Jezzamine Wolk, Campus Reform

• Angela Davis will give the keynote address at Oregon State University’s Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration on Monday.
• The frequent campus speaker is a former Communist Party USA leader who was once on the FBI’s Most Wanted List.

Oregon State University is holding its longest running annual event, the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration, for its 39th year. The January 18 virtual event will kick off with a keynote address from Angela Davis, the former Communist Party USA leader and Black Panther Party member who once made the FBI’s Most Wanted List.

The school website said that “Davis’ work as an educator and activist emphasizes the importance of building community action for economic, racial, and gender justice.”

She will also answer questions that students can submit prior to the event.

Campus Reform previously reported that Davis, who left the Communist Party in 1991, said again that she is communist in a virtual town hall called Black Queer Town Hall in 2020. She identified herself as “communist, evolutionist, internationalist, anti-racist, anti-capitalist, feminist, black, queer, activist, pro-working class, revolutionary, intellectual, community builder.”

The frequent campus speaker has also spoken at the University of Michigan, Harvard University, California State University-Los Angeles, and the College of New Jersey.

According to Oregon State University, the objectives of this event include envisioning ways to carry Dr. King’s work and legacy on “in a way that is relevant to today’s generations.”

Campus Reform reached out to Oregon State University for comment but did not hear back in time for publication.

Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @JezzamineWolk