Every year, Colorado State University- Pueblo has a Distinguished Speakers Series, where individuals who are considered to be prominent speakers come to campus.

The Distinguished Speakers Series features eminent national or international speakers who contribute to current thought in social or political activities, in the arts and sciences or other realm of contemporary significance.

The series is an opportunity to learn from scholars, politicians and business people, who can inspire students and community members to think critically about current issues, trends, events, knowledge, diversity and leadership.

Events  are co-sponsored by the Office of Student Activities, Student Fee Governing Board, Associated Students’ Government and the Division of Student Affairs.

Angela Davis, a radical African American educator, former Black Panther and activist for civil rights, is the next distinguished speaker and is set to make an appearance at CSU-Pueblo on Wednesday Feb. 20 at 7 p.m. in the Occhiato University Center Ballroom.

The Black Panthers were a group of people who played a short, but important role in the Civil Rights Movement. The Black Panthers concluded that the non-violent approach that Martin Luther King Jr. believed in, did not succeed. The Black Panthers were a group of blacks that banded together to take a more violent approach.

Davis spent 18 months in jail a short time after being placed on the FBI’s “Ten Most Wanted List.”

Davis will be speaking to students and staff about Democracy and Civil Engagement. She has been involved in the quest for social justice issues most of her life.

Davis is also a member of the executive board of the Women of Color Resource Center that educates members of a community on women who live in poverty.

Davis is a long time professor of History of Consciousness at University of California-Santa Cruz. Davis has taught the History of Consciousness for the last 15 years at the university.

In addition, Davis is the author of eight books, with a ninth book in progress. After she is finished speaking to students and staff on campus she will be holding a meet and greet, as well as a book signing in the CSU-Pueblo Bookstore.

Students are excited to speak with Davis and hear how her experiences have helped to shape the woman she has become.

“I just want to know what advice she has for women in 2013, what she did most have taken a lot of courage,” Kierra Yarbrough, psychology major, said. “It’s important for everyone to know what the Black Panthers stood for, I feel like there is a lot of miscommunication and things that got lost in translation and I’m just anxious to hear what she has to say really. This will be a learning experience for everyone.“