MCC Daily Tribune Archive

Eight MCC Upward Bound (UB) students attended An Evening of Empowerment with  Angela Davis, which took place in the East High School auditorium Wednesday, November 9. Ms. Davis is a political activist, educator, and speaker. Before her speech, awards were given to leaders in the Rochester community. The evening  included spoken word, music, and dance performances that displayed issues with race, gender, and politics that society is currently  struggling with. These preliminaries were a great set up for Mrs. Davis’s speech because they touched upon many subjects that she would elaborate on. She addressed the 2016 presidential election, the prison industrial complex, education, racism, and sexism in an effort to motivate individuals in their community to come together to help one another. Some of her personal experiences related to topics like being incarcerated in the 1970s. One of UB’s students, Jordyn, commented, “It was a really good experience  because she talked about having to find herself while she was in jail by learning self-care.” The take away from Ms. Davis’s speech was that no matter the adversity that’s  being experienced we must each make an effort to break down barriers that keep us as a community from progressing forward.