Activist Angela Davis

For many Americans, Angela Davis remains frozen in a kind of countercultural amber – a remnant of the contentious 1960s and 1970s, a blast from the past.

Section:Gallery

Mon., Oct. 16, 2017

Activist Angela Davis attends the premiere of "Free Angela and All Political Prisoners" during the Toronto International Film Festival on Sunday Sept. 9, 2012 in Toronto.

Evan Agostini Invision
Angela Davis, first woman ever listed among the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, is escorted by two FBI agents after her arrest in New York on Oct. 13, 1970. She was being taken from FBI headquarters to the Women's House of Detention. Wanted in connection with the August 7 California courtroom kidnapping, she was arrested in a midtown New York motel.

David Pickoff Associated Press
Angela Davis is pictured in Marin County Superior Court, San Rafael, Calif., as she is held on charges of murder and kidnapping, 1971.
Angela Davis, 26, avowed Communist and a Black militant, sits with her attorneys John Abt and Margaret Burnham, left, waiting arrival of judge in Marin County Court at San Rafael, California on Wednesday, Dec. 23, 1970. Returned to San Rafael from New York on Tuesday, Miss Davis faces kidnap, murder and conspiracy charges as a result of an August shootout in which a Marin County Superior judge and three others were slain. Her arraignment has been continued until January 5 to allow her to choose a California attorney.

Anonymous Associated Press
Angela Davis raises her fist in a radical salute as she enters court for a bail hearing in San Rafael, Calif., on June 14, 1971. Her attorney, Howard Moore Jr., is at right. Davis was tried and acquitted on charges of supplying weapons for the failed 1970 escape attempt of prisoners from the Marin County courthouse. In that escape attempt, a judge and several prisoners were killed.
Angela Davis, the self-acclaimed communist and revolutionary, smiles at a news conference in her San Jose headquarters on Feb. 25, 1972, a day after she is released on $102,500 bail. Davis, who is to begin trial on murder, conspiracy and kidnap charges, has been in jail for 16 months after her arrest in connection with the escape attempt at Marin County Courthouse shoot-out in August, 1970.
Jailed revolutionary Angela Davis uses her hands to emphasize comments during an exclusive interview at the Palo Alto jail on Dec. 27, 1971, where she is being held. During the interview, she said if she were free, her first goal would be to abolish America's prison system.

Sal Veder Associated Press
Angela Davis raises her arms in greetings after being introduced by Henry Wins right, to the audience at "An evening with Angela Davis" benefit at New York's Madison Square Garden June 29, 1972. They are standing in a special bullet-proof four-sided clear plastic booth which was set in place on the Garden's stage for Davis' speech.

Giuseppe Anastasi Associated Press