Assata An Autobiography
Description
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.
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Community Reviews
Genuinely such an invigorating read. Assata Shakur's writing style is both concise and so immensely detailed. Not only did I learn so much interested information about her upbringing, but I also learned so much about the Black Panther Party themselves. I entered this book not knowing much about Assata Shakur or why such a big deal was made about her. I exited the book with clarity and understanding, along with the understanding that every single moment I picked up this book, I not only struggled to put it down but enjoyed every moment.
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"𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒖𝒍𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒚 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔."
𝔸𝕤𝕤𝕒𝕥𝕒: 𝔸𝕟 𝔸𝕦𝕥𝕠𝕓𝕚𝕠𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕡𝕙𝕪 - Assᴀᴛᴀ Sʜᴀᴋᴜᴿ
⭐ ( 10 / 10 )
I was in from the moment I read "Affirmation" Not the poem although I did read it. But the fact thats how this all started. Hooked.
Im not really a non-fiction reader. I should, but I'm not. I haven't read one I didnt like so... Hm. Anyway, there was never a dull moment in this book, even when you can tell there were supposed to be lulls in the story, there wasn't. It was always interesting to see how Assata's mind worked while all the BS and all the people that were in place to help and just didnt. Not just "Ken's" and "Karens" , but some of "us" were in here too acting a whole fool. People are people. But you can choose to be good people. I mean, what? You die for protecting or standing up for someone and what happens? God turns you away for doing the right thing? Im just wondering for all the religious people cause there are zero religions that speak about hate.
I went off on a tangent. I love the way it interweaves most of her life. (As far as I know she still alive) We start off with her being shot and captured. That was grizzly. Then weave it into her childhood and back out to injury/capture days and back to her past all hitting the big life changes. Her name being born how she got into the BPP and how she fell out with them and all her trials. Man it was a lot and it was just done so well. You know I had to give it a five if it had time jumping and its out of my usual comfort zone. It's very eye opening and should not be missed.
ℙ𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕕 ℝ𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘
𝘑𝘢𝘺 𝘔𝘢𝘺 𝘖𝘶𝘵
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