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Assata: An Autobiography
On May 2, 1973, Black Panther Assata Shakur (aka JoAnne Chesimard) lay in a hospital, close to death, handcuffed to her bed, while local, state, and federal police attempted to question her about the shootout on the New Jersey Turnpike that had claimed the life of a white state trooper. Long a target of J. Edgar Hoover's campaign to defame, infiltrate, and criminalize Black nationalist organizations and their leaders, Shakur was incarcerated for four years prior to her conviction on flimsy evidence in 1977 as an accomplice to murder.
This intensely personal and political autobiography belies the fearsome image of JoAnne Chesimard long projected by the media and the state. With wit and candor, Assata Shakur recounts the experiences that led her to a life of activism and portrays the strengths, weaknesses, and eventual demise of Black and White revolutionary groups at the hand of government officials. The result is a signal contribution to the literature about growing up Black in America that has already taken its place alongside The Autobiography of Malcolm X and the works of Maya Angelou.
Two years after her conviction, Assata Shakur escaped from prison. She was given political asylum by Cuba, where she now resides.
This intensely personal and political autobiography belies the fearsome image of JoAnne Chesimard long projected by the media and the state. With wit and candor, Assata Shakur recounts the experiences that led her to a life of activism and portrays the strengths, weaknesses, and eventual demise of Black and White revolutionary groups at the hand of government officials. The result is a signal contribution to the literature about growing up Black in America that has already taken its place alongside The Autobiography of Malcolm X and the works of Maya Angelou.
Two years after her conviction, Assata Shakur escaped from prison. She was given political asylum by Cuba, where she now resides.
274 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1987
About the author
Assata Shakur
18 books869 followersAssata Olugbala Shakur is an Black civil rights activist who was a member of the Black Panther Party (BPP) and Black Liberation Army (BLA).
Between 1971 and 1973, Shakur was accused of several crimes, none of which had sufficient evidence to back them. However, knowing that she would not be able to prove her innocence, she escaped prison and fled to Cuba where she now resides in political asylum. She is listed on the FBI Most Wanted Terrorist list.
For more information, do your own extensive research, bearing in mind that America is still very racist, bigoted, and micro-aggressive; therefore, not all sources are trustworthy. One of her most famous quotes is: “No one is going to give you the education you need to overthrow them. Nobody is going to teach you your true history, teach you your true heroes, if they know that that knowledge will help set you free.” Follow that example.
Between 1971 and 1973, Shakur was accused of several crimes, none of which had sufficient evidence to back them. However, knowing that she would not be able to prove her innocence, she escaped prison and fled to Cuba where she now resides in political asylum. She is listed on the FBI Most Wanted Terrorist list.
For more information, do your own extensive research, bearing in mind that America is still very racist, bigoted, and micro-aggressive; therefore, not all sources are trustworthy. One of her most famous quotes is: “No one is going to give you the education you need to overthrow them. Nobody is going to teach you your true history, teach you your true heroes, if they know that that knowledge will help set you free.” Follow that example.
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June 9, 2013
This was a brilliant autobiography about an amazing and resilient woman. I’ve heard Assata Shakur’s name several times over the years but I knew next to nothing about her. It was only when earlier on this year her name resurfaced when she became the only woman on the FBI’s most wanted list that I decided to read the book to learn what all the brouhaha was about.
This is one of the most riveting books I have ever read. I experienced so many emotions when reading this book. For the first part of the book, the main emotion was disgust and shock, firstly at the police brutality Assata experienced (it was very hard to read some of the graphic scenes) , and also at the American judicial system which was clearly racist.
The book tells two stories concurrently; the chapters about Assata’s court case for supposedly murdering a state trooper and subsequent escape from prison were nicely interspersed with her story of her growing up until she became a member of the Black Panthers and the Black Liberation Army. Her writing has her genuine and authentic voice and her story is enthralling. She has such a brilliant sense of humour. The whole book was very readable and informative.
“I keep staring at him. Nobody could look that corny. He’s like a ghost from the past. I’m convinced he doesn’t know it’s 1973.” (Assata talking about the prosecutor at her trial).
“For the most part, we receive fragments of unrelated knowledge, and our education follows no logical format or pattern. It is exactly this kind of education that produces people who don’t have the ability to think for themselves and who are easily manipulated.”
“The almighty dollar is King; those who have the most money control the country and, through campaign contributions, buy and sell presidents, congressmen, and judges, the ones who pass the laws and enforce the laws that benefit their benefactors.”
One thing that impressed me about Assata were her great points of observation about poor education, slavery and racism, and the evils of capitalism. She is a great advocate for African/African-American culture and spends some time talking about how Eurocentrism is one of the main reasons why black music, art and literature is unfortunately often considered “primitive.” She believes that what’s important in life is having personal dignity and she exhorts people of the African diaspora to be proud of their heritage. The book made me question why the world is seemingly pushing for homogeneity when cultural diversity is a lot more interesting.
I was curious about some things, for example Assata’s insistence of spelling America and court with k’s instead of c’s, and her haphazard capitalizing, or lack thereof of the letter “I.” Was she trying to rebel? I’m not sure. I also wish she had included how she had escaped from prison. I guess the reasons why she didn’t are obvious but a quick google search told me how it was achieved so it’s not exactly top-secret.
I feel regardless of whether one feels Assata was guilty or innocent (personally, I don’t understand why she was put on the FBI list after 40 years), everyone should read this book. Yes, race is a huge part of it but capitalism is also talked about a lot and I think her insights into the system are very useful and enlightening.
Culture – Assata Shakur
I must confess that waltzes
do not move me.
I have no sympathy
for symphonies.
I guess I hummed the Blues
too early,
and spent too many midnights
out wailing to the rain.
This is one of the most riveting books I have ever read. I experienced so many emotions when reading this book. For the first part of the book, the main emotion was disgust and shock, firstly at the police brutality Assata experienced (it was very hard to read some of the graphic scenes) , and also at the American judicial system which was clearly racist.
The book tells two stories concurrently; the chapters about Assata’s court case for supposedly murdering a state trooper and subsequent escape from prison were nicely interspersed with her story of her growing up until she became a member of the Black Panthers and the Black Liberation Army. Her writing has her genuine and authentic voice and her story is enthralling. She has such a brilliant sense of humour. The whole book was very readable and informative.
“I keep staring at him. Nobody could look that corny. He’s like a ghost from the past. I’m convinced he doesn’t know it’s 1973.” (Assata talking about the prosecutor at her trial).
“For the most part, we receive fragments of unrelated knowledge, and our education follows no logical format or pattern. It is exactly this kind of education that produces people who don’t have the ability to think for themselves and who are easily manipulated.”
“The almighty dollar is King; those who have the most money control the country and, through campaign contributions, buy and sell presidents, congressmen, and judges, the ones who pass the laws and enforce the laws that benefit their benefactors.”
One thing that impressed me about Assata were her great points of observation about poor education, slavery and racism, and the evils of capitalism. She is a great advocate for African/African-American culture and spends some time talking about how Eurocentrism is one of the main reasons why black music, art and literature is unfortunately often considered “primitive.” She believes that what’s important in life is having personal dignity and she exhorts people of the African diaspora to be proud of their heritage. The book made me question why the world is seemingly pushing for homogeneity when cultural diversity is a lot more interesting.
I was curious about some things, for example Assata’s insistence of spelling America and court with k’s instead of c’s, and her haphazard capitalizing, or lack thereof of the letter “I.” Was she trying to rebel? I’m not sure. I also wish she had included how she had escaped from prison. I guess the reasons why she didn’t are obvious but a quick google search told me how it was achieved so it’s not exactly top-secret.
I feel regardless of whether one feels Assata was guilty or innocent (personally, I don’t understand why she was put on the FBI list after 40 years), everyone should read this book. Yes, race is a huge part of it but capitalism is also talked about a lot and I think her insights into the system are very useful and enlightening.
Culture – Assata Shakur
I must confess that waltzes
do not move me.
I have no sympathy
for symphonies.
I guess I hummed the Blues
too early,
and spent too many midnights
out wailing to the rain.
March 5, 2008
i believe in living.
By Assata Shakur
i believe in living.
i believe in the spectrum
of Beta days and Gamma people.
i believe in sunshine.
In windmills and waterfalls,
tricycles and rocking chairs;
And i believe that seeds grow into sprouts.
And sprouts grow into trees.
i believe in the magic of the hands.
And in the wisdom of the eyes.
i believe in rain and tears.
And in the blood of infinity.
i believe in life.
And i have seen the death parade
march through the torso of the earth,
sculpting mud bodies in its path
i have seen the destruction of the daylight
and seen bloodthirsty maggots
prayed to and saluted
i have seen the kind become the blind
and the blind become the bind
in one easy lesson.
i have walked on cut grass.
i have eaten crow and blunder bread
and breathed the stench of indifference
i have been locked by the lawless.
Handcuffed by the haters.
Gagged by the greedy.
And, if i know anything at all,
it's that a wall is just a wall
and nothing more at all.
It can be broken down.
i believe in living
i believe in birth.
i believe in the sweat of love
and in the fire of truth.
And i believe that a lost ship,
steered by tired, seasick sailors,
can still be guided home to port.
By Assata Shakur
i believe in living.
i believe in the spectrum
of Beta days and Gamma people.
i believe in sunshine.
In windmills and waterfalls,
tricycles and rocking chairs;
And i believe that seeds grow into sprouts.
And sprouts grow into trees.
i believe in the magic of the hands.
And in the wisdom of the eyes.
i believe in rain and tears.
And in the blood of infinity.
i believe in life.
And i have seen the death parade
march through the torso of the earth,
sculpting mud bodies in its path
i have seen the destruction of the daylight
and seen bloodthirsty maggots
prayed to and saluted
i have seen the kind become the blind
and the blind become the bind
in one easy lesson.
i have walked on cut grass.
i have eaten crow and blunder bread
and breathed the stench of indifference
i have been locked by the lawless.
Handcuffed by the haters.
Gagged by the greedy.
And, if i know anything at all,
it's that a wall is just a wall
and nothing more at all.
It can be broken down.
i believe in living
i believe in birth.
i believe in the sweat of love
and in the fire of truth.
And i believe that a lost ship,
steered by tired, seasick sailors,
can still be guided home to port.
October 4, 2022
Most people have heard about Assata Shakur. She was the first woman to be added to the FBI Most Wanted Terrorist list after all. But it seems that most people don't really know much about her. Who she was, what she stood for, where she is now. I've always wanted to learn more about Assata, her beliefs, her activism, and therefore, reading her autobiography seemed like an excellent idea.
[As is now clear, a carefully orchestrated intelligence and counterintelligence campaign was conducted by the FBI in cooperation with state and local law enforcement agencies designed to criminalise, defame, harass, and intimidate Assata (among many other Black activists) beginning at least in 1971. Specifically, evidence suggests that Assata was targeted by an investigation named CHESROB, which “attempted to hook former New York Panther Joanne Chesimard (Assata Shakur) to virtually every bank robbery or violent crime involving a black woman on the East Coast”.]
In her autobiography, Assata jumps back and forth between two timelines: in the first, she details the aftermath of the shootout with a focus on her trial and subsequent incarceration; in the second, she tells of her childhood, teenage years and how she was politicised in her young adulthood.
Born in Flushing, Queens, she grew up in New York City (with her mother) and Wilmington, North Carolina (with her grandparents). She recalls: “All of my family tried to install in me a sense of personal dignity, but my grandmother and grandfather were really fanatic about it. Over an over they would tell me, ‘You’re as good as anyone else. Don’t let nobody tell you that they’re better than you.’”
However, she often ran away from home, staying with strangers and working for short periods of time. It was absolutely mind-boggling to hear about all of the dangerous situations that she found herself in at such a young age. As a 13-year-old, she stayed at a hotel (convincing the manager that she was an adult) and worked at a racy bar. One of the most horrific events she recalls was the time she was almost gang raped by a group of boys but luckily, managed to escape. Thinking back on that time, she recalls:
[Assata is a West African name, derived from the Arabic name Aisha, which means "she who struggles", while Shakur means “the thankful one" in Arabic. Olugbala, her lesser known middle name, means "savior" in Yoruba.]
