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Assata: An Autobiography

by Assata Shakur , Angela Y. Davis (Foreword)

4.46 of 5 stars 4.46 · rating details · 7,002 ratings · 412 reviews

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 Blac ...more

Paperback , 274 pages

Published November 1st 1999 by Chicago Review Press (first published 1987)

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Mar 05, 2008 beauregard rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: organizing-politics-race-class

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 p ...more

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Jun 09, 2013 Rowena rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: african-american , own , favorites

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 th ...more

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Jun 24, 2015 Aubrey rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction , reality-check , authorness , person-of-everything , person-of-reality , 1-read-on-hand , 5-star , r-2014 , r-goodreads , reviewed , 500-wm-added , antidote-think-twice-read

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 Int 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. ...more

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Sep 18, 2011 Calvin rated it 5 of 5 stars

on how slavery is legal in the u.s. p.64-5
The Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution says:

Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

Well, that explained a lot of things. That explained why jails and prisons all over the country are filled to the brim with Black and Third World people, why so many Black people can't find a job on ...more

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Jul 29, 2015 Zanna rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: racism , feminism , usa , black-history , blackness , biography , 500mab

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 of say.

Aside fr 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 of 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 referring to the author by her first name, I just love it, her chosen name, meaning 'she who struggles') ...more

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Nov 29, 2008 Ciara rated it 5 of 5 stars

Recommends it for: feminists, black panther historians, people who want a good memoir

Shelves: read-in-2006 , autobio-memoir , feminist-y-books

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 ...more

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Jul 21, 2015 Adira rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: memoirs , on-the-back-burner , dnf , poetry , read-for-school , violent-reads , adult-fiction , african-american-literature , anticipation , books-about-africa , books-about-race , books-about-traveling , books-read-in-2013 , books-set-in-usa , classics , non-fiction

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 s 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. ...more

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kisha It's funny because I already had it in my mind that this would be the kind of read it expect. Your review is dead on to what I expected to read. A bit ...more
May 25, 2014 01:31PM

Adira kisha wrote: "It's funny because I already had it in my mind that this would be the kind of read it expect. Your review is dead on to what I expected ...more
May 25, 2014 03:10PM

Jan 03, 2008 Christian rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: africana , memoir-autobio , non-fiction

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 t 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. ...more

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Jan 06, 2008 Paul Gordon rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book is both a wonderful read, and extremely thought-provoking. Although it deals with the Black Power movement in the 1970s and 1980s, it is painfully relevant to current debates over government control such as the Patriot Act. Assata Shakur was wrongfully imprisoned as part of the FBI and US government attacks on the political organizations of people of color. She offers in this book a scathing indictment of the prison system (a system which has only grown worse and more powerful), and of ...more

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Jan 08, 2012 Shanae rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: black-studies , memoir-autobio-bio , books-about-women , non-fiction , learn-something , women-s-studies , women-writers

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 n 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. ...more

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Shanae Necketta wrote: "Higher wrote: "Necketta wrote: "" I was thoroughly unimpressed with the autobiography and came to the conclusion that I do not know w ...more
Jul 06, 2012 12:49PM

Marilyn Diamond Wow.. Huffington Post just included this in the top fifty books for African-Americans to read. It was Black Voices formely of aol.com of course. I app ...more
Jul 06, 2012 12:51PM

Dec 18, 2014 Carrie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: american-prison-system , favorites

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 descr 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. ...more

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Dec 11, 2012 Bryan rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is perhaps so far the greatest book I've read in a long, long time. Her writing style is so subtle and nonchalant, yet so suburb. You can tell that she has a great personality, filled with intense emotions. Her words can make my heart cringe with sadness, rage with anger, or shake with laughter. Along with her general writing, it's also her poetry that lights up the darkness inside.

"Rhinocerous woman
who nobody wants
and everybody used.
They say you're crazy
cause you not crazy enough
to kneel ...more

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Jan 03, 2014 Vicky rated it 5 of 5 stars

Recommended to Vicky by: Jackie pushed this up my priority list

Shelves: autobiography , african-american , favorites

In my head I have reversed the order of the last two sentences of Assata's autobiography so that it reads: "The cowboys and bandits didn't own the world. There was no doubt about it, our people would one day be free."

