Assata: An Autobiography: Difference between revisions
added major themes heading and information |
→Synopsis: added more information in synopsis |
||
| Line 45: | Line 45: | ||
'''''Assata: An Autobiography''''' is a 1988 autobiographical book by [[Assata Shakur]].<ref name=NYT>{{cite web|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/03/06/books/in-short-nonfiction-880388.html|date= 1988|title=IN SHORT; NONFICTION|authorlink=E. R. Shipp|author=Shipp, E. R.}}</ref> The book was written and released in Cuba where Shakur currently has political asylum. |
'''''Assata: An Autobiography''''' is a 1988 autobiographical book by [[Assata Shakur]].<ref name=NYT>{{cite web|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/03/06/books/in-short-nonfiction-880388.html|date= 1988|title=IN SHORT; NONFICTION|authorlink=E. R. Shipp|author=Shipp, E. R.}}</ref> The book was written and released in Cuba where Shakur currently has political asylum. |
||
==Synopsis== |
==Synopsis== |
||
The autobiography, begins on May 2nd, 1973. Shakur recounts what happened after a shooting on the New Jersey State Turnpike, the shooting left New Jersey State Trooper, Werner Foerester, and Zayd Shakur killed, and Assata Shakur and [[Sundiata Acoli]] severely injured. The book continues with Shakur describing her early childhood growing up in Queens, New York with her mother, and spending her summers in Wilmington, North Carolina with her grandparents. Shakur tells her story by going back and forth between the “present” with Shakur’s hospitalization, incarceration, pregnancy and trial following the events on the Turnpike; and the “past” with her early childhood schooling, the beginning of her radicalization, and her time as a prominent Black Power and human rights revolutionary. |
|||
==="To My People"=== |
==="To My People"=== |
||
"To My People" was a recorded statement released by Assata Shakur while in jail in Middlesex County, NJ. The tape was recorded on Independence Day, 1973, and was broadcast on numerous radio stations. Shakur includes the transcript of the recording in Chapter 3 of the autobiography. The recording was released in response to the media coverage about Shakur after the [[New Jersey Turnpike Shooting]]. In the recording, Assata publicly described herself as a black revolutionary and her participation in [[Black Liberation Army]] and her participation in the incident. In the message Assata describes the corruption of police, structural inequality between blacks and whites, and the American support of brutal wars and regimes in Cambodia, Vietnam, and South Africa. |
"To My People" was a recorded statement released by Assata Shakur while in jail in Middlesex County, NJ. The tape was recorded on Independence Day, 1973, and was broadcast on numerous radio stations. Shakur includes the transcript of the recording in Chapter 3 of the autobiography. The recording was released in response to the media coverage about Shakur after the [[New Jersey Turnpike Shooting]]. In the recording, Assata publicly described herself as a black revolutionary and her participation in [[Black Liberation Army]] and her participation in the incident. In the message Assata describes the corruption of police, structural inequality between blacks and whites, and the American support of brutal wars and regimes in Cambodia, Vietnam, and South Africa. |
||
Revision as of 01:56, 27 May 2019
 | |
| Author | Assata Shakur |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Autobiography |
| Published | 1988 |
| Publisher | Lawrence Hill Books[1] |
| Publication place | United States, Cuba |
| Pages | 320 pp |
Assata: An Autobiography is a 1988 autobiographical book by Assata Shakur.[1] The book was written and released in Cuba where Shakur currently has political asylum.
Synopsis
The autobiography, begins on May 2nd, 1973. Shakur recounts what happened after a shooting on the New Jersey State Turnpike, the shooting left New Jersey State Trooper, Werner Foerester, and Zayd Shakur killed, and Assata Shakur and Sundiata Acoli severely injured. The book continues with Shakur describing her early childhood growing up in Queens, New York with her mother, and spending her summers in Wilmington, North Carolina with her grandparents. Shakur tells her story by going back and forth between the “present” with Shakur’s hospitalization, incarceration, pregnancy and trial following the events on the Turnpike; and the “past” with her early childhood schooling, the beginning of her radicalization, and her time as a prominent Black Power and human rights revolutionary.
"To My People"
"To My People" was a recorded statement released by Assata Shakur while in jail in Middlesex County, NJ. The tape was recorded on Independence Day, 1973, and was broadcast on numerous radio stations. Shakur includes the transcript of the recording in Chapter 3 of the autobiography. The recording was released in response to the media coverage about Shakur after the New Jersey Turnpike Shooting. In the recording, Assata publicly described herself as a black revolutionary and her participation in Black Liberation Army and her participation in the incident. In the message Assata describes the corruption of police, structural inequality between blacks and whites, and the American support of brutal wars and regimes in Cambodia, Vietnam, and South Africa.
Major themes
Revolution
Throughout the book Shakur describes her personal desire to be a revolutionary, and the social revolution she believes is necessary for African Americans and other minorities. She discusses this revolution many times including in the “To My People” recording. The idea of revolution is also mentioned when she makes the opening statement at the New York State Supreme Court County of Kings during the trial against her; where she was accused of the kidnap of a drug dealer, for which she was acquitted.
In Chapter 13 Shakur describes her introduction into the Black Panther Party while visiting the Bay Area. Shakur discusses her reservations about joining the party with the members which included their lack of politeness and respect for the people they talked to. Shakur eventually joins while living in New York. It is when she joins the party, she witnesses and experiences the government infiltration now known as COINTELPRO. It is this surveillance that leads her to choose to go “underground” and eventually leave the party.
Critical reception
The New York Times' review stated "The book's abrupt shifts in time can annoy after a while, as can the liberties she takes with spelling - court, America and Rockefeller, for example, become kourt, amerika and Rockafella. But, all in all, the author provides a spellbinding tale that evokes mixed feelings in the way the autobiographies of Malcolm X, Sonny Carson and Claude Brown did in years past."[1]
Legacy and influence
The latest 2014 edition of the book begins with two forewords from renowned activist Angela Davis and criminal justice scholar Lennox S. Hinds. Common (rapper), released the song "A Song for Assata" in 2000 after visiting Shakur in Cuba[2]. The song details some of the events described in the book.
The book was originally published in the U.K. by British publication Zed Books in 1987. Zed Books is self-described as primarily publishing the works of people and groups who have been oppressed.[3] In 1999 the text was then published by Lawrence Hill Books based in Brooklyn, New York. Lawrence Hill Books is also a progressive, radical publisher similar to Zed Books.[4]
References
- ^ a b c Shipp, E. R. (1988). "IN SHORT; NONFICTION". The New York Times.
- ^ https://www.complex.com/music/2014/12/common-best-political-moments/
- ^ https://www.zedbooks.net/about/
- ^ https://www.chicagoreviewpress.com/lawrence-hill-books-pages-470.php