Angela Davis at UMKC

Angela Davis' lectern was unstable. It wobbled throughout her presentation at Friday's Second Annual Martin Luther King Keynote Address in UMKC's Swinney Recreation Center.

Davis was also somewhat shaky. Compared to last year's riveting address by Cornel West, Davis was completely out of sorts.

Her presentation was less a proper speech than a laundry list of grievances and general suggestions for societal improvement. Her constant digressions, while usually interesting, were rarely relevant. In fact, she felt obliged to say "and my point is..." at least half a dozen times.

Davis often seemed as if she was offering a parody of political correctness. For instance, she suggested that among the oppressed constituencies currently without "civil rights" are prisoners, "immigrants," "the LGBTI community," the environment and animals. Her repeated detailed listings of the various types of trans-gendered persons was also rather odd.

It wasn't all worthless socialist boilerplate. I applaud Davis' plea for increased citizen "engagement." "It's not his responsibility," Davis noted of Obama's progress as President. "It's our responsibility."