I can't believe I read this over a period of 4 months. I just finished it tonight, and I attended a book club discussion for it last month when I was only around chapter 10 or so. The best thing about this story is how Assata inspires a feeling of you being able to participate in t ...more

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Jul 13, 2015 Tiffany Tucker rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

So hard to rate...more here later

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Dec 01, 2014 Charlie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: politics , non-fiction , biographies-etc , social-justice , self-evolution , made-me-cry

There was some really intense and triggering stuff in this book, and I had a couple of panic attacks over it during the week I was reading it (I'd recommend skipping chapter six entirely). However, it's still a very important work and one of the best books I've read this year. I'd been wanting to learn more about Assata Shakur for a while, and this was a good place to do so. The back-and-forth chronology she uses in her chapters is really interesting, because it lets the reader get a deeper unde There was some really intense and triggering stuff in this book, and I had a couple of panic attacks over it during the week I was reading it (I'd recommend skipping chapter six entirely). However, it's still a very important work and one of the best books I've read this year. I'd been wanting to learn more about Assata Shakur for a while, and this was a good place to do so. The back-and-forth chronology she uses in her chapters is really interesting, because it lets the reader get a deeper understanding of her both in her personal life and on the political front. I was hoping she'd talk about how she escaped from the holding cell and made it to Cuba, but I suppose that would have been a liability for her. I still have some questions and I'd be curious to learn more about her experiences in Cuba after the book was written.

Her writing feels really fluid, subtle, and unsentimental most of the time, and there's a lot of meaning that can be drawn out of even those lines that aren't given much attention. The chapters about her school experiences, in particular, gave me a lot to think about, and I was excited that she and I had reached a lot of the same conclusions politically, stuff to do with anti-hierarchy and anti-capitalism mostly. Her criticism of the black bourgeoisie is especially important, since a lot of "social justice" types (today and in the past) lack the class-consciousness to know that people of any ethnicity and gender can/will be oppressive if they are wealthy and powerful in a hierarchical society.

My only real criticism is about the couple instances of transphobia, ableism, and cissexism that occur in the book. These are things that people are capable of outgrowing, and since this autobiography was written in 1987 I wouldn't be surprised if Ms Shakur has grown more sensitive about the experiences of disabled and trans people since then. Overall I really admire her and would recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn more about black liberation movements and Assata Shakur's role in those movements. ...more

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Sep 17, 2011 Lumumba Shakur rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: african-american-studies , biography

This is the autobiography of one of the most influential women in the Black Power Movement. Though Elaine Cleaver and Angela Davis are famous due to their outspoken natures and media attention they were able to garner as feminine spokespersons of the movement, Assata Shakur was a grassroots leader in New York who stayed out of the limelight - until the FBI attempted to portray the Black Panther Party as a criminal organization and the emergence of the Black Liberation Army. Being an active membe This is the autobiography of one of the most influential women in the Black Power Movement. Though Elaine Cleaver and Angela Davis are famous due to their outspoken natures and media attention they were able to garner as feminine spokespersons of the movement, Assata Shakur was a grassroots leader in New York who stayed out of the limelight - until the FBI attempted to portray the Black Panther Party as a criminal organization and the emergence of the Black Liberation Army. Being an active member during the decline of the Party, her story is one of what happened to the movement when the FBI waged a war on the Black community, which lead to the erasure of what was perhaps the last phase of positive grassroots leadership in the Black community (a void which was filled by the street gangs of the later 70s that are at present an inseparable aspect of youth culture). Her story is the story of Black feminism and its contribution to the community.

Though it has been a while since I read it, what I do recall is her criticism, both of the system and the movement she herself was apart of. I do also vividly recall her descriptions of what life on the run actually looks like - how isolating and depressing such a lifestyle actually is - as well as her prison experience, an experience which seems all too familiar for some in the post-Patriot Act America.

How one understands the history of that time is heavily dependent upon the social context which is often forgotten and the story of Assata is the story of the gross injustice, inequality and racism that plagued the North which lead to the emergence of something as seemingly radical as the Black Panther Party and Black Liberation Army. While the Black Panther Party, Black Liberation Army, Communist and related "radical" organizations are looked upon with contempt and disdain in our times. People often neglect how the murder of Fred Hampton was reflective of race relations between the Black working class and the state apparatus. While the Klan was lynching people in Mississippi, the FBI, police and state troopers were outright murdering folks - including the attempt on Assata that made her famous.