In Oakland, Assata worked with the Black Panther Party to organise protests and community education programs. After returning to New York, she led the BPP chapter in Harlem, coordinating the Free Breakfast Program for children, free clinics, and community outreach. In her autobiography, Assata states: “That was the one thing i dug about those days. We were alive and we were excited and we believed that we were going to be free someday. For us, it wasn’t a matter of whether or not. It was a question of how.”
It was interesting to learn about her initial engagement in the Party and how her beliefs aligned with it: “One of the most important things the Party did was to make it really clear who the enemy was: not the white people, but the capitalistic, imperialistic oppressors. They took the Black liberation struggle out of a national context and put it in an international context. The Party supported revolutionary struggles and governments all over the world and insisted the u.s. get out of Africa, out of Asia, out of Latin America, and out of the ghetto too.”
However, she soon left the party, disliking the macho behavior of the men and believing that the BPP lacked knowledge and understanding of the history of Black people in the US. Of that decision, she wrote: “Everything felt different. The easy, friendly openness had been replaced by fear and paranoia. The beautiful revolutionary creativity i had loved so much was gone. And replaced by dogmatic stagnation.���
Between 1971 and 1973, she was charged with several crimes and was the subject of a multi-state manhunt. Even though Assata doesn't go into great detail about all of her trials and the years she spent in prison, I found it remarkable how resilient she was and how she never failed to stand up for herself in face of adversity and keep her dignity despite constant humiliations and efforts to break her. What she recalls of how terribly the prison guards, police officer, doctors, lawyers – the list goes on and on really – treated her, is enough to make one mad and turn one's stomach over. Her inhumane treatment is sickening and devastating.
Among the most horrific events that she had to endure during her confinement are (in my opinion) the time the prison doctor told her that it would be best for everyone and the trial if she had an abortion (I mean ... the audacity of that statement alone!) and when she was beaten and restrained by several large female officers after refusing a medical exam from a prison doctor shortly after giving birth. The total disregard that these people had for her makes me sick.
In May 1973, she was arrested after being wounded in a shootout on the New Jersey Turnpike, while her friend Zayd Malik Shakur was killed. In her autobiography, Assata not only details the horrific arrest and how awfully she was treated by the police officers [e.g.: “Bitch, you’d better open your goddamn mouth or I’ll blow your goddamn head off!”], she also shared the poem that she wrote in memory of her friend Zayd:
After the shooting, she was held at the Garden State Youth Correctional Facility in New Jersey, and later moved to Rikers Island Correctional Institution for Women in New York City, where she was kept in solitary confinement for 21 months.
In the history of New Jersey, no woman pretrial detainee or prisoner has ever been treated as she was: continuously confined in a men’s prison, under 24-hour surveillance of her most intimate functions, without intellectual sustenance, adequate medical attention, and exercise, and without the company of other women for all the years she was in their custody.
Her only daughter, Kakuya Shakur, was conceived during her trial and born on September 11, 1974. In a moving poem, dedicated to her daughter, she states: “i have shabby dreams for you / of some vague freedom / i have never known.”
What Assata recalls of the trial is infuriating. She says “the panel looked more than a lynch mob than a jury.” And she wasn't wrong: a total of 408 potential jurors were questioned during the voir dire. All of the 15 jurors—10 women and 5 men—were white, and most were under thirty years old. 5 jurors had personal ties to State Troopers (one girlfriend, two nephews, and two friends).
She surfaced in Cuba in 1984, where she was granted political asylum and lives ever since, despite US government efforts to have her returned. In her autobiography, she doesn't talk about her escape at all (...probably for legal reasons) and her time in Cuba also only gets a short postscript chapter. I found that a bit sad because those were two topics that really interested me. Ultimately, that's the reason why I rated this book 4 instead of 5 stars.^^
Assata explains how the Civil War was not fought to free the slaves. It was a war between two economic systems, a war for power and control by two separate actions of the ruling class: rich, white Southern slave owners and rich, white Northern industrialists. The battle was between a plantation slave economy and an industrial manufacturing economy. I found that insight very interesting because, as a German, I hadn't learned much about the Civil War at all but was, formerly, under the impression that the liberation of slaves was its main drive.
In addition to that, I found Assata's belief in communism and her rejection of capitalism refreshing and insightful. At a different point in the book, she wrote: “That’s why i couldn’t see fighting within the system. Both the democratic party and the republican party are controlled by millionaires. They are interested in holding on to their power, while i was interested in taking it away.” That's a struggle that a lot of activist still have today.
It was also refreshing to learn how angry she was at the injustice that marginalised groups faced in the US. Oftentimes, I’m put off by people who only preach nonviolence and don’t have any understanding of why other oppressed people might be angry and pissed off. After Martin Luther King, Jr. was murdered, Assata wrote: “I am going to a riot. I want to kill someone.” It is rare to get revolutionaries and activist to be so honest about their innermost feelings.
Her hopefulness for the future is another thing that I found incredibly empowering. In her beginning poem, “Affirmation”, she says: “And i believe that a lost ship, / steered by tired, seasick sailors, / can still be guided home / to port.”, as well as: “And i believe that seeds grow into sprouts. / And sprouts grow into trees.”
Another thing that's, unfortunately, relevant as ever are her musings about the Left: “Arrogance was one of the key factors that kept the white left so fictionalised. I felt that instead of fighting together against a common enemy, they waster time quarrelling with each other about who had the right line.”
She ends her autobiography with one of my favorite quotes from it:
Nobody in the world, nobody in history, has ever gotten their freedom by appealing to the moral sense of the people who were oppressing them.Assata is a former member of the Black Panther Party and the Black Liberation Army. In 1973, she was convicted of being an accomplice in the first-degree murder of State Trooper Werner Foerster during a shootout on the New Jersey Turnpike. She was also the target of the FBI's COINTELPRO.
[As is now clear, a carefully orchestrated intelligence and counterintelligence campaign was conducted by the FBI in cooperation with state and local law enforcement agencies designed to criminalise, defame, harass, and intimidate Assata (among many other Black activists) beginning at least in 1971. Specifically, evidence suggests that Assata was targeted by an investigation named CHESROB, which “attempted to hook former New York Panther Joanne Chesimard (Assata Shakur) to virtually every bank robbery or violent crime involving a black woman on the East Coast”.]
In her autobiography, Assata jumps back and forth between two timelines: in the first, she details the aftermath of the shootout with a focus on her trial and subsequent incarceration; in the second, she tells of her childhood, teenage years and how she was politicised in her young adulthood.
Born in Flushing, Queens, she grew up in New York City (with her mother) and Wilmington, North Carolina (with her grandparents). She recalls: “All of my family tried to install in me a sense of personal dignity, but my grandmother and grandfather were really fanatic about it. Over an over they would tell me, ‘You’re as good as anyone else. Don’t let nobody tell you that they’re better than you.’”
However, she often ran away from home, staying with strangers and working for short periods of time. It was absolutely mind-boggling to hear about all of the dangerous situations that she found herself in at such a young age. As a 13-year-old, she stayed at a hotel (convincing the manager that she was an adult) and worked at a racy bar. One of the most horrific events she recalls was the time she was almost gang raped by a group of boys but luckily, managed to escape. Thinking back on that time, she recalls:
I had read this play by Sartre. The play ended with the conclusion that hell is other people, and, for a while, i agreed.As a teenager, she was taken in by her mother's sister Evelyn Williams, a civil rights worker, who lived in Manhattan. Evelyn later worked as a lawyer, defending Assata during a lot of her trials.
I was naive in those days. I knew it in theory, but i had not seen enough to accept the fact that there was absolutely no justice whatsoever for Black people in amerika.Assata became involved in political activism at Borough of Manhattan Community College and City College of New York. After graduation, she began using the name Assata Shakur, and briefly joined the Black Panther Party.
[Assata is a West African name, derived from the Arabic name Aisha, which means "she who struggles", while Shakur means “the thankful one" in Arabic. Olugbala, her lesser known middle name, means "savior" in Yoruba.]
In Oakland, Assata worked with the Black Panther Party to organise protests and community education programs. After returning to New York, she led the BPP chapter in Harlem, coordinating the Free Breakfast Program for children, free clinics, and community outreach. In her autobiography, Assata states: “That was the one thing i dug about those days. We were alive and we were excited and we believed that we were going to be free someday. For us, it wasn’t a matter of whether or not. It was a question of how.”
It was interesting to learn about her initial engagement in the Party and how her beliefs aligned with it: “One of the most important things the Party did was to make it really clear who the enemy was: not the white people, but the capitalistic, imperialistic oppressors. They took the Black liberation struggle out of a national context and put it in an international context. The Party supported revolutionary struggles and governments all over the world and insisted the u.s. get out of Africa, out of Asia, out of Latin America, and out of the ghetto too.”
However, she soon left the party, disliking the macho behavior of the men and believing that the BPP lacked knowledge and understanding of the history of Black people in the US. Of that decision, she wrote: “Everything felt different. The easy, friendly openness had been replaced by fear and paranoia. The beautiful revolutionary creativity i had loved so much was gone. And replaced by dogmatic stagnation.���
Between 1971 and 1973, she was charged with several crimes and was the subject of a multi-state manhunt. Even though Assata doesn't go into great detail about all of her trials and the years she spent in prison, I found it remarkable how resilient she was and how she never failed to stand up for herself in face of adversity and keep her dignity despite constant humiliations and efforts to break her. What she recalls of how terribly the prison guards, police officer, doctors, lawyers – the list goes on and on really – treated her, is enough to make one mad and turn one's stomach over. Her inhumane treatment is sickening and devastating.
The foot on my neck is partTherefore, her ability to stand her ground is awe-inspiring. She didn't shy away from calling the prison ward a "bitch" when they refused to call her by her full name. When another guard ordered her to stop pacing around in her cell with the words “I order you to stop running.”, she simply replied: “I don't recall joining your army.”
of a body
Among the most horrific events that she had to endure during her confinement are (in my opinion) the time the prison doctor told her that it would be best for everyone and the trial if she had an abortion (I mean ... the audacity of that statement alone!) and when she was beaten and restrained by several large female officers after refusing a medical exam from a prison doctor shortly after giving birth. The total disregard that these people had for her makes me sick.
In May 1973, she was arrested after being wounded in a shootout on the New Jersey Turnpike, while her friend Zayd Malik Shakur was killed. In her autobiography, Assata not only details the horrific arrest and how awfully she was treated by the police officers [e.g.: “Bitch, you’d better open your goddamn mouth or I’ll blow your goddamn head off!”], she also shared the poem that she wrote in memory of her friend Zayd:
STORYAs with all the poems that Assata shared in her autobiography, her words are powerful and lethal. No matter how long or short the poems were, they all elicited visceral reactions from me. Assata truly has a way with words and to pin-point exactly what she means to express and put her finger into the wound. Her gift is remarkable and I really wish she would publish a book of poetry. I, for my part, would be first in line to buy it.
You died.
I cried.
And kept on getting up.
A little slower.
And a lot more deadly.
After the shooting, she was held at the Garden State Youth Correctional Facility in New Jersey, and later moved to Rikers Island Correctional Institution for Women in New York City, where she was kept in solitary confinement for 21 months.
In the history of New Jersey, no woman pretrial detainee or prisoner has ever been treated as she was: continuously confined in a men’s prison, under 24-hour surveillance of her most intimate functions, without intellectual sustenance, adequate medical attention, and exercise, and without the company of other women for all the years she was in their custody.
Her only daughter, Kakuya Shakur, was conceived during her trial and born on September 11, 1974. In a moving poem, dedicated to her daughter, she states: “i have shabby dreams for you / of some vague freedom / i have never known.”
What Assata recalls of the trial is infuriating. She says “the panel looked more than a lynch mob than a jury.” And she wasn't wrong: a total of 408 potential jurors were questioned during the voir dire. All of the 15 jurors—10 women and 5 men—were white, and most were under thirty years old. 5 jurors had personal ties to State Troopers (one girlfriend, two nephews, and two friends).
