It only occurs to me now that most people don’t know who Angela Davis is. Duh. Why would you? Her trauma and conflict not only happened forty+ (40!) years ago; it describes a different era – one in which you could be fired for announcing communist solidarity. You know, there are still folks who fear communism? Let it go, man. At least those people should remember Angela Davis. Davis was a professor at UCLA at a time when black women were not professors at UCLA. She was an outspoken leader of both the Black Panthers and fights for women’s rights. I don’t think she had much of a sense of humor, but that, too, can be explained by the era. In 1969 after admitting communist allegiance, she was fired. This may or may not have had something to do with pressure applied by then California Governor Ronald Reagan. Shortly thereafter, she was linked to an ugly race & prison-related hostage conflict that left four dead including a judge at the San Rafael courthouse in lily-white Marin County. When Angela went into hiding, the be-afro-ed activist made the F.B.I.s ten most wanted list.
That’s an awesome résumé, huh?
Free Angela and All Political Prisoners explores, documentary-style, Angela’s flee, capture and trial. I can’t say it does any of them with an eye for 
great filmmaking. The yesteryear spokespeople interviewed in the film are all either Angela sympathizers or Angela herself. I was dying for more meat in the courthouse shootout where all the action took place, but the film kind of assumed I already knew the 411 on the 415. The pertinent details are shuffled and pre-apologized. The facts are this: 1) four guns purchased by Angela were used in the botched kidnapping/exodus 2) Angela had a sexual, loving relationship with one of the men involved in the illegalities. There is no evidence to show Angela was there or planned the attack.
Despite the facts, Angela’s ties to the crime scene are explored with an eye of “how dare you!” rather than anything resembling critical awareness. Shola Lynch wanted to make another Central Park Five, but there’s a huge difference here: this wasn’t a case of willful and possibly racist mistaken identity negligence; there’s solid evidence linking Angela Davis to the crime scene. Now look here – I don’t care if this were Shirley Temple or Tootie from “The Facts of Life,” any reasonable jurisdiction paying no heed whatsoever to discrimination on the basis of race, creed, political belief or favorite character from Harry Potter would still want to interrogate this potential conspirator. Behaving as if Angela’s innocence is a foregone conclusion insults us all.
There are a number of distractions with the execution of the film. Free Angela constantly pulls the Oliver Stone JFK routine by mixing dated tape with stock footage with live action. Problem is, they’re not very good at it. You can’t just shoot a silhouette with an afro in poor lighting from thirty yards back and say, “this is Angela.” We know you don’t have prison footage. Why would you? How would you? What are we supposed to think, “hey, it’s neat that they got some anachronistic high-quality b&w film from her solitary confinement … boy, she sure looks different from far away?” We know you don’t have actual live footage of Angela on the lam or the transfer from prison to prison. It’s ridiculous to imagine this is live coverage.
Unfortunately, it’s also ridiculous to imagine this documentary was made as anything other than a political slam piece. Shame, because blatant racism and bogus communist scares to gain political advantage were quite real and open at the time. And Angela Davis really is a name every American ought to know.
Activist Panther
On trial for other’s crimes
Free again? Groovy
Rated NR, 102 Minutes
D: Shola Lynch
W: The MAN
Genre: Cry freedom!
Type of person most likely to enjoy this film: Angela Davis
Type of person least likely to enjoy this film: J. Edgar Hoover
