Catalogue Number
1992.1122
Object Name
badge
Title
'Free Angela and all political prisoners'
Place
Soledad Prison, California, USA
People
Angela Davis, Soledad Brothers
Events
Soledad Brothers Trial, Angela Davis Trial
Description
Orange badge with black text 'Free Angela and all political prisoners' surrounding a picture of Angela Davis' face.
Political theorist, academic and civil rights activist, Angela Davis, led the Soledad Brothers Defense Committee. The Soledad Brothers were three Black prisoners at Soledad Prison, California. George Jackson, Fleeta Drumgo, and John Clutchette, who were charged with murdering a prison guard in 1970. The guard was killed after another guard, Opie Miller, had been found not guilty of the murders of three Black prisoners when he fired into a recreation yard without warning during a yard fight. Racism from the prison guards was an endemic problem within the prison. Jackson, Drumgo and Clutchette were charged with first degree homicide - the evidence for the charges was weak, and Drumgo and Clutchette were found not guilty at trial. Jackson was not tried as he died after being shot by another prison guard while awaiting trial.
Davis was arrested during the campaign to free the Soledad Brothers following an incident where George Jackson's brother used guns she owned to take hostages in a courtroom, in an attempt to force the state to free the three men. A judge was killed during this incident. Davis was not present in the court, and did not participate in Jackson's actions. However, she was arrested on charges of murder, kidnapping and criminal conspiracy. These charges provoked international political outcry as they were clearly politically motivated. Davis was found not guilty, and continues to write and lecture on antiracism, and prisoners rights to this day, among many other causes.
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