Davis Links Freedom Movements to 2026 Realities
Angela Davis delivered a lecture at UC Berkeley's Zellerbach Hall on liberation movements and the song 'I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free.'
Updated on Nov. 4, 2026 in Dance
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Angela Davis delivered a lecture titled 'Movements for Liberation and Transfigurations of Freedom' at Zellerbach Hall on Oct. 28, 2026. The event was co-presented by Cal Performances and UC Berkeley Graduate Lectures and joined by Poulomi Saha, UC Berkeley associate professor of English.
Why it matters
The lecture connected historical movements against slavery, prison abolition and civil rights to present-day political developments, offering a framework for understanding collective agency. It is part of the Jefferson Memorial Lecture Series and The Program in Critical Theory at UC Berkeley.
Angela Davis, a professor emerita at UC Santa Cruz who has authored 11 books, was placed on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list during her activism career. The stub does not report attendance figures for the Zellerbach Hall event.
The players
Angela Davis
Angela Davis is a professor emerita at UC Santa Cruz and a longtime activist known for her work in Black liberation and feminist movements.
Poulomi Saha
Poulomi Saha is an associate professor of English and chair of the program in critical theory at UC Berkeley.
The details
Davis drew connections from Billy Taylor's song 'I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free,' which Nina Simone recorded in 1967, to slavery, prison abolition and civil rights. She offered examples from poetry, documentary films, stage plays, novels and songs, and the audience gave a standing ovation and observed a moment of silence for Dolores Huerta.
Timeline
1967: Nina Simone recorded 'I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free.'
1970s: Davis became a national figure through Black liberation and feminist movements.
Oct. 28, 2026: Davis delivered the lecture at Zellerbach Hall.
Legal Context
Davis's lecture draws on Nina Simone's 1967 recording, which framed freedom as an unfulfilled aspiration during the civil rights era. The lecture carries that theme forward by linking it to contemporary struggles over prison abolition and political change.
The lecture was presented at Zellerbach Hall through Cal Performances and UC Berkeley Graduate Lectures, offering a public event format for campus and community audiences. The stub does not indicate whether recordings or future sessions will be made available.
The takeaway
The lecture suggests that songs and cultural works can serve as frameworks for understanding ongoing struggles for freedom. Audiences can consider how historical movements inform present-day debates about justice and collective action.
Further reading
Explore more dance coverage for context on performance and cultural programming.
Source note: This article includes information reported by East Bay Express | Oakland, Berkeley & Alameda.
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