A poster honoring African American women in politics, including 1960s activist Angela Davis, has been suddenly removed from the D.C. Superior Court. The poster illustrated eight black women and recognized them for their “greatness in politics.” The poster also includes First Lady Michelle Obama, former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, Shirley Chisholm, Carol Mosely Braun, Patricia Roberts Harris, Barbara Jordan, and Fannie Lou Hamer. Davis is a former college professor who spent time on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted List for her connection with a 1970 California courthouse attack where a judge was killed.
Court spokeswoman Leah Gurowitz reported that court employees on the Black History Month Committee included Davis in the poster because they believe she made contributions to the political debate. Davis was a professor of philosophy and a confirmed Communist, honored by the head of the Soviet Union at the peak of the Cold War. In 1970, Davis was charged by police as the owner of two of the guns used in the Marin County, Calif. Courthouse attack that left four people dead, including a judge. Gurowitz said, “The D.C. Courts do not endorse the views of any of the women included in the poster.”
