Angela Davis: I Would Like to Accept Birmingham Civil Rights Institute Award After BDS Controversy

In February, Angela Davis returned to her hometown of Birmingham, Alabama. She originally planned the visit to receive the Fred L. Shuttlesworth Human Rights Award from the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, but the institute withdrew the award in January, soon after the Birmingham Holocaust Education Center sent a letter urging the board to reconsider honoring Davis due to her support of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement targeting the Israeli government and Israeli institutions. Facing swift and widespread outcry, the institute then reversed its decision and reinstated the award. While Angela Davis has yet to accept the award, she tells Democracy Now! she would like to accept it, but says it is not an individual decision to make. “I will take the leadership from those doing the on-the-ground work.”