MS Davis: A Graphic Biography

In Ms. Davis, writer Sybille Titeux de la Croix and artist Amazing Améziane tell a story of the titular political activist, professor, feminist, writer, philosopher, and prison abolitionist.Born in 1944 in Birmingham, Alabama, Angela Davis’ family fought in the civil rights movement against racial segregation enforced by the Ku Klux Klan. In 1968, she joined the Black Communist Party and traveled to Cuba, a journey which left its mark on her forever. In 1971, Davis was put on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted List because several Black prisoners whose causes she had championed used weapons she owned in a Marin County courtroom gunfight. She went to prison despite her protestations of innocence. The Black People in Defense of Angela Davis formed, and soon the entire world would know her story and ask for her freedom. In 1972, she was found not guilty by an all-white jury. Since then, she has dedicated her life to the fight for justice.

Told in a realistic style and an accessible narrative, Ms. Davis tells the story of this seminal, revolutionary 1960s icon. The graphic biography also includes illustrated educational supplementary material that adds historical context about the various political organizations and programs referred to in the book, such as Cointelpro, an illegal FBI program dedicated to destroying U.S. political groups.

Sybille Titeux de la Croix studied academic drawing, sculpture, photography, video-making and printmaking at the elite professional school ENsAD (École nationale supérieure des Arts Décoratifs) in Paris. Her passion for literature led her to creative writing. Published in seven different languages, her graphic biography, Muhammad Ali, was on the New York Times Best-Seller list.

French cartoonist Amazing Améziane worked as an art director, illustrator, and graphic designer before he launched his comics career as a scriptwriter in 2001. Along with Paco Ignacio Taibo II, he has worked on the comic adaptation of Cuatro Manos [Four Hands]. In 2017, he drew the graphic biography Muhammad Ali, written Sybille Titeux de la Croix, which was published internationally and landed on the New York Times Best-Seller list. Now Ameziane splits his time between his own Noir comics, his projects with Titeux de la Croix, his collaboration with Jared Reinmuth on Big Black: Stand at Attica!, and filmmaking.

Jenna Allen is a freelance translator based in Colorado.