Though most of the people who will or have read this book are those with sympathies towards the protagonist, I believe that this book is even more important for Assata's critics and people outside of the community, as the similarities between now and then in respect to the "War on Terror" are striking. It is important for otherwise well-meaning patriots to see what a "domestic terrorist" actually looks like. And with the false imprisonment and unjust conviction of Imam Jamil al-Amin - it would do us a great disservice to forget the lessons of Assata's life to contemporary critics of mainstream society. ...more

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Dec 20, 2014 Sara Salem rated it 5 of 5 stars

One of the most honest and touching autobiographies I have read. You can't help but love Assata and the way she easily talks about how she feels and what she went through. Again it's shocking what the Black Liberation Army and Black Panthers went through, a history that a lot of Americans don't even seem to be aware of. The Communists and the Black Panthers, probably the two biggest threats the U.S. faced last century judging from the way they were brutally decimated.

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Oct 25, 2011 B-MO rated it 5 of 5 stars

Recommends it for: police, activists

Shelves: political-stuff

An amazing woman with true morals, courage, intelligence, endurance, and great writing skills. The horror's she went through would have broke most. She was able to keep her head up, and STILL keeps her head up from CUBA where she lives free today after being broke out of prison by the Black Liberation Army.

Assata really allows you in her mind as she faces decisions; showing perspective. One great example of this is the scene where she decides to get pregnant even though she knows the chances ar ...more

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Jul 03, 2013 Chuck Kinsey rated it 5 of 5 stars

Since I am only slightly younger than Ms Shakur, I have lived through the periods of which she writes. My personal experiences, being white and suburban, were quite different. However, I can attest from first-hand experience and observation that the treatment she describes is not likely an exaggeration.

While I don't share her conclusions, I certainly empathize with her.

What I find remarkable is that white radicals of the '60s have been either forgiven or their deeds officially forgotten by the ...more

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Aug 05, 2015 Maya B rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites , 1st-time-reading-this-author , stand-alone , biography

Great read.this was one of the books that I wanted to read and kept putting it off for years. I loved how Assata spoke of her personal life and makes the reader understand why she feels the way she does about humanity. the struggles that she speaks of 20 years ago is so relevant right now and it's very sad that after all these years we have not made much progress as a society. this book left me speechless.

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Aug 27, 2015 Lucrezia rated it 5 of 5 stars

Recommends it for: Everyone

Shelves: best-books , biography , racism , letti-in-lingua

Solitamente i libri che devo leggere per l'università o per la scuola non mi piacciono mai e di solito è una reazione al fatto che sono obbligata a leggerli.
Invece, questo libro mi è davvero piaciuto. Non leggo quasi mai le autobiografie, ma per la mia tesi è stato necessario immergermi nella vita di alcune donne di colore, tra le quali Assata Shakur.
La sua autobiografia è qualcosa di estremamente sconvolgente. Come quella di Angela Davis, che non ho ancora recensito, ma lo farò, anche questa sa Solitamente i libri che devo leggere per l'università o per la scuola non mi piacciono mai e di solito è una reazione al fatto che sono obbligata a leggerli.
Invece, questo libro mi è davvero piaciuto. Non leggo quasi mai le autobiografie, ma per la mia tesi è stato necessario immergermi nella vita di alcune donne di colore, tra le quali Assata Shakur.
La sua autobiografia è qualcosa di estremamente sconvolgente. Come quella di Angela Davis, che non ho ancora recensito, ma lo farò, anche questa salta avanti e indietro nel tempo, intrecciando gli avvenimenti che hanno contraddistinto le loro infanzie e quelli che le hanno viste protagoniste nella lotta contro la discriminazione razziale in America.
Ho studiato per un intero semestre la discriminazione degli afroamericani, ma non imparerò mai abbastanza e sono rimasta sconvolta dalle informazioni che mi sono state date.
Assata Shakur è un'attivista della quale ammiro la forza, l'intelligenza, la curiosità, la voglia di scoprire tutto ciò che c'è da scoprire, il non voler accettare spiegazioni semplicistiche o condivise dalla massa, la necessità di comprendere il mondo, come funziona e come aggiustare le parti difettose.
E' un'autobiografia sul razzismo, sulla voglia di lottare contro le ingiustizie, parallelamente ai vari processi cui lei è stata sottoposta e, credetemi, non sono un avvocato, ma molte accuse erano campate per aria al massimo.
Mi sono ritrovata a pensare tantissime volte quanto fossero assurde le accuse rivolte contro di lei, disgustata dalle inumane condizioni in cui è stata tenuta, orripilata dalla corruzione che riguarda la polizia, l' FBI, che s'è rivelato marcio in tantissimi modi.
Ci sono stati dei momenti in cui avrei voluto urlare, piangere, strillare contro le ingiustizie e poi ridere e sorridere per la sua forza, la sua determinazione, la sua intelligenza e coraggio.
Credo che questo libro debba essere letto da tutti, non perché voglia reclutare persone per lottare contro la discriminazione razziale, ma perché Assata parla di GIUSTIZIA e ciò riguarda tutti noi, in tutte le misure possibili.
Parla dell'importanza di lottare per avere una vita migliore, per aiutare e difendere gli altri, dell'importanza di mettere in discussione tutto ciò che conosciamo e che ci viene insegnato, perché non esiste mai una verità assoluta e la storia è scritta dai vincitori e noi dobbiamo sempre chiederci cosa sia successo veramente.
Ho adorato questo libro dalla prima all'ultima pagina e sono rimasta sconvolta nel sapere che Papa Giovanni Paolo II, il cosiddetto Papa Buono, ha chiesto al governo di Cuba di estradare Assata Shakur e di consegnarla agli Stati Uniti.
L'attivista è una rifugiata politica, eppure non ha fatto assolutamente nulla per restare in carcere per così tanti anni.
Trovo assurdo e sconvolgente che, dagli anni '70, lei non sia potuta tornare a casa e che sia stata accusata più per le sue credenze politiche che per veri e propri crimini.
Questo è un libro che apre gli occhi, perché, in parole semplici, anche per una povera ignorante in materia come me, spiega cos'è il comunismo, cosa sono le varie organizzazioni per i diritti civili in America, cosa ha portato il Black Panther Party alla fine e cose del genere.
E' un libro costellato delle sue poesie, che sono stupende, e dalla voglia di lottare per i propri diritti, per poter avere voce in capitolo nelle proprie vite.
E' un libro che grida SVEGLIA, INGIUSTIZIE DEL GENERE CI SONO ANCORA E NON APPARTENGONO AL PASSATO!
E si può vedere benissimo dai tumulti che ci sono stati in America per la morte di quei giovani afroamericani.
Un libro attuale, bellissimo, che non mi dispiacerà affatto studiare.
E se prima ero scettica e pessimista dinanzi agli organi americani e della Chiesa...adesso lo sono ancora di più. ...more

