Be the Light: How She Became Angela Davis

The life of civil rights icon Angela Davis is illuminated in an extraordinary picture book biography. Booklist praised this profound exploration of American history, activism, the civil rights movement, and the power of the people as one that “should be part of all social studies curricula.” For fans of Maya's Song, Nina, and There Was a Party for Langston.

Before she was an iconic civil rights activist, before she was one of the FBI’s Most Wanted, before she was a teacher, Angela Davis was a young girl in Birmingham, Alabama. A girl whose parents taught her that freedom lives anywhere and everywhere it pleases. A girl who believed it when her mother told her, “It won’t always be this way.” And a girl who grew up to fight for the world and the future that she imagined could exist—for all people.

In this resonant and timely picture book biography of Angela Davis, acclaimed author-artist Daria Peoples invites young readers to join the fight. Her striking paintings and powerful text pay tribute to Angela Davis’s evolution as an abolitionist, and dare readers of all ages to light the way to the future. An inspiring choice for fans of books by Kwame Alexander, Kadir Nelson, Christian Robinson, and Carole Boston Weatherford.

Features extensive back matter, including a timeline of Angela Davis’s life, a visual glossary, and an author’s note.