And, if i know anything at all,While serving a life sentence for murder, on November 2, 1979, Assata escaped the Clinton Correctional Facility for Women in New Jersey, when three members of the Black Liberation Army visiting her drew concealed .45-caliber pistols and a stick of dynamite, seized two correction officers as hostages, commandeered a van and escaped. No one was injured during the prison break, including the officers held as hostages who were left in a parking lot.
it’s that a wall is just a wall
and nothing more at all.
It can be broken down.
She surfaced in Cuba in 1984, where she was granted political asylum and lives ever since, despite US government efforts to have her returned. In her autobiography, she doesn't talk about her escape at all (...probably for legal reasons) and her time in Cuba also only gets a short postscript chapter. I found that a bit sad because those were two topics that really interested me. Ultimately, that's the reason why I rated this book 4 instead of 5 stars.^^
I am a Black revolutionary. By that I am that I have declared war on all forces that raped our women, castrated our men, and kept our babies empty-bellied.Overall, Assata kept her autobiography personal and focused on important events in her life. There was only one section were the book became educational: she detailed how misconceptions about Abraham Lincoln as the liberator of slaves are still being taught in schools and at universities, while in fact, in August 1862, Lincoln stated: “If I could save the union without freeing any slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that.”
Black revolutionaries do not drop from the moon. We are created by our conditions. Shaped by our oppression.
Assata explains how the Civil War was not fought to free the slaves. It was a war between two economic systems, a war for power and control by two separate actions of the ruling class: rich, white Southern slave owners and rich, white Northern industrialists. The battle was between a plantation slave economy and an industrial manufacturing economy. I found that insight very interesting because, as a German, I hadn't learned much about the Civil War at all but was, formerly, under the impression that the liberation of slaves was its main drive.
In addition to that, I found Assata's belief in communism and her rejection of capitalism refreshing and insightful. At a different point in the book, she wrote: “That’s why i couldn’t see fighting within the system. Both the democratic party and the republican party are controlled by millionaires. They are interested in holding on to their power, while i was interested in taking it away.” That's a struggle that a lot of activist still have today.
It was also refreshing to learn how angry she was at the injustice that marginalised groups faced in the US. Oftentimes, I’m put off by people who only preach nonviolence and don’t have any understanding of why other oppressed people might be angry and pissed off. After Martin Luther King, Jr. was murdered, Assata wrote: “I am going to a riot. I want to kill someone.” It is rare to get revolutionaries and activist to be so honest about their innermost feelings.
Her hopefulness for the future is another thing that I found incredibly empowering. In her beginning poem, “Affirmation”, she says: “And i believe that a lost ship, / steered by tired, seasick sailors, / can still be guided home / to port.”, as well as: “And i believe that seeds grow into sprouts. / And sprouts grow into trees.”
Another thing that's, unfortunately, relevant as ever are her musings about the Left: “Arrogance was one of the key factors that kept the white left so fictionalised. I felt that instead of fighting together against a common enemy, they waster time quarrelling with each other about who had the right line.”
She ends her autobiography with one of my favorite quotes from it:
Every day out in the street now, i remind myself that Black people in amerika are oppressed. It’s necessary that i do that. People get used to anything. The less you think about your oppression, the more your tolerance for it grows. After a while, people just think oppression is the normal state of things. But to become free, you have to be acutely aware of being a slave.Words to live by. Words to remember. Assata spoke the truth. Her resilience is unmatched. Her wisdom infinite. It was a true joy to read her autobiography. The book is empowering and important and can teach us so much. Highly recommend to literally everyone who is interested in the anti-racist movement.
May 24, 2020
A powerful autobiography by a courageous, wise, and funny woman. In Assata, Assata Shakur details her coming of age as a black woman in the United States, her court case for allegedly killing a state trooper based on flimsy evidence, and her involvement in the Black Panther Party and the Black Liberation movement. I most loved this book for Assata’s many incisive, profound points about slavery and racism, the perils of capitalism, and how Eurocentrism and the glorification of whiteness oppress black people in a multitude of ways. Here’s a quote about education that I’m pretty sure I said “omg, iconic” aloud when I first read it, about the failure of American education to help marginalized people unlearn oppression:
“The schools we go to are reflections of the society that created them. Nobody is going to give you the education you need to overthrow them. Nobody is going to teach you your true history, teach you your true heroes, if they know that that knowledge will help set you free. Schools in amerika are interested in brainwashing people with amerikanism, giving them a little bit of education, and training them in skills needed to fill the positions the capitalist system requires. As long as we expect amerika’s schools to educate us, we will remain ignorant.”
I recommend this book for anyone who’s interested in reading about the life of a radical, inspiring woman. Assata demonstrated great strength and perseverance through so many situations she should not have had to. In this autobiography she shares both those experiences as well as underlying truths about our oppressive, white supremacist society that contributed to those experiences happening in the first place. While the structure in the first half of the book did not quite click with me with the time skips, toward the middle and the end of the book I felt mesmerized. I’ll end this review with another quote about the marginalization of Black people in American and the importance of racial consciousness:
“Every day out in the street now, I remind myself that Black people in amerika are oppressed. It’s necessary that I do that. People get used to anything. The less you think about your oppression, the more your tolerance for it grows. After a while, people just think oppression is the normal state of things. But to become free, you have to be acutely aware of being a slave.”
“The schools we go to are reflections of the society that created them. Nobody is going to give you the education you need to overthrow them. Nobody is going to teach you your true history, teach you your true heroes, if they know that that knowledge will help set you free. Schools in amerika are interested in brainwashing people with amerikanism, giving them a little bit of education, and training them in skills needed to fill the positions the capitalist system requires. As long as we expect amerika’s schools to educate us, we will remain ignorant.”
I recommend this book for anyone who’s interested in reading about the life of a radical, inspiring woman. Assata demonstrated great strength and perseverance through so many situations she should not have had to. In this autobiography she shares both those experiences as well as underlying truths about our oppressive, white supremacist society that contributed to those experiences happening in the first place. While the structure in the first half of the book did not quite click with me with the time skips, toward the middle and the end of the book I felt mesmerized. I’ll end this review with another quote about the marginalization of Black people in American and the importance of racial consciousness:
“Every day out in the street now, I remind myself that Black people in amerika are oppressed. It’s necessary that I do that. People get used to anything. The less you think about your oppression, the more your tolerance for it grows. After a while, people just think oppression is the normal state of things. But to become free, you have to be acutely aware of being a slave.”
February 3, 2018
This was one of the first Goodreads recommendation I ever received (by goodreads recommendation I mean the computer generated algorithm based on the books that I entered onto my profile). I'm not sure which books prompted the recommendation but it has proven to be spot on.
I had heard of Assata Shakur only in terms that she was the FBI's most wanted woman alive. After reading this autobiography, I still don't know why. On it's face this would seem to be the story of a life of a young black female revolutionary in the 70s. Yes that would be the judge a book by its cover analysis. But of course that's not what this is about at all. This is a book about the misuse and abuse of power of the State. State here being the Federal and State Governments. What was most striking to me about the autobiography was the vicious police brutality and the blatant disregard for due process of law, her civil rights, and what constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. I read about how huge the machinaries of government are and what can happen when it turns its full force against one person or a small group of people. The book is filled with facts about her incarceration and trials. There seemed to be quite a desire to convict without real due process of law. The judge in New Jersey was portrayed as racist singlehandedly rigged the trial and the system, though strangely enough she was exonerated anyways thought the brilliance of her lawyers among which was the famous William Kunstler. Per Assasta they did things like make her take photographs in a wig that looked a lot like the photo of bank robbers and then say indisputably that she was present. They incarcerated her in a men's prison in solitary confinement for months at a time without much mental stimulation. Never let her out for exercise. She was shot in the abdomen and arm. The lack of adequate medical treatment threatened paralysis. She had to sue for physical therapy. The poor medical attention for her during her pregnancy had the potential of promoting a miscarriage with the implication that it seemed to be preferable to the State. Kangaroo courts and cruel and unusual punishments. The list goes on. In short, political persecution.
What was also apparent was that Shakur was very intelligent and insightful civil rights activist, feminist, a bit of a philosopher and a poet. The book came across as particularly prescient in the age of government overreach and "oversight", the #metoo movement, the civil rights and lack their of for certain people, voter supression and it roll in the perversion of the criminal justice system and the violent spread of capitalism and it's conflation with democracy. Quick quiz. I'm going to provide a few quotes from the book and you tell me what decade we are discussing:
It seems like a strange twist of fate that I was reading this book simultaneously with Naomi Klein's Shock Doctrine. Seriously, they were a strangely compatible mix. Shakur outlined and punctuated a lot of Klein's points of view almost 2 decades earlier. Shakur was fervent advocate for civil rights for all people. She recognized that a prime motivation for oppression wasn't just the basic hatred of the "other", it was the much more powerful, plain old greed.
What the book doesn't explain is why? Why her? Per Shakur, she was never a leader in the Black Panther Party or the Black Liberation Army (BLA). Shakur had many problems with the leaders of both organizations mostly related to the sexism/misogyny and a lack of strategic focus. Throughout the book we can see that Shakur has huge issues with the US form of government. But her role according to her is more as a participant. She was a foot soldier who had some strategic vision but revealed no indication as to why she should be on anyone's radar. Why was the government so after her? Her autobiography would have us believe that just by being a member of the BLA, she was branded as a terrorist and treated as such. She would have us believe that this was all done basically because she was black, female and powerless. How did she escape from Federal custody? Wikipedia somewhat filled me in. She was suspected of being the leader of the BLA cell and responsible for several bank armed robberies. BLA broke her out of prison and hid her for several years before she received political asylum in Cuba. Possible of course and maybe even probable, but not entirely convincing. I suspect the truth is somewhere in between. But living in 2018, some 30 years after the book was written and living in an age with the attempted demonizing of the Black Lives Matter movement and the attempt to underplay the overwhelming police brutality and abuse of power, I find her to be mostly credible--with rather obvious, probably critical omissions in the book. Overall I found the book to be quite fascinating and an excellent read. I also enjoyed the intertwining poems with the chapters in the book.
4 Stars
Read on kindle
I had heard of Assata Shakur only in terms that she was the FBI's most wanted woman alive. After reading this autobiography, I still don't know why. On it's face this would seem to be the story of a life of a young black female revolutionary in the 70s. Yes that would be the judge a book by its cover analysis. But of course that's not what this is about at all. This is a book about the misuse and abuse of power of the State. State here being the Federal and State Governments. What was most striking to me about the autobiography was the vicious police brutality and the blatant disregard for due process of law, her civil rights, and what constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. I read about how huge the machinaries of government are and what can happen when it turns its full force against one person or a small group of people. The book is filled with facts about her incarceration and trials. There seemed to be quite a desire to convict without real due process of law. The judge in New Jersey was portrayed as racist singlehandedly rigged the trial and the system, though strangely enough she was exonerated anyways thought the brilliance of her lawyers among which was the famous William Kunstler. Per Assasta they did things like make her take photographs in a wig that looked a lot like the photo of bank robbers and then say indisputably that she was present. They incarcerated her in a men's prison in solitary confinement for months at a time without much mental stimulation. Never let her out for exercise. She was shot in the abdomen and arm. The lack of adequate medical treatment threatened paralysis. She had to sue for physical therapy. The poor medical attention for her during her pregnancy had the potential of promoting a miscarriage with the implication that it seemed to be preferable to the State. Kangaroo courts and cruel and unusual punishments. The list goes on. In short, political persecution.
What was also apparent was that Shakur was very intelligent and insightful civil rights activist, feminist, a bit of a philosopher and a poet. The book came across as particularly prescient in the age of government overreach and "oversight", the #metoo movement, the civil rights and lack their of for certain people, voter supression and it roll in the perversion of the criminal justice system and the violent spread of capitalism and it's conflation with democracy. Quick quiz. I'm going to provide a few quotes from the book and you tell me what decade we are discussing:
Back then, when i was growing up, boys gang-banging or gang-raping a girl was a pretty common thing. They called it pulling a train. It didn’t happen to any particular kind of girl. It happened to girls who were at the wrong place at the wrong time.
