attributing the decision to pressure from the “local Jewish community and some of its allies,” has presented a narrative in which Jews were collectively blamed for the decision.
The
Forward,
for example, had a short news item with the misleading and
inflammatory headline, “Birmingham Mayor Blames Only Some Jews for
Angela Davis Controversy.” The mayor, who is also an ex-officio
member of the BCRI board, issued another statement
in which he clarified that he was not suggesting that the entire
Jewish community pressured the BCRI, as it is “not monolithic in
thought,” and emphasized that this is not a “clash of cultures,
ethnic groups, or races” but rather a crisis in the BCRI
leadership. He requested that BCRI release to the public the minutes
of its board meetings from September to January 5, and also issue an
apology to the community-at-large for its poor handling of the
situation. (The City of Birmingham is the BCRI’s largest donor.)
Three of the BCRI’s top board members resigned on January 9, following protests from local activists who have called on the entire BCRI leadership to resign. The alternative, free, and open event to honor Davis—which she confirmed she will attend—has already been scheduled for February 16, the same date as the canceled BCRI gala. The Birmingham City Council unanimously approved a resolution of support for “the civil rights icon.”
The pro-BDS Jewish Voice for Peace circulated a letter of support for Davis signed by over 500 academics that specifies, “The decision seems to stem from a misinformed view that to advocate for Palestinian human rights is somehow offensive to the Jewish community.” The Jewish anti-occupation group IfNotNow, which does not endorse BDS, announced that it will award Davis a symbolic medal of honor, stating, “We cannot let the Jewish establishment and Christian Zionists use her support for Palestinian human rights as a reason to deny her the recognition she deserves.”
Even without all the facts out in the open, this incident is not occurring in a vacuum. It is the latest in a long-standing and widespread campaign to shut down those who are critical of Israeli policies and, specifically, those who promote Palestinian equal rights and BDS. Between 2014 and 2017, the nonprofit organization Palestine Legal dealt with nearly 1,000 incidents of censorship, intimidation, and suppression targeting speech supportive of Palestinian rights. “The Klan used to try and terrorize people who spoke out against racial terror and racial segregation, and unfortunately, the same tactics are being used here,” says Alicia Garza, co-founder of Black Lives Matter and strategy and partnerships director with the National Domestic Workers Alliance.
n Sunday, the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute announced that it was rescinding the 2019 Fred Shuttlesworth Human Rights Award it previously planned to grant to Black Power icon Angela Davis, and cancelling the annual fundraising gala where it is presented.
While the BCRI did not give a specific reason for the decision, local reporting and a statement from Davis herself suggests that the decision was made in response to complaints about Davis’ broad history of revolutionary politics — specifically opposition to her advocacy for Palestinian human rights.
While statements from BCRI claim opposition to Davis’ award came from all sides, local coverage of the decision and a statement from Birmingham’s Mayor (who sits on a governing body of BCRI), indicate that the pressure to rescind the award may have come in part from within the Birmingham Jewish community, as well as from white Christians conservatives, some of whom position themselves as “allies” of the Jewish community.
Many in the Jewish community are rightfully shocked and embarrassed at the idea that groups claiming to speak for us could have played a role in a prestigious and well-earned award being stripped from a Black icon like Angela Davis.
Read more: https://forward.com/opinion/417289/why-jewish-organizations-should-not-be-tearing-down-angela-davis/
While the BCRI did not give a specific reason for the decision, local reporting and a statement from Davis herself suggests that the decision was made in response to complaints about Davis’ broad history of revolutionary politics — specifically opposition to her advocacy for Palestinian human rights.
While statements from BCRI claim opposition to Davis’ award came from all sides, local coverage of the decision and a statement from Birmingham’s Mayor (who sits on a governing body of BCRI), indicate that the pressure to rescind the award may have come in part from within the Birmingham Jewish community, as well as from white Christians conservatives, some of whom position themselves as “allies” of the Jewish community.
Many in the Jewish community are rightfully shocked and embarrassed at the idea that groups claiming to speak for us could have played a role in a prestigious and well-earned award being stripped from a Black icon like Angela Davis.
Read more: https://forward.com/opinion/417289/why-jewish-organizations-should-not-be-tearing-down-angela-davis/
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