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May 27, 2015 Melodie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Must read for any revolutionary. Very down-to-earth, very honest, very informative. All the things I ever look for in a book. Should be on everyone's top 10. Loved it! Learned so much!

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Apr 17, 2015 Taye Nicole rated it 5 of 5 stars

I've read this book 4 times and will probably read it a million more. Assata is my favorite non-fiction book hands down. The way it's written, I didn't realize I reading a true story of someone's life at first. It's such an easy read that you fly through it. The second, third, and fourth time I read it I was speechless every time. The portrayal of a woman's strength and integrity + our justice system at play spoke volumes as Assata details her life before fleeing to Cuba. This book is for everyo ...more

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Mar 28, 2015 É F.K. Ó Conghaile rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: my-actual-bookshelf , self-evolution , 2015 , tranarchist-reading-list

Assata's Autobiography is one of the most important books I've read so far in life. It is the boost in my socio-economic critique in a way not present since I first started reading Chomsky in high school. I truly needed this book many years ago, but I'm delighted to have finally read it nonetheless. A lot of the things she says in this book are closely aligned to what I've said and found in my experiences, but instead of my usually-useless political rants, she turns it into a practical critique. ...more

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Jul 13, 2014 Inda rated it 5 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Wow. I first heard of Assata Shakur in Common's "Assata" from his Like Water for Chocolate album. I've heard her story since then but decided to pick up her autobiography and read it while I wrote a character who deeply admires her. I've now found an admiration for Shakur as well not only for her endurance as a political refugee but also for her writing. She has that style and sensibility that many black female writers of the 70s had in their works and she uses it beautifully to paint a picture ...more

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Jun 24, 2009 Amanda rated it 3 of 5 stars

Kyle and Ocean read this and raved. I read this and felt a lack of reaction. I don't know what this means. This book fills in the details of the life of a political prisoner, Assata Shakur. Assata was framed for multiple crimes and then housed and abused in the prison system while waiting years and years for crazy, bogus trials to play themselves out. When she was first arrested she was shot in the chest and taken to the hospital. There police officers harrassed and abused her around the clock w ...more

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Mar 26, 2012 Alysia rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: mgr-book-of-the-month

This book was an eye opener for me. I had no idea who Assata Shakur was before this book. I have heard about Angela Davis and other members of the Black Panther Party as well as the parties contributions to the communities they organized. But this was my first time hearing of her and I am so glad I read this book.
In the beginning of this book it took me a few minutes to get used to her writing style. Lower case "i" and lower cases for names and places she would never give the honor of upper cas ...more