While politicians take free trips around the world, those same politicians cut back food stamps for the poor. While politicians increase their salaries, millions of people are being laid off. This city is on the brink of bankruptcy, and yet hundreds of thousands of dollars are being spent on this trial. I do not understand a government so willing to spend millions of dollars on arms, to explore outer space, even the planet Jupiter, and at the same time close down day care centers and fire stations.
But one percent of the people in this country control seventy percent of the wealth. And it is that one percent, the heads of large corporations, who control the policies of the news media and determine what you and i hear on radio, read in the newspapers, see on television. It is more important for us to think about where the media gets its information.Actually I think it's something like 87% now but…
The panel was selected from the voting rolls, and, since candidates running for office seldom represent the interests of Black and poor people, Blacks and the poor don’t vote. But failing to vote means they don’t sit on juries.
The rich have always used racism to maintain power. To hate someone, to discriminate against them, and to attack them because of their racial characteristics is one of the most primitive, reactionary, ignorant ways of thinking that exists.
It seems like a strange twist of fate that I was reading this book simultaneously with Naomi Klein's Shock Doctrine. Seriously, they were a strangely compatible mix. Shakur outlined and punctuated a lot of Klein's points of view almost 2 decades earlier. Shakur was fervent advocate for civil rights for all people. She recognized that a prime motivation for oppression wasn't just the basic hatred of the "other", it was the much more powerful, plain old greed.
Those who believe that the president or the vice-president and the congress and the supreme kourt run this country are sadly mistaken. The almighty dollar is king; those who have the most money control the country and, through campaign contributions, buy and sell presidents, congressmen, and judges, the ones who pass the laws and enforce the laws that benefit their benefactors.Anybody heard of the new tax law? Shakur also talked about things as they related to foreign policy:
Then he defined the u.s. government’s role, that it was fighting for money, to defend the interests of u.s. corporations and to establish military bases. I didn’t know whether to believe him or not. I had never heard of such a thing. “What about democracy?” i asked him. “Don’t you believe in democracy?” Yes, he said, but the government the u.s. was supporting was not a democracy but a bloodthirsty dictatorship.Understand that we are not talking about Turkey, Saudi Arabia, or Russia or the Philippines. We're talking about Vietnam in this quote.
What the book doesn't explain is why? Why her? Per Shakur, she was never a leader in the Black Panther Party or the Black Liberation Army (BLA). Shakur had many problems with the leaders of both organizations mostly related to the sexism/misogyny and a lack of strategic focus. Throughout the book we can see that Shakur has huge issues with the US form of government. But her role according to her is more as a participant. She was a foot soldier who had some strategic vision but revealed no indication as to why she should be on anyone's radar. Why was the government so after her? Her autobiography would have us believe that just by being a member of the BLA, she was branded as a terrorist and treated as such. She would have us believe that this was all done basically because she was black, female and powerless. How did she escape from Federal custody? Wikipedia somewhat filled me in. She was suspected of being the leader of the BLA cell and responsible for several bank armed robberies. BLA broke her out of prison and hid her for several years before she received political asylum in Cuba. Possible of course and maybe even probable, but not entirely convincing. I suspect the truth is somewhere in between. But living in 2018, some 30 years after the book was written and living in an age with the attempted demonizing of the Black Lives Matter movement and the attempt to underplay the overwhelming police brutality and abuse of power, I find her to be mostly credible--with rather obvious, probably critical omissions in the book. Overall I found the book to be quite fascinating and an excellent read. I also enjoyed the intertwining poems with the chapters in the book.
4 Stars
Read on kindle
January 22, 2016
Assata Shakur's conviction in a joke of a trial for a murder she clearly did not commit has not been reversed. She escaped from prison and she lives in Cuba, still a fugitive. The story of how the hell this outrage came about and above all persists is necessary because it outlines so lucidly how the white supremacist capitalist state actively opposes the struggles for liberation and justice and simply peaceful survival of African American people at all costs, whatever politicians say.
Aside from what the trial demonstrates though, Assata's story is precious to me because she's an extraordinary woman, so intelligent, clear sighted and candid, and such a fine raconteur, alternating chapters on her intriguing early life with the horrific account of her incarceration so that I was constantly perched on the edge of my seat. She also seasons both with her blazingly beautiful poetry. Her stormy temper, huge capacity for love and gift for articulating oppression all increase her vulnerability in the hostile circumstances, but also her story's appeal and my admiration for her
There's also a fascinating flavour here of the strands of Black Power movement and mood in Black USian communities in the late 60s and early 70s. The political climate was extremely hostile and the police behaved lawlessly, but Assata's narrative gives the impression of loosely united activism and awakening resistance among a wider population socialised into believing white supremacist memes about blackness. Her own growing oppositional knowledge combined with tenacity and confidence make her a superb organiser and speaker, but her radical activities consist principally of running Black Panther breakfasts for kids and teaching remedial maths and literacy.
This is an autobiography of someone whose very self-respect is outlawed, who is denied recognition as a woman (she was repeatedly incarcerated in male prisons), who has been quite absurdly painted as a violent extremist by a media evidently in thrall to state racism. For Assata, singled out to be made a cautionary example, the personal is exhaustingly, tortuously political.
At the end of the book, she reflects on racial dynamics in Cuba, an environment by no means utopian, but certainly full of love and hope.
(I mean no disrespect by using the author's first name, I just love this chosen name, meaning 'she who struggles')
Aside from what the trial demonstrates though, Assata's story is precious to me because she's an extraordinary woman, so intelligent, clear sighted and candid, and such a fine raconteur, alternating chapters on her intriguing early life with the horrific account of her incarceration so that I was constantly perched on the edge of my seat. She also seasons both with her blazingly beautiful poetry. Her stormy temper, huge capacity for love and gift for articulating oppression all increase her vulnerability in the hostile circumstances, but also her story's appeal and my admiration for her
There's also a fascinating flavour here of the strands of Black Power movement and mood in Black USian communities in the late 60s and early 70s. The political climate was extremely hostile and the police behaved lawlessly, but Assata's narrative gives the impression of loosely united activism and awakening resistance among a wider population socialised into believing white supremacist memes about blackness. Her own growing oppositional knowledge combined with tenacity and confidence make her a superb organiser and speaker, but her radical activities consist principally of running Black Panther breakfasts for kids and teaching remedial maths and literacy.
This is an autobiography of someone whose very self-respect is outlawed, who is denied recognition as a woman (she was repeatedly incarcerated in male prisons), who has been quite absurdly painted as a violent extremist by a media evidently in thrall to state racism. For Assata, singled out to be made a cautionary example, the personal is exhaustingly, tortuously political.
At the end of the book, she reflects on racial dynamics in Cuba, an environment by no means utopian, but certainly full of love and hope.
(I mean no disrespect by using the author's first name, I just love this chosen name, meaning 'she who struggles')
December 17, 2015
The issue with deriving the majority of knowledge I deem of worth from Tumblr is the all too often reactionary invalidation coupled with my intake. While I acknowledge that all my development via moral, academic, and raison d'être channels can be invariable traced back to some post or another, and that the only thing of value I've wrested from a college education thus far was a voracious appetite for establishing my own systems of academic credibility, my gut reaction is still pull apart the Internet and trust in the book. I'm getting better, but until I can fully shake off the refuse of a previous generation's standards of evaluation, works like these that put those posts down on paper are a gift.
Assata Shakur is alive. It doesn't take much time to say, but the context of connection between the revolutionary days before my time and my now of tanks in Ferguson and parallels between the Berlin Wall and the Palestine-Israel barriers is invaluable. Not only is she living proof of how far the United States needs to go before I'll even begin to contemplate an inkling of "trust", here in this autobiography she is candid, she is funny, she is intelligent and brave and strong beyond belief. While I read The Autobiography of Malcolm X, there is a difference between reading the words of a dead man and those of a living woman both on socially constructed and biologically factual constructed grounds. Simply put, as a woman, I found more to relate to, and connections such as these in any intersectional social justice context are worth the world.
The most obvious examples of this are biological. Assata Shakur saved herself from a gang rape by affluent boys at the age of thirteen by threatening to tear apart the main perpetrator's house and get him in trouble with his parents. She also became pregnant and gave birth while incarcerated during her many trials, and wrote about the experience with such beautiful insight into both the reality of her situation and the strength of her hope for the future that I recommend it to all. Her being a black woman also worked in more implicit ways by deconstructing the cult of masculinity often coupled to civil rights movements. Everywhere in her autobiography is emphasis on solidarity, love, and commitment to any and all in the mutual struggle, something every sociopolitical tract concerning human rights could learn from.
In addition to detailing her life and development of social consciousness, Shakur gives some very important points of advice on how to engage in social justice measures. My first favorite of these was her statement that revolutionaries need to constantly engage with the people, as those on the sidelines who are not informed by the revolutionaries will always be indoctrinated by the white-washing school and the fear-mongering state. Seeing as how I keep track of events in Ferguson via Twitter and Tumblr due to the distortions of media blackouts, I can attest to this in full. Another favorite was her decrying of social justice people "fixing" things for others, when the right way of supporting those in different situations is to be receptive to their ideas, have faith in their abilities, and offer aid only when asked. Patriarchal methods of teacher and student will not tear down the patriarchy so long as the teacher is always the teacher and the student is always the student.
I did find it odd that, after all this great material, that Shakur went back and emphasized how the revolutionary struggle must be scientific in order to avoid emotional compromise, in other words emphasizing the very "objectivity" preached by every tendril of the patriarchy. After some reflection, my thoughts are that this was a condemnation of the suicidal violence mentality she encountered during her time in the Black Panther Party. It's the only way that makes sense to me, as what I love about Shakur is her constant promotion of love, of communication, of a fundamental "emotional" grounding of sociopolitical thought that is the antithesis of the ever abusive and ever splintering patriarchy. If I ever get the chance to meet her, I'll have to ask her about it.
This book is also chock-full of historical tidbits you'll never find in any classroom. Along with all the names and college movements I'll have to look into in the future, this was the first time I had ever heard of the Occupation of Alcatraz. Good stuff.
Assata Shakur is alive. It doesn't take much time to say, but the context of connection between the revolutionary days before my time and my now of tanks in Ferguson and parallels between the Berlin Wall and the Palestine-Israel barriers is invaluable. Not only is she living proof of how far the United States needs to go before I'll even begin to contemplate an inkling of "trust", here in this autobiography she is candid, she is funny, she is intelligent and brave and strong beyond belief. While I read The Autobiography of Malcolm X, there is a difference between reading the words of a dead man and those of a living woman both on socially constructed and biologically factual constructed grounds. Simply put, as a woman, I found more to relate to, and connections such as these in any intersectional social justice context are worth the world.
The most obvious examples of this are biological. Assata Shakur saved herself from a gang rape by affluent boys at the age of thirteen by threatening to tear apart the main perpetrator's house and get him in trouble with his parents. She also became pregnant and gave birth while incarcerated during her many trials, and wrote about the experience with such beautiful insight into both the reality of her situation and the strength of her hope for the future that I recommend it to all. Her being a black woman also worked in more implicit ways by deconstructing the cult of masculinity often coupled to civil rights movements. Everywhere in her autobiography is emphasis on solidarity, love, and commitment to any and all in the mutual struggle, something every sociopolitical tract concerning human rights could learn from.
In addition to detailing her life and development of social consciousness, Shakur gives some very important points of advice on how to engage in social justice measures. My first favorite of these was her statement that revolutionaries need to constantly engage with the people, as those on the sidelines who are not informed by the revolutionaries will always be indoctrinated by the white-washing school and the fear-mongering state. Seeing as how I keep track of events in Ferguson via Twitter and Tumblr due to the distortions of media blackouts, I can attest to this in full. Another favorite was her decrying of social justice people "fixing" things for others, when the right way of supporting those in different situations is to be receptive to their ideas, have faith in their abilities, and offer aid only when asked. Patriarchal methods of teacher and student will not tear down the patriarchy so long as the teacher is always the teacher and the student is always the student.
