Summary Of The Long Road To Angela Davis Library

As injustice contaminates America, the push for younger generations to be politically aware is more intense than ever. However, the place for youth in social movements can become clouded when young adults can barely find their own place in the world. Dawn Lundy Martin addresses this issue in her personal essay, “The Long Road to Angela Davis’s Library,” as she recounts her journey to becoming an activist. Martin’s powerful, albeit seemingly disorganized, writing paints a tale of self-discovery as she unravels different aspects of herself. Through personal reflection and stylistic choices, Martin’s “The Long Road to Angela Davis’s Library” effectively demonstrates that to become “politicized” one must first understand, and come to terms, with

This move illustrates the common adolescent desire to be a part of something bigger than oneself. Martin recounts that her start in environmental work was born of “youthful optimism” and “chance encounter”, but never gives direction to her political passions (2). Martin begins a campaigning job that allows her to find a part to play in saving the environment, but this job doesn’t give Martin a chance to think about how this issues may, or may not, be a part of her. It becomes abundantly clear that Martin has yet to understand her identity when she describes herself at a stage between adolescence and adulthood, “not thinking at all about gender or a plight, or about being of a darker hue” (1). Through all this Martin demonstrates how because she was unaware of the labels the world defines her by, she became misguided in an attempt to save the world that didn’t recognize who she

Her race, even by her community, was seen as a disadvantage, her sexuality was confusing, and all her peers had more privilege through money and power then she did. However, with new environments and guidance from people who went through the same struggles she was able to stop trying to be someone that fit into a political movement, and became someone who shifted her world to better fit who she was. Once Martin was able to understand she was a lesbian she could leave her boyfriend and find people who made her proud of who she was. Likewise, once she realized the job she was working was really for white, trust fund youth, she could find a place where she could change the world and work with people of color who understood what she was experiencing. Only after intertwining all the aspects of her identity, and coming out not only as a lesbian, but as proud of her race and her identify as a whole, does Martin begin to take steps towards a life of politics, which actually means something to