Free College Movements: Voices from the Movements

California campuses hold walkouts and rallies to protest education cuts on March 4, 2010 in Berkeley, Calif. Credit: Justin Sullivan, Getty Images

Whose voices will you capture in your research? Which types of sources most effectively capture the voices you want to represent in your work?

Dr. Angela Y. Davis is a well known Black scholar who regularly speaks out on the topic of free college. Below are excerpted quotes and a recording of her talk at Skyline College in 2020.

Racial Justice Training Forum #4, Skyline College, December 2020

Video: Dr. Angela Davis on free education

Starting at 1:01:27 minutes.

Angela Davis: 

335
01:12:27.450 --> 01:12:40.350
Dr. Angela Davis: Not only did all community colleges be free, and I, I am very critical of many of the things Obama did, but I think it was very important that he made that Proposal that every single Community College in this country be free, em, and it also used to be the case. So it's why is it so hard for us to imagine free education now?

337
01:12:57.360 --> 01:13:04.380
Dr. Angela Davis: I have a part of my family migrated from Alabama to California because California have free education.

338
01:13:06.000 --> 01:13:11.160
Dr. Angela Davis: So free health care free education accessible housing.

339
01:13:13.620 --> 01:13:25.590
Dr. Angela Davis: You know, this is socialism, but it's also about a humane approach to the use of the collective wealth that is produced in our world.

How to gather students' ideas about free college

• Interview a group of students or a student activist on your campus.
• Conduct a survey of students on your campus to find out what they think about free college.
• Speak with a faculty member about dropping into a class to gather student's thoughts about free college.
• Other ideas? Email me to include them here.

Also see: Conduct an Interview

Democratic Party Debate, PBS News Hour, February 11, 2016.