I did find it odd that, after all this great material, that Shakur went back and emphasized how the revolutionary struggle must be scientific in order to avoid emotional compromise, in other words emphasizing the very "objectivity" preached by every tendril of the patriarchy. After some reflection, my thoughts are that this was a condemnation of the suicidal violence mentality she encountered during her time in the Black Panther Party. It's the only way that makes sense to me, as what I love about Shakur is her constant promotion of love, of communication, of a fundamental "emotional" grounding of sociopolitical thought that is the antithesis of the ever abusive and ever splintering patriarchy. If I ever get the chance to meet her, I'll have to ask her about it.
This book is also chock-full of historical tidbits you'll never find in any classroom. Along with all the names and college movements I'll have to look into in the future, this was the first time I had ever heard of the Occupation of Alcatraz. Good stuff.
October 8, 2017
This book turned into a dnf for me. I wanted to love this book soooooo bad. I pushed myself as far as I could to read until the end however, I just couldn't. While I respect Assata and all that she did for the African-American race, I was unimpressed by her memoir.
When it comes to memoirs or books based on individuals coming of age, I like to read these books to figure out what the protagonist or subject of the book learned from everything that happened to him/her. For the majority of Assata's story, there seemed to be a wall up between her and her audience. I found this to be especially true in terms of the chapters that Assata wrote about her childhood. In these chapters, I felt a strong urge to question the validity of certain events based on how Assata wrote them using such a blasé tone about different events like, how she frequently ran away from home and lived on her own for long periods of time as a child. Even though these events may have happened just as she wrote them, the tone in which she wrote each event forced me to take her verbal recaps with a grain of salt.
Furthermore, I felt as if her misspelling of America and the word "I" were too forced. In each instance where she did this, it struck me as a contrived writing tick that may have been meant to mean something, but never really got fully explained to the reader forcing this habit to become just another thing for her audience to guess at. Looking at other people's interpretation of Assata's autobiography, I would speculate that the habit of misspelling America's name was meant to show disrespect or hatred for America however, I'm still unsure of the actual meaning behind this.
Overall, I felt dissatisfied with this book. Assata's story came highly recommended from people gushing over it left and right yet, I felt as if Assata's delivery of her life's story lacked depth. I do not dispute that Assata has more than enough to be angry about in her life, but the manner in which she portrays her feelings in the book don't really show any growth from her first being arrested up to the point I read to (which was about 125 pages) where she's like 13 living on her own with a drag queen as a mentor. Nonetheless, I can attest to learning a good deal about the American justice system from her autobiography. I would recommend this book to someone who is an avid history buff, African-African Literature lover, or extremely fond of feminist narratives.
When it comes to memoirs or books based on individuals coming of age, I like to read these books to figure out what the protagonist or subject of the book learned from everything that happened to him/her. For the majority of Assata's story, there seemed to be a wall up between her and her audience. I found this to be especially true in terms of the chapters that Assata wrote about her childhood. In these chapters, I felt a strong urge to question the validity of certain events based on how Assata wrote them using such a blasé tone about different events like, how she frequently ran away from home and lived on her own for long periods of time as a child. Even though these events may have happened just as she wrote them, the tone in which she wrote each event forced me to take her verbal recaps with a grain of salt.
Furthermore, I felt as if her misspelling of America and the word "I" were too forced. In each instance where she did this, it struck me as a contrived writing tick that may have been meant to mean something, but never really got fully explained to the reader forcing this habit to become just another thing for her audience to guess at. Looking at other people's interpretation of Assata's autobiography, I would speculate that the habit of misspelling America's name was meant to show disrespect or hatred for America however, I'm still unsure of the actual meaning behind this.
Overall, I felt dissatisfied with this book. Assata's story came highly recommended from people gushing over it left and right yet, I felt as if Assata's delivery of her life's story lacked depth. I do not dispute that Assata has more than enough to be angry about in her life, but the manner in which she portrays her feelings in the book don't really show any growth from her first being arrested up to the point I read to (which was about 125 pages) where she's like 13 living on her own with a drag queen as a mentor. Nonetheless, I can attest to learning a good deal about the American justice system from her autobiography. I would recommend this book to someone who is an avid history buff, African-African Literature lover, or extremely fond of feminist narratives.
March 27, 2019
Assata: An Autobiography gives you the woman's experience in her most honest of voices that is raw and powerful. Assata takes you on a journey through her youth, the Black Liberation Movement, and alongside her encounters with the US courts. You will be educated on the misinformed of America, it's false history that we are led to believe as we go through the educational system. Now, she doesn't give a thorough explanation of her political views but certainly it is not prudent to reveal too much, since she is still a fugitive. For those searching for a story that details the revolutionary's escape or her numerous trials...don’t waste you time this isn’t that kind of book. If you want to know why Assata continues to be so unjustly demonized and criminalized then you have struck gold. This book without question is a great book about an extraordinary woman. This will definitely be a re-read.
March 23, 2019
Wow
Assata Shakur. After reading this book, I only feel love for a person who - even within the confines of ink and paper - clearly has so much life and energy brimming from within her. What this woman handled in her time put me in a similar frame of mind as to when I read A Lightless Sky; one of sheer gratitude.
It seems oddly coincidental that I would read Franz Kafkas The Trial just before coming to understand the farce that was Assastas trial. Her struggles that she overcame made me shudder with sheer awe at times.
To all my goodreads friends, do yourself a favour and pick this up. Her name deserves to live forever.
Assata Shakur. After reading this book, I only feel love for a person who - even within the confines of ink and paper - clearly has so much life and energy brimming from within her. What this woman handled in her time put me in a similar frame of mind as to when I read A Lightless Sky; one of sheer gratitude.
It seems oddly coincidental that I would read Franz Kafkas The Trial just before coming to understand the farce that was Assastas trial. Her struggles that she overcame made me shudder with sheer awe at times.
To all my goodreads friends, do yourself a favour and pick this up. Her name deserves to live forever.
June 23, 2018
I sure took my time reading this.
I was hesitating between 3 and 4 stars.
I find it very hard to trust biographies or autobiographies. I always feel there's a streak of untruth to them.
There are choices that Assata made that didn't agree with me. The whole running away from home, in the beginning and the getting pregnant while being under arrest. This I didn't get at all. What was the purpose?
What strikes me is that she keeps saying she wanted to be a revolutionist. I feel she wanted to matter. I feel that she wanted recognition even more than Black liberation but that's just my opinion. And a 274-pages read doesn't really give me the right to such an opinion.
I find it hard to believe that either she was guiltless or the Black liberation Army was guiltless. Even if she was innocent of most of what she had been accused, I find it very hard to believe she was spotless.
So I have mixed feelings. I understand her plight and her pain and do admire her for it. And in the days of black lives matter, this book is even more relevant. Yet, I am not entirely sure I would agree with all of Assata's views and ideologies. Also the poem at the end about chopping off slave masters' heads and putting arsenic in apple pies took me off a little.
I was hesitating between 3 and 4 stars.
I find it very hard to trust biographies or autobiographies. I always feel there's a streak of untruth to them.
There are choices that Assata made that didn't agree with me. The whole running away from home, in the beginning and the getting pregnant while being under arrest. This I didn't get at all. What was the purpose?
What strikes me is that she keeps saying she wanted to be a revolutionist. I feel she wanted to matter. I feel that she wanted recognition even more than Black liberation but that's just my opinion. And a 274-pages read doesn't really give me the right to such an opinion.
I find it hard to believe that either she was guiltless or the Black liberation Army was guiltless. Even if she was innocent of most of what she had been accused, I find it very hard to believe she was spotless.
So I have mixed feelings. I understand her plight and her pain and do admire her for it. And in the days of black lives matter, this book is even more relevant. Yet, I am not entirely sure I would agree with all of Assata's views and ideologies. Also the poem at the end about chopping off slave masters' heads and putting arsenic in apple pies took me off a little.
April 7, 2019
I realize that I’m years late, but bear with me. Wow. Wow. That’s truly all I can say. There are some books that people claim you need to read to be a better organizer, and I truly believe that Assata is one of those books. I devoured this book in a little over a day. Her storytelling sweeps you in, her commitment to struggle and growth is to be revered and honored. The book details just all of the ways that the US continues to try to destroy movements, and without reading this book I did not truly have an understanding of just how fucked up her interactions with the court were (which is saying a lot because I already knew it was fucked up!) The book also has some insight into the workings of the Black Panther Party that are still relevant today, especially critiques for the way toxic masculinity shows up in our movement.
I think Assata grounded myself in my commitment to the science behind the struggle and explains the importance of anti-imperialism and solidarity so plainly that you begin to wonder what we’re really debating. This isn’t just an autobiography this is a guidebook. Don’t be like me and underestimate the power of this book. READ IT.
I think Assata grounded myself in my commitment to the science behind the struggle and explains the importance of anti-imperialism and solidarity so plainly that you begin to wonder what we’re really debating. This isn’t just an autobiography this is a guidebook. Don’t be like me and underestimate the power of this book. READ IT.
July 11, 2020
It breaks my heart how relevant this book is to the times we're living in now. Assata's story could have been written yesterday, has been written time and time again. The next time someone insists "time" is all the world needs to heal itself, to recover from racism, one could easily look to Assata's book as a sign of the times then, now, and forever. Time means nothing to people whose minds are stuck in the past, whose beliefs are drenched in blood and buried in false ideas of superiority.
Assata was the original hashtag when hashtags were innocuous "pound signs." Her story, her escape, her blaze of freedom all seems like a bittersweet win considering the provisions of her life, a life of eternal fear and anxiety.
What kind of life is that? It is our life, the Black life. What a metaphor, what a woman.
Assata was the original hashtag when hashtags were innocuous "pound signs." Her story, her escape, her blaze of freedom all seems like a bittersweet win considering the provisions of her life, a life of eternal fear and anxiety.
What kind of life is that? It is our life, the Black life. What a metaphor, what a woman.
November 29, 2008
i don't think i really need to explain that this book is awesome. it is the autobiography of assata shakur, who was in the black panther party & eventually arrested, charged with murder. she made a baby with a fellow defendant during the trial & gave birth while shackled to a gurney. some comrades busted her out of prison & she escaped to cuba, where she lives to this day. this book covers her childhood, growing up female & black, becoming aware of racism & sexism, & the strong female role models she had in her life in the form of her mother & her aunt (who went on to be assata's lawyer during her black panther days). she writes about joining the black panther party & daily life within the party, including some of the stuff she didn't like. she writes about her trial, getting pregnant, being pregnant & giving birth in jail, etc. it's a pretty damn interesting story, & assata is a really like-able narrator, because she's so brassy & no-bullshit. maybe possibly i could have lived with the occasional poems, but hey. you can't win 'em all. this book is an excellent memoir antidote to a lot of the dude-penned black panther books, which are, predictably, dudely.
February 4, 2021
Absolutely essential reading.
January 8, 2012
I am compelled to review this autobiography so harshly that I am afraid I might make unfounded assertions about this memoir that may be completely false, but these are all my opinions. I was thoroughly unimpressed with the autobiography and came to the conclusion that I do not know why it was written - seriously. I do not know what Shakur's contribution to the Black Panther Party (BPP) was nor do I fully understand her contribution to the Black Liberation Army. She was an absentee mother, I do not understand why she allowed Kamau to impregnate her while they both were in prison. Shakur stated that she feared their child, should she get pregnant, would not be well taken care of and she also feared that her child would endure great hardship in this world, therefore, she wanted to avoid a sexual relationship with him. BUT he was able to persuade her to have unprotected sex with him in a filthy jail? This brought onto her, the pregnancy that is, a heap of trouble that made her life in prison, in horrible conditions, even more difficult. I cannot understand how she could be so easily led to make a decision that affected her life greatly.
Shakur spends pages and pages and pages telling readers about her life as an adolescent, never really going in depth about how her mother's absenteeism affected her growth as a woman. Her marriage is summed up in one pitiful paragraph. Readers see Shakur chasing something, a home perhaps, throughout the memoir and by page 274 (the end of the book), I'm not certain she has even found it.
