BIRMINGHAM, AL – The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute was set to honor activist Angela Davis in February with its highest honor, the prestigious Fred Shuttlesworth Human Rights Award, at the institute’s annual gala. However, that honor has now been rescinded.
“Upon closer examination of Ms. Davis’ statements and public record, we concluded that she unfortunately does not meet all of the criteria on which the award is based,” said a statement by the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. “Therefore, on January 4, BCRI’s Board voted to rescind its invitation to Ms. Davis to honor her with the Shuttlesworth Award. While we recognize Ms. Davis’ stature as a scholar and prominent figure in civil rights history, we believe this decision is consistent with the ideals of the award’s namesake, Rev. Shuttlesworth.”
When the announcement of the award to Davis was made public in September, several local groups – namely in Birmingham’s Jewish community – protested the selection due to the support Davis has made publicly for Palestine. “In late December, supporters and other concerned individuals and organizations, both inside and outside of our local community, began to make requests that we reconsider our decision,” the BCRI statement said.
(For more updates on this story and free news alerts for your neighborhood, sign up for your local Patch morning newsletter.)
Davis is an outspoken supporter of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement targeting Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. She has also implied in her activism that Israel engages in ethnic cleansing and is connected to police violence against African-Americans in the United States.
Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin expressed dismay at the BCRI’s decision Monday, saying, “I am dismayed because this controversy might have been avoided entirely, had it been handled differently. I am dismayed because, as has been the case throughout Birmingham’s history, people of good will behaved reflexively, rather than engaging in meaningful discourse over their differences and seeking common ground.”
Woodfin said he is concerned that the decision surrounding Davis sets the city back to a darker time. “I am dismayed because this controversy is playing out in a way that harks backward, rather than forward — that portrays us as the same Birmingham we always have been, rather than the one we want to be. I am dismayed because I believe that we should be able to expect better, from ourselves and from one another,” Woodfin said.
The mayor called the BCRI’s decision “reactive” and criticized the timing of the decision saying more discussion should have taken place. “I believe it is incumbent, on both the BCRI and those opposed to its decision, to honor Dr. Davis by engaging each other constructively, rather than retreating to their respective corners and continuing to behave in a reactive manner. Instead, we are at a point at which members of our community are divided.”
Davis, a Birmingham native, is an author and academic known for a life of activism that included memberships in the Black Panther Party and the Communist Party USA.
Past recipients of the award include actor Danny Glover, historian John Hope Franklin, Congressman John Lewis, the Rev. Joseph Lowery, journalist and author Charlayne Hunter-Gault, Equal Justice Initiative founder Bryan Stevenson, former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young, former Birmingham Mayor Richard Arrington, Attorney Vernon E. Jordan, Jr. and Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton.
Photo by Earl Gibson III/Getty Images
Click Here: cheap all stars rugby jersey