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Dec 27, 2011 Dan Sharber rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: own , womens-lib-feminism , racism-black-lib , 60s-70s-80s-movement-history

there are tons of reviews of this on good reads so i will keep this somewhat brief. but i did want to say that this book was even better than i expected. the story in itself is fantastic but the way it is written utterly without ego or bravado makes it that much better. further her path to radicalization mirrors so many people's journey through politics. what is remarkable is the honesty with which she deals with this process. she relates an embarrassing episode where she defends the us's intere ...more

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Jul 08, 2013 Erin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013

I read this book because I wanted to learn more about the Black Panther Party. I was also curious about Assata Shakur because she had just been named to the FBI's most wanted list.

The book actually goes into little detail about the events leading up to Assata Shakur's arrest and her life after her escape from prison, probably to avoid implicating anyone. Instead, the book focuses on her young life, her time at Manhattan Community College leading up to her involvement with the Black Panters and h I read this book because I wanted to learn more about the Black Panther Party. I was also curious about Assata Shakur because she had just been named to the FBI's most wanted list.

The book actually goes into little detail about the events leading up to Assata Shakur's arrest and her life after her escape from prison, probably to avoid implicating anyone. Instead, the book focuses on her young life, her time at Manhattan Community College leading up to her involvement with the Black Panters and her time in prison after her arrest for allegedly shooting a New Jersey State Trooper, told in alternating chapters. The book is a quick read. Assata's narrative voice is engaging and informative. Her account is less impartial than I expected - she provides some criticism of Black Panther policies and comments on the hypocrisy and contradictions inherent in the movement, especially as its leaders rose to power and acclaim. She is modest about her position as a revolutionary and honest about the seemingly normal upbringing and motives that drove her toward activism. The candor with which she discusses her life makes her fate all the more striking. By discussing her family and her seemingly normal education and employment leading up to her involvement with the Black Panther Party, it makes it clear that many of the activists involved in this movement led otherwise normal lives, and makes it seem as if what happened to them as a result could have happened to anyone.

I recommend this as an easy-to-read introduction to the Black Panther movement and the radical civil rights activism of the late '60's and early '70's. It's a side of this history that isn't often taught in schools, like the peaceful, nonviolent end of the civil rights movement. It provides interesting insight into the motivations of our government to track and supervise radical political activists, especially now, as the United States' commitment to surveillance is publicized. Assata's account of the conditions in which she was forced to live while incarcerated and, most striking, while pregnant, are an indictment of the prison system and a commentary on the racism that fuels it that is certainly still relevant today. Her brief discussion of Cuban society at the end is very interesting and much different than the talking points we often hear about Communist societies. Although her portrayal of Cuba as a virtually classless utopia without racism is perhaps an exaggeration, it made me curious to learn more about Cuban history and Cuban society at the time. It also made me wish she would write another book about her time in exile, because I suspect the beginning of her time in Cuba would make for an interesting read.

I would have appreciated a little bit more of a legal analysis of what was going on, mostly because I wondered if, today, the government would have bothered to drum up false charges or if it would have just arrested and imprisoned Assata and her codefendants. I will probably keep reading a little more about the topic to get more in-depth information about the FBI's COINTELPRO and the legal justification for what they did during that time. I'm definitely glad I read this. It's opened me up to this movement and made me want to read more about this hidden part of US history. ...more

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Oct 07, 2012 Kph25 added it

This was the most influential book of my life so far. A must for political education. Angela Davis writes the foreword, speaking of Shakur's life's work thus far and her current state of exile in Cuba; how her political contributions have rendered her unable to see her family and many friends still in the US.

Shakur starts from her youth and traces the violence with which white supremacy affected her life and the lives of Black people, in New York City as well as in North Carolina. She frames her ...more

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About Assata Shakur

Assata Olugbala Shakur (born JoAnne Deborah Byron, married name Chesimard) is an African-American activist and escaped convict 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, of which she would never be charged, and made the subject of a multi-state manhunt.

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Books by Assata Shakur

Let Nobody Turn Us Around: Voices on Resistance, Reform, and Renewal an African American Anthology

Sparks Fly: Women Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War in the U.S.

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Quotes from Assata: An Autobiography

“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.” — 122 likes

“Before going back to college, i knew i didn't want to be an intellectual, spending my life in books and libraries without knowing what the hell is going on in the streets. Theory without practice is just as incomplete as practice without theory. The two have to go together.” — 53 likes

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