The autobiography was very slow to start, you have to read well over 100 pages before Shakur even begins to describe the influence of the BPP on her life. She glosses over the corruption and greed and pride that destroyed the organization, being very vague about details that led to her negative experience in the BPP, though she left the organization on, what I would call, bad terms. And her significance in the lives of the members of the BPP on both the west coast and in New York, is seemingly nonexistent because, according to Shakur, none of her projects were ever completed. It appears that she did not do much in the BPP. I read this book to see what her influence was and I turned up with nothing.
The details of her trials, thoroughly explicated for readers, are just downright boring. Do we really need to know that she had this many lawyers for this case and So-And-So thought So-And-So who was white and from Jersey would be the "best" lawyer for this situation. I mean...it bored me. There were 100 pages of this autobiography that told me nothing about Shakur's development as a woman, Black woman, or prisoner. If you know the history, then you know Assata Shakur escapes from jail and finds asylum in Cuba where she is a political refugee. How she gets to Cuba is information Shakur omits (of course, what has she told us in this autobiography? Really?). She makes sure to inform us that in Cuba there is no racism...what that does for me here, I do not know because Shakur is no longer involved in the struggle.
Shakur changes the "c's" in "court" and "America" to "k's" but this is done so sporadically that I do not know if spelling is significant to Shakur. Additionally, there are sometimes when Shakur makes the pronoun "I" lowercase and there are instances in which she leaves the pronoun capitalized. I am not certain that she knows why she alters the spelling of these words or decides to go against "standard" American English rules of American English spelling. If this is Shakur's way of rebelling against American society, then the publisher, Lawrence Hill Books, should have taken the time to ensure that this was made crystal clear to readers. Otherwise, it leaves readers puzzled.
If it weren't for the poetry, this autobiography would have been, in my honest opinion, a complete waste of a read. Well, I take that back, there are some books Shakur mentions in her autobiography that I want to read...books I would not know about until later, had I not picked up her autobiography. The book took too long to read, was not well-written, and left me unsatisfied.
Shakur spends pages and pages and pages telling readers about her life as an adolescent, never really going in depth about how her mother's absenteeism affected her growth as a woman. Her marriage is summed up in one pitiful paragraph. Readers see Shakur chasing something, a home perhaps, throughout the memoir and by page 274 (the end of the book), I'm not certain she has even found it.
The autobiography was very slow to start, you have to read well over 100 pages before Shakur even begins to describe the influence of the BPP on her life. She glosses over the corruption and greed and pride that destroyed the organization, being very vague about details that led to her negative experience in the BPP, though she left the organization on, what I would call, bad terms. And her significance in the lives of the members of the BPP on both the west coast and in New York, is seemingly nonexistent because, according to Shakur, none of her projects were ever completed. It appears that she did not do much in the BPP. I read this book to see what her influence was and I turned up with nothing.
The details of her trials, thoroughly explicated for readers, are just downright boring. Do we really need to know that she had this many lawyers for this case and So-And-So thought So-And-So who was white and from Jersey would be the "best" lawyer for this situation. I mean...it bored me. There were 100 pages of this autobiography that told me nothing about Shakur's development as a woman, Black woman, or prisoner. If you know the history, then you know Assata Shakur escapes from jail and finds asylum in Cuba where she is a political refugee. How she gets to Cuba is information Shakur omits (of course, what has she told us in this autobiography? Really?). She makes sure to inform us that in Cuba there is no racism...what that does for me here, I do not know because Shakur is no longer involved in the struggle.
Shakur changes the "c's" in "court" and "America" to "k's" but this is done so sporadically that I do not know if spelling is significant to Shakur. Additionally, there are sometimes when Shakur makes the pronoun "I" lowercase and there are instances in which she leaves the pronoun capitalized. I am not certain that she knows why she alters the spelling of these words or decides to go against "standard" American English rules of American English spelling. If this is Shakur's way of rebelling against American society, then the publisher, Lawrence Hill Books, should have taken the time to ensure that this was made crystal clear to readers. Otherwise, it leaves readers puzzled.
If it weren't for the poetry, this autobiography would have been, in my honest opinion, a complete waste of a read. Well, I take that back, there are some books Shakur mentions in her autobiography that I want to read...books I would not know about until later, had I not picked up her autobiography. The book took too long to read, was not well-written, and left me unsatisfied.
January 9, 2019
How did she survive? She spent YEARS in solitary confinement, housed in conditions that were legally judged to be cruel and inhumane. Repeatedly indicted for felonies she was not guilty of, accusations that were ridiculous. Something like 6 times (before she was found guilty in a kangaroo kourt) she had been acquitted, and had cases thrown out - because the fake story they cooked up was too stupid for any jury to fall for - even the racist, all white ones. But with those small “victories” went prime years of life - years she should have spent traveling, laughing, teaching, making love, talking strategy & politics, dancing, feeding children breakfast, fighting for freedom for her people. Years ruthlessly stolen and irreplaceable. Yet, she escaped and is so strong, so clear, so right in her heart and her head that not only her beautiful body, but her sense of humor and vulnerability to love survived. i am simply in awe of this brilliant, creative and breathtakingly courageous woman. No other instance in my long word filled life have i understood a word to be more perfectly applied than “courage” for Assata Shakur. “Cour” - as in acting from the heart.
As she wisely teaches us: “never let your enemies choose your enemies for you” and she has not. She maintained such clarity in the face of cointelpro’s torture - treatment that, most likely, played a significant role in the psychological deterioration of Huey, of Eldridge, of many. Not Assata. Now living in Cuba - a place i love, and have spent months in & know i would have a very difficult time living in. Assata finds the joy, notes the positives (Havana IS a city of open doors - never thought of that before, but symbolically and literally it is) and dances with them.
This book is full of stories - the subtlety (not) of the FBI that enjoyed tapping her phone so much that they paid her phone bill to keep it live months and months after she quit paying it. And when she has a background check for a bookkeeping job that confirmed a resume full of B.S. she made up, degrees, jobs, addresses that were fairytales. Hilarious: “The report verified everything i had said: “Subject attended such and such a high school...worked...places, They even reported that i lived on a quiet tree-lined street and that they had talked to my neighbors and learned that i was a nice person….Everything is a lie in amerika, and the thing that keeps it going is that so many people believe the lie.” Like the myths around ol’ honest Abe Lincoln, she straightened out my previous misconceptions.
This is a really important book. And Cuba has told the u.s. government that extraditing Assata is not something they will even consider. i think that’s called integrity.
As she wisely teaches us: “never let your enemies choose your enemies for you” and she has not. She maintained such clarity in the face of cointelpro’s torture - treatment that, most likely, played a significant role in the psychological deterioration of Huey, of Eldridge, of many. Not Assata. Now living in Cuba - a place i love, and have spent months in & know i would have a very difficult time living in. Assata finds the joy, notes the positives (Havana IS a city of open doors - never thought of that before, but symbolically and literally it is) and dances with them.
This book is full of stories - the subtlety (not) of the FBI that enjoyed tapping her phone so much that they paid her phone bill to keep it live months and months after she quit paying it. And when she has a background check for a bookkeeping job that confirmed a resume full of B.S. she made up, degrees, jobs, addresses that were fairytales. Hilarious: “The report verified everything i had said: “Subject attended such and such a high school...worked...places, They even reported that i lived on a quiet tree-lined street and that they had talked to my neighbors and learned that i was a nice person….Everything is a lie in amerika, and the thing that keeps it going is that so many people believe the lie.” Like the myths around ol’ honest Abe Lincoln, she straightened out my previous misconceptions.
This is a really important book. And Cuba has told the u.s. government that extraditing Assata is not something they will even consider. i think that’s called integrity.
January 3, 2008
This is the compelling autobiography of one of America's great modern New Afrikan revolutionary women. It's engaging, and generally well written, although there are a few parts where the narrative stumbles due to gaps--but the author is a wanted woman and she has plenty of secrets to keep.
The chapters alternate, with the even chapters telling the story of Assata's youth and maturation, and the rest documenting her later life, beginning with the story of that infamous NJ Turnpike shootout.
Even though Shakur probably did break the law in various ways while underground, she never earned the sort of trial she received at the hands of the law--and it's quite certain that she was not even using a gun at the time of her arrest. Shakur isn't making any confessions here. There is plenty of government and police corruption to back up her claims, but don't look for all the gory details here. She didn't write this book to try to convince the reader of her innocence. It's bigger than that.
A great companion is Inadmissible Evidence: The Story of the African-American Trial Lawyer Who Defended the Black Liberation Army by Evelyn Williams, while Assata's later escape from prison (masterminded by elements of the Revolutionary Armed Task Force) is partially documented in Big Dance: The Untold Story of Weather-Man Kathy Boudin and the Terrorist Family That Committed the Brinks Robbery Murders by John Castellucci. A skewed, but still very helpful discussion of the Black Liberation Army's actions in New York City can be found in Target Blue by former NYPD PR commissioner Robert Daley.
Assata wrote the foreword to State of the Race Creating Our 21st Century, Where Do We Go from Here?, published in 2004.
Update: I re-read it recently, and enjoyed it just as much.
The chapters alternate, with the even chapters telling the story of Assata's youth and maturation, and the rest documenting her later life, beginning with the story of that infamous NJ Turnpike shootout.
Even though Shakur probably did break the law in various ways while underground, she never earned the sort of trial she received at the hands of the law--and it's quite certain that she was not even using a gun at the time of her arrest. Shakur isn't making any confessions here. There is plenty of government and police corruption to back up her claims, but don't look for all the gory details here. She didn't write this book to try to convince the reader of her innocence. It's bigger than that.
A great companion is Inadmissible Evidence: The Story of the African-American Trial Lawyer Who Defended the Black Liberation Army by Evelyn Williams, while Assata's later escape from prison (masterminded by elements of the Revolutionary Armed Task Force) is partially documented in Big Dance: The Untold Story of Weather-Man Kathy Boudin and the Terrorist Family That Committed the Brinks Robbery Murders by John Castellucci. A skewed, but still very helpful discussion of the Black Liberation Army's actions in New York City can be found in Target Blue by former NYPD PR commissioner Robert Daley.
Assata wrote the foreword to State of the Race Creating Our 21st Century, Where Do We Go from Here?, published in 2004.
Update: I re-read it recently, and enjoyed it just as much.
March 11, 2019
I’d been holding off on reading this books for a year now but when I think back at who I was even as short as a year ago, I wasn’t ready. I wasn’t ready to embrace a lot of truth and the history of our people.
I’m currently on a journey to discover my history and where I come from, who my people are and the stories behind how we got to be here. This eye opening journey started with The New Jim Crow and now Assata. This book was so much more than I would have ever imagined it to be and is easily my favorite read so far in 2019.
Assata takes us on two journeys. One of her as a child growing up and the other dealing with her court cases and how the system continued to try and take her down for crimes she didn’t commit simply because she was a part of the Black Revolution. I loved that the chapters bounced back and forth between her adolescence and her adult years in incarceration. The system is so unfair to all, especially those seeking to fight for change and find justice for the oppressed.
Assata is such an inspiration and ledt me filled with hope and courage. She’s admirable in her fight against a system that’s formed to see her fail. Her story was beautifully told and I’m happy that she was able to escape her injustices. I will definitely be doing a Google search to see if there are any reportings on how exactly she was able to escape.
This book was a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for me and left me wanting more. It’s actually made me more excited for me trip to Cuba this summer. Definitely an autobiography worth reading by everyone.
I’m currently on a journey to discover my history and where I come from, who my people are and the stories behind how we got to be here. This eye opening journey started with The New Jim Crow and now Assata. This book was so much more than I would have ever imagined it to be and is easily my favorite read so far in 2019.
Assata takes us on two journeys. One of her as a child growing up and the other dealing with her court cases and how the system continued to try and take her down for crimes she didn’t commit simply because she was a part of the Black Revolution. I loved that the chapters bounced back and forth between her adolescence and her adult years in incarceration. The system is so unfair to all, especially those seeking to fight for change and find justice for the oppressed.
