Angela Davis and Jackie Kay

Not a great photo, but I wanted to include it in my journal to mark the occasion when I saw two amazing women in conversation as part of this year’s Manchester Literature Festival online.

Jackie Kay is one of my favourite poets, prose writers and human beings. For the past 4 years she’s been the Scottish Makar (or Poet Laureate) and deservedly so. I’ve been lucky enough to see her perform her poetry on a number of occasions and she’s such a warm, funny and engaging person - just being in a room with her feels like being given a big hug, which we can certainly all do with at the moment.

Her warmth was barely dulled by her appearance ‘in digital form only’ today, interviewing her childhood idol - the philosopher, academic, author and activist Angela Davis, 50 years after her arrest for kidnapping, murder and criminal conspiracy. Spoiler alert: she didn’t do any of it!

Both women were raised by Communist parents and although their backgrounds are very different in other ways, they certainly have many shared experiences as women of colour, writers and thinkers. 

Kay is clearly as much of a fan girl now as she was when she had a ‘Free Angela Davis’ poster on her bedroom wall as a child, but the conversation felt very much like a mutual love-in, as they discussed the events of 1970, the legacy of the Black Power movement in Black Lives Matter, the role of language(s) in our understanding of ourselves and of the world, and their hopes for the future in these uncertain times. 

As alluded to above, Davis is probably best known for having once been one of the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives and for serving 16 months in prison in the early ‘70s before being released on bail and acquitted of all charges. More information here... https://womenshistory.si.edu/news/2020/06/angela-daviss-imprisonment-inspired-movement

It was really enjoyable to eavesdrop as the two women chatted together. 

Earlier in the day I attended another fascinating literary conversation between the writers Ali Smith and Kamila Shamsie. Congratulations to Manchester Literature Festival for organising such great events! 

Today’s song is ‘Angela’ by John Lennon and Yoko Ono. It’s not either of their greatest musical or lyrical moments by quite some distance, but it was written specifically as part of the Free Angela Davis campaign, so it feels appropriate...  www.youtube.com/watch?v=09VU5gR-paw