Resignations rock US civil rights institute after it strips Angela Davis of award over pro-BDS views

http://www.rt.com/usa/448507-angela-davis-israel-bds/
Date Written:  2019-01-10
Publisher:  RT
Year Published:  2019
Resource Type:  Article
Cx Number:  CX23223

Three members quit the board of the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute after its controversial decision to first grant, then to rescind an award for iconic activist Angela Davis, following objections to her anti-Israel statements.

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The scandal started innocuously enough in October, when the Alabama institute gave the former Black Panther and American communist party figurehead its biggest annual accolade, calling her "one of the most globally recognized champions of human rights, giving voice to those who are powerless to speak."

There was no immediate pushback, and a "homecoming" for Birmingham-born Davis, who is professor emeritus at the University of California, was scheduled for next month.

As the date neared, organized dissent began to be heard. Online publication Southern Jewish Life wrote a 1,200-word editorial in December saying "there might be some indigestion at the [award-ceremony] dinner over this year's honoree," and detailing her consistent support of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign, which "isolates Israel."