Assata is such an inspiration and ledt me filled with hope and courage. She’s admirable in her fight against a system that’s formed to see her fail. Her story was beautifully told and I’m happy that she was able to escape her injustices. I will definitely be doing a Google search to see if there are any reportings on how exactly she was able to escape.
This book was a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for me and left me wanting more. It’s actually made me more excited for me trip to Cuba this summer. Definitely an autobiography worth reading by everyone.
June 2, 2021
“every day out in the street now, i remind myself that black people in amerika are oppressed. it's necessary that i do that. people get used to anything. the less you think about your oppression, the more your tolerance for it grows. after a while, people just think oppression is the normal state of things. but to become free, you have to be acutely aware of being a slave.”
this book was so sad, but so inspiring. it made me uncomfortable, but i'm glad that it did, because it should've affected me to my very core, as it did. listen to what black people have to say and don't let the unending cycle of racial violence numb you to everything that goes on even today.
this book was so sad, but so inspiring. it made me uncomfortable, but i'm glad that it did, because it should've affected me to my very core, as it did. listen to what black people have to say and don't let the unending cycle of racial violence numb you to everything that goes on even today.
February 17, 2020
Wow. Such an explosive force. So much to chew on: dissection of racism, the biases of the prison system, ignored police brutality, civil rights activism, a takedown of racist America, etc, etc. This book left me breathless. It might be inappropriate to call this book riveting considering it is about someone's actual life, but this is RIVETING. This book will haunt me for the rest of my life.
February 7, 2017
I was just thinking about this book, and I realized that it opened my eyes to much of the daily injustices that millions suffer from in my country. Looking back, because I read this right after moving to Baltimore and before the uprising , it contextualized the violence and anger that exploded in my adopted city. I'm eternally grateful to Assata Shakur and her challenging autobiography. (Also, I've definitely grown as a writer since this review...) – 5/25/16
____________
I bought this book months ago and forgot about it, but I know I'll never forget it now. By chance I read this autobiography of one of America's most notorious black nationalists, Assata Shakur, during a trying and exasperating time, taking the events in Ferguson, New York, and around the nation into consideration and as victims of police brutality are coming forward to protest. Prior to reading Assata's words, I knew very little about black nationalism from the perspective of a black nationalist. After reading about the hardships and outright racism Shakur faced during her years in limbo in America's worst prisons and suffering sham trials, I understood more about the background of the protests, the black liberation movement, the Black Panthers, and the American court system in the 1970s. I live near New Jersey, and I was amazed to learn that institutionalized racism was so entrenched in the "liberal" Northeast. I was naive. I should have known better. Shakur has a unique, empowered perspective that kept me turning page after page to learn more about her struggles trying to fight the system. While I didn't agree with everything she wrote, especially the need for an armed struggle, I felt the frustration that Shakur described. I can't imagine walking down the street and being automatically watched and judged.
Shakur's style is unique and powerful. A mix of simple and intellectual English gives the book an atmosphere of both sophistication and emotion that can be chilling. Shakur does not capitalize her "I", which gives the text a humbling tone, and her purposeful misspelling of "amerika" and "kourt" effectively shows how she feels about America's institutions. Her frustrations are shown in her words, and I loved that.
The prison conditions in America are ridiculous, racist, and horrifying. Just today the New York Times ran a piece about kids being sent to juvie for minor infractions. It is hard to justify the notion that America is free if over one million people are in jail at any time, and a large majority of those people are not white. While I would like to think that prisons now are not as horrible as they were in the 1970s (though I have no proof to back that up), I am sure that what Shakur went through during the birth of her child, her extensive time in solitary confinement in men's prisons, and her trials were rampant violations of her most basic human rights. As an American and a human it made me sick.
Shakur was acquitted on two bank robbery charges, an armed robbery charge, a murder charge, and a kidnapping charge. She was convicted on flimsy evidence of the murder of a New Jersey State Trooper, even though she could not have fired the gun because her own arm was shot and the angle with which the bullet entered the Trooper could not have come from Shakur's left hand. Eventually, she fled to Cuba after escaping prison. Shakur is not a perfect role model. Her advocacy for violence should not be condoned or accepted, but what happened to her in prison and in her life is just one story of the adversity that black people faced and continue to face in America. With Cuba and the United States normalizing relations this week (another strange coincidence), it will be interesting to see if the United States will ask for Shakur's extradition. I cannot do Shakur's work justice with this review, but I know I will always remember this book for its rawness, its sincerity, and its chilling story of wrongful imprisonment, the appalling violations of human rights, and powerful words.
____________
I bought this book months ago and forgot about it, but I know I'll never forget it now. By chance I read this autobiography of one of America's most notorious black nationalists, Assata Shakur, during a trying and exasperating time, taking the events in Ferguson, New York, and around the nation into consideration and as victims of police brutality are coming forward to protest. Prior to reading Assata's words, I knew very little about black nationalism from the perspective of a black nationalist. After reading about the hardships and outright racism Shakur faced during her years in limbo in America's worst prisons and suffering sham trials, I understood more about the background of the protests, the black liberation movement, the Black Panthers, and the American court system in the 1970s. I live near New Jersey, and I was amazed to learn that institutionalized racism was so entrenched in the "liberal" Northeast. I was naive. I should have known better. Shakur has a unique, empowered perspective that kept me turning page after page to learn more about her struggles trying to fight the system. While I didn't agree with everything she wrote, especially the need for an armed struggle, I felt the frustration that Shakur described. I can't imagine walking down the street and being automatically watched and judged.
Shakur's style is unique and powerful. A mix of simple and intellectual English gives the book an atmosphere of both sophistication and emotion that can be chilling. Shakur does not capitalize her "I", which gives the text a humbling tone, and her purposeful misspelling of "amerika" and "kourt" effectively shows how she feels about America's institutions. Her frustrations are shown in her words, and I loved that.
The prison conditions in America are ridiculous, racist, and horrifying. Just today the New York Times ran a piece about kids being sent to juvie for minor infractions. It is hard to justify the notion that America is free if over one million people are in jail at any time, and a large majority of those people are not white. While I would like to think that prisons now are not as horrible as they were in the 1970s (though I have no proof to back that up), I am sure that what Shakur went through during the birth of her child, her extensive time in solitary confinement in men's prisons, and her trials were rampant violations of her most basic human rights. As an American and a human it made me sick.
Shakur was acquitted on two bank robbery charges, an armed robbery charge, a murder charge, and a kidnapping charge. She was convicted on flimsy evidence of the murder of a New Jersey State Trooper, even though she could not have fired the gun because her own arm was shot and the angle with which the bullet entered the Trooper could not have come from Shakur's left hand. Eventually, she fled to Cuba after escaping prison. Shakur is not a perfect role model. Her advocacy for violence should not be condoned or accepted, but what happened to her in prison and in her life is just one story of the adversity that black people faced and continue to face in America. With Cuba and the United States normalizing relations this week (another strange coincidence), it will be interesting to see if the United States will ask for Shakur's extradition. I cannot do Shakur's work justice with this review, but I know I will always remember this book for its rawness, its sincerity, and its chilling story of wrongful imprisonment, the appalling violations of human rights, and powerful words.
September 21, 2021
This is the greatest autobiography I've ever read.
Assata Shakur took me on a personal yet historical journey whereby her lived experience guided me through the structural aspects of mid-twentieth century white supremacy and revolution.
I think what moved me the most is her vulnerability. She's not afraid to tell you when she's scared, when she's sad, when she's made mistakes, when she disagrees, and when she's embarrassed. Her story of being with a group of college students and regurgitating U.S. propaganda about the occupation of Vietnam stuck with me, which led to her often quoted "only a fool lets someone else tell him who his enemy is."
My heart broke learning the tremendous suffering--both physical and emotional--she endured. Assata is a true revolutionary, committed to the downfall of U.S. imperialism, white supremacy, and capitalism. It is imperative for socialists and communists to read this book, learn from her, and use her experience as a guide to building revolutionary organizations in the future.
This book moved me and changed me.
Assata Shakur took me on a personal yet historical journey whereby her lived experience guided me through the structural aspects of mid-twentieth century white supremacy and revolution.
I think what moved me the most is her vulnerability. She's not afraid to tell you when she's scared, when she's sad, when she's made mistakes, when she disagrees, and when she's embarrassed. Her story of being with a group of college students and regurgitating U.S. propaganda about the occupation of Vietnam stuck with me, which led to her often quoted "only a fool lets someone else tell him who his enemy is."
My heart broke learning the tremendous suffering--both physical and emotional--she endured. Assata is a true revolutionary, committed to the downfall of U.S. imperialism, white supremacy, and capitalism. It is imperative for socialists and communists to read this book, learn from her, and use her experience as a guide to building revolutionary organizations in the future.
This book moved me and changed me.
November 26, 2019
“My name is Assata Shakur (slave name joanne chesimard), and i am a revolutionary. A Black revolutionary. By that i mean that i have declared war on all forces that have raped our women, castrated our men, and kept our babies empty-bellied.” 5/5 ⭐️ hands down!
Assata survived growing up believing she had to meet the “white standard”. Accepting of white value systems and standards to the point that skin was bleached and perms were worth the burning of the scalp because that meant our hair could be straight. She survived when she ran away from home because she was a young girl testing the limit. She survived when she knew nothing about her people and advocated for causes that were harming instead of changing. She survived when she joined the Black Panther Party and got harassed and surveillance for years. She never changed because someone wanted her to. She didn’t bow to a judge, a panther, or to any police officer who repeatadley pointed a gun to her head while she was chained to a hospital bed and yet, she didn’t die. So much death and she carried on.
The prison system became another way to keep slavery breathing. The Black Liberation Army became a movement and “The concept of the BLA arose because of political, social, and economic of Black people in this country.” Assata joined the Black Panther Party with reservations but never let it change her to become someone she was not. She protested, went to speeches, helped to teach/feed Black children, and at the same time, argued against what she felt was right or wrong within and outside of the Party. The following out of the Party had a lot do to with the FBI and the Party clashing with each other due to set ups . Their servalliance and so many ideas not being able to come together as one against a common cause. All this lead to Assata leaving the Party and going into hiding.
Assata had several cases against her and she became another target since her beliefs and struggle conflicted with “white america”. The courts and police went through all the trouble to falsify evidence, harass Assata’s lawayers, put her in harsh confinement in prison, stole evidence, and a lawyer even turned up dead. What I don’t understand is why they let her live ... They beat her, tortured her, framed her, starved her, mistreated her baby when she was carrying in prison, and while so many people ended up dead, Assata survived.
Throughout it all, she did not decide to truly escape until an encounter with her 4 year daughter who came to visit while she was behind bars.A political refugee in Havana, Cuba. She survived!
Assata survived growing up believing she had to meet the “white standard”. Accepting of white value systems and standards to the point that skin was bleached and perms were worth the burning of the scalp because that meant our hair could be straight. She survived when she ran away from home because she was a young girl testing the limit. She survived when she knew nothing about her people and advocated for causes that were harming instead of changing. She survived when she joined the Black Panther Party and got harassed and surveillance for years. She never changed because someone wanted her to. She didn’t bow to a judge, a panther, or to any police officer who repeatadley pointed a gun to her head while she was chained to a hospital bed and yet, she didn’t die. So much death and she carried on.
The prison system became another way to keep slavery breathing. The Black Liberation Army became a movement and “The concept of the BLA arose because of political, social, and economic of Black people in this country.” Assata joined the Black Panther Party with reservations but never let it change her to become someone she was not. She protested, went to speeches, helped to teach/feed Black children, and at the same time, argued against what she felt was right or wrong within and outside of the Party. The following out of the Party had a lot do to with the FBI and the Party clashing with each other due to set ups . Their servalliance and so many ideas not being able to come together as one against a common cause. All this lead to Assata leaving the Party and going into hiding.
Assata had several cases against her and she became another target since her beliefs and struggle conflicted with “white america”. The courts and police went through all the trouble to falsify evidence, harass Assata’s lawayers, put her in harsh confinement in prison, stole evidence, and a lawyer even turned up dead. What I don’t understand is why they let her live ... They beat her, tortured her, framed her, starved her, mistreated her baby when she was carrying in prison, and while so many people ended up dead, Assata survived.
Throughout it all, she did not decide to truly escape until an encounter with her 4 year daughter who came to visit while she was behind bars.A political refugee in Havana, Cuba. She survived!
March 10, 2016
I love Assata's spirit and mind. This was a wonderful read. I would love to have a conversation with her over dinner.
November 12, 2017
I'll be honest with you
I hate war in all its forms
Physical, psychological, spiritual, emotional, environmental
I hate war
And I hate having to struggle, I, I, I honestly do
Because I, I wish I had been born into a world where it's unnecessary
This context of struggle and being a warrior and being a struggler
Has been forced on me by oppression
Otherwise I would be a, a sculptor, or a gardener, carpenter you know
I would be free to be so much more
I guess part of me or a part of who I am, a part of what I do
Is being a warrior, a reluctant warrior, a reluctant struggler
But, I do it because I'm committed to life
We can't avoid it, we can't run away from it
Because to do that is to be cowardly
To do that is to be subservient to devils, subservient to evil
And so that the only way to live on this planet
With any human dignity at the moment is to struggle
Committed to Life (Asian Dub Foundation, dedicated to and taken from the words of Assata Shakur)
The gap between the US government's portrayal of Assata Shakur, and how she comes across in this book, and in the words above, is immense. The current incumbent of the White House has demanded her extradition from Cuba as part of his "re-set" of Obama's normalisation of relations with that country. But as this books shows, from the moment she joined the Black Panthers, she was demonised. As just one example, her name was stuck under a photo of a bank robber that wasn't her, and posted in every newspaper, underground station, police station and even on buses.
This book is essential reading for those that don't understand how the US justice system conspires against Afro-Americans, Native Americans, Chicanos and the poor in general.
Shakur was deluged with criminal cases - kidnap, armed robbery, bank hold-ups. Each one was more absurd than the last and despite the odds being stacked against her, she was acquitted each time, until the trial for the murder of a state trooper on the New Jersey turnpike. In New Jersey law, you can be found guilty of murder if you were present at a murder, even if it's not demonstrated that you were the one who committed it. It was demonstrated that she had no powder residue on her hands, which she would have had if she'd pulled the trigger. In fact she was shot, and medical reports showed she must have been sitting and had her hands in the air when she was shot.
After being shot, with a shattered pelvis, and one arm paralysed, she was kept chained to a hospital bed with armed police pointing guns at her constantly. She was subjected to torture while hospital staff looked the other way - at one point a policeman thrust his fingers, covered in some kind of caustic substance, into her eyes.
Some readers may think, well it's just her side of the story, this couldn't happen in the US. Yes, it's her side of the story. But my response to that is, if you haven't experience the racism she has, be humble. I give her the benefit of the doubt.
Trials were moved to counties were the demographic make-up meant the jury was almost guaranteed to be all white. When black jurors were found, they would often beg off, being generally poor and not being able to afford the time off work. In the middle of one trial, a new charge would be brought and that trial commenced immediately, not giving her defence team the chance to prepare. She could not get expert witnesses to contest the forensic evidence being used against her because most of these experts got most of their work from the police and knew they would be ostracised for testifying for her. Jurors openly confessed to the judge that they had seen much media coverage of the trial and had already decided she was guilty, and were not thrown off the jury.
The unusual structure - alternating between her pre- and post-New Jersey turnpike life - help to demonstrate how her childhood and experience of life led to what she became - a revolutionary.
Despite all of these injustices what shines through is her vibrancy, her love for her people, her love of life. A tremendously inspiring book. I listened to the audiobook which is beautifully read by Sirena Riley.
I hate war in all its forms
Physical, psychological, spiritual, emotional, environmental
I hate war
And I hate having to struggle, I, I, I honestly do
Because I, I wish I had been born into a world where it's unnecessary
This context of struggle and being a warrior and being a struggler
Has been forced on me by oppression
Otherwise I would be a, a sculptor, or a gardener, carpenter you know
I would be free to be so much more
I guess part of me or a part of who I am, a part of what I do
Is being a warrior, a reluctant warrior, a reluctant struggler
But, I do it because I'm committed to life
We can't avoid it, we can't run away from it
Because to do that is to be cowardly
To do that is to be subservient to devils, subservient to evil
And so that the only way to live on this planet
With any human dignity at the moment is to struggle
Committed to Life (Asian Dub Foundation, dedicated to and taken from the words of Assata Shakur)
The gap between the US government's portrayal of Assata Shakur, and how she comes across in this book, and in the words above, is immense. The current incumbent of the White House has demanded her extradition from Cuba as part of his "re-set" of Obama's normalisation of relations with that country. But as this books shows, from the moment she joined the Black Panthers, she was demonised. As just one example, her name was stuck under a photo of a bank robber that wasn't her, and posted in every newspaper, underground station, police station and even on buses.
This book is essential reading for those that don't understand how the US justice system conspires against Afro-Americans, Native Americans, Chicanos and the poor in general.
Shakur was deluged with criminal cases - kidnap, armed robbery, bank hold-ups. Each one was more absurd than the last and despite the odds being stacked against her, she was acquitted each time, until the trial for the murder of a state trooper on the New Jersey turnpike. In New Jersey law, you can be found guilty of murder if you were present at a murder, even if it's not demonstrated that you were the one who committed it. It was demonstrated that she had no powder residue on her hands, which she would have had if she'd pulled the trigger. In fact she was shot, and medical reports showed she must have been sitting and had her hands in the air when she was shot.
After being shot, with a shattered pelvis, and one arm paralysed, she was kept chained to a hospital bed with armed police pointing guns at her constantly. She was subjected to torture while hospital staff looked the other way - at one point a policeman thrust his fingers, covered in some kind of caustic substance, into her eyes.
Some readers may think, well it's just her side of the story, this couldn't happen in the US. Yes, it's her side of the story. But my response to that is, if you haven't experience the racism she has, be humble. I give her the benefit of the doubt.
Trials were moved to counties were the demographic make-up meant the jury was almost guaranteed to be all white. When black jurors were found, they would often beg off, being generally poor and not being able to afford the time off work. In the middle of one trial, a new charge would be brought and that trial commenced immediately, not giving her defence team the chance to prepare. She could not get expert witnesses to contest the forensic evidence being used against her because most of these experts got most of their work from the police and knew they would be ostracised for testifying for her. Jurors openly confessed to the judge that they had seen much media coverage of the trial and had already decided she was guilty, and were not thrown off the jury.
The unusual structure - alternating between her pre- and post-New Jersey turnpike life - help to demonstrate how her childhood and experience of life led to what she became - a revolutionary.
Despite all of these injustices what shines through is her vibrancy, her love for her people, her love of life. A tremendously inspiring book. I listened to the audiobook which is beautifully read by Sirena Riley.
December 18, 2014
Quickly moved from the middle to the top of my to-read list with the surprising and disturbing addition of her name to the FBI’s “Most-Wanted Terrorists” list earlier this month. The short version of her story is that she was a former Black Panther and BLA member, convicted of murdering a New Jersey state trooper under highly dubious circumstances. She was eventually broken out of prison and, later, fled to Cuba, where she was granted asylum and continues to live today. The long version is described here, powerfully and convincingly.
Shakur alternates descriptions of her capture, imprisonment, and subsequent trials with the events of her childhood and early adulthood that spurred her to political action. In these more personal chapters, she documents her education and gradual awakening to her own power and to the systems at work around her - she’s a complex person and portrays herself as such. The opening statement for her assault and burglary charges (for which she was rightly acquitted) is one of the most passionate and well-argued pleas for justice I’ve read - she speaks to the injustices committed against her, but she places them in broad historical context, showing that her case is simply one glaring instance resulting from a larger and well-established system of oppression. Frankly, the more research one does on some of the historical events she describes in this statement alone, the more it becomes apparent that not only is what she describes accurate, but the injustices were often worse than she indicates (see the New York City draft riots). Worse still, reading it 40 years later, it becomes apparent how little has changed, and when it has, it's often changed for the worse.
She published this book from Cuba in 1987. Her anger remains palpable, and it’s hard not to share that anger while reading her story. Yes, this is her version of events, so it’s necessarily going to be sympathetic; however, the inconsistent testimony of witnesses and the large amount of forensic evidence do seem to support her story, and her description of the cultural and historical context is accurate. Her inclusion on the FBI list, to me, is truly astonishing, especially with distorted versions of her case presented without context, and it seems clear that there are larger political motivations here. Whether or not you believe her guilty, the discussions her book invites - on race, wealth, the role of government agencies, the American education and prison systems, drug culture - are crucial. Each of these is among our most critical issues, yet they remain below the surface. How can this happen?
Certainly, parts of the story are omitted, and it's hard to buy into the final chapter, an idyllic picture of Cuba where citizens are free and racism is non-existent. Questions remain on both sides. One wonders about her life since this book was published, and why she still remains a political target.
Shakur alternates descriptions of her capture, imprisonment, and subsequent trials with the events of her childhood and early adulthood that spurred her to political action. In these more personal chapters, she documents her education and gradual awakening to her own power and to the systems at work around her - she’s a complex person and portrays herself as such. The opening statement for her assault and burglary charges (for which she was rightly acquitted) is one of the most passionate and well-argued pleas for justice I’ve read - she speaks to the injustices committed against her, but she places them in broad historical context, showing that her case is simply one glaring instance resulting from a larger and well-established system of oppression. Frankly, the more research one does on some of the historical events she describes in this statement alone, the more it becomes apparent that not only is what she describes accurate, but the injustices were often worse than she indicates (see the New York City draft riots). Worse still, reading it 40 years later, it becomes apparent how little has changed, and when it has, it's often changed for the worse.
She published this book from Cuba in 1987. Her anger remains palpable, and it’s hard not to share that anger while reading her story. Yes, this is her version of events, so it’s necessarily going to be sympathetic; however, the inconsistent testimony of witnesses and the large amount of forensic evidence do seem to support her story, and her description of the cultural and historical context is accurate. Her inclusion on the FBI list, to me, is truly astonishing, especially with distorted versions of her case presented without context, and it seems clear that there are larger political motivations here. Whether or not you believe her guilty, the discussions her book invites - on race, wealth, the role of government agencies, the American education and prison systems, drug culture - are crucial. Each of these is among our most critical issues, yet they remain below the surface. How can this happen?
Certainly, parts of the story are omitted, and it's hard to buy into the final chapter, an idyllic picture of Cuba where citizens are free and racism is non-existent. Questions remain on both sides. One wonders about her life since this book was published, and why she still remains a political target.
February 21, 2016
This was an incredible biography about a black lady who was part of the 60s/70s panther movement in America. She is currently the only women to be on the FBIs most wanted list. She’s the God mother of Tupac Shakur. Her world took a turn for the worse when she and some of her “revolutionary” friends were travelling in a car through a New Jersey turnpike when they were pulled over for a very minor car related violation. Within minutes some of her colleagues were dead, as was one of the cops and Assata (original name Joanne Chesimard) had her hand shot also. What followed was a witch-hunt the likes of which I have not heard of which went on for years. She was linked and accused of lots of completely random and unrelated events such as bank robbery and murder and cleared of all of those but the process took years and she was in and out of prison. She was often kept in isolation and denied some of the most basic human rights. But since birth she had been taught by her proud parents and grandparents not to acquiesce to the environment like the other “blacks” often did. She had been raised to be different. Eventually she escaped from prison and escaped to Cuba where she has been living in hiding, ever since. One of her speeches in court starts off as “my name is Assata Shakur and I am a revolutionary. A black revolutionary. By that I mean that I have declared war on all forces that have raped our women, castrated our men and kept our babies empty bellied” (wow). The book was extremely readable and well written and you can hear her voice, her pain and feelings seep through almost all the pages. Highly recommended.
February 11, 2024
bitches truly aren't kidding when they say this book changes lives like these words have irrevocably changed me and i will be eternally grateful for that
October 5, 2017
Stirring, stylish, and engagingly frank portrait of Assata Shakur that details her early life and the period after her arrest and scandalous trials by the government. A story that is sadly as timely as ever.
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