Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

Assata: An Autobiography by Assata Shakur

9 reviews

hannahmartian's review against another edition

challenging informative tense slow-paced

4.0

I knew nothing about Assata Shakur until I heard Angela Davis mention her several times to recommend this book. I am glad I read it. This book tells the story of how Assata grew up from a kid in Queens to an political refugee in exile in Cuba. It covers her involvement with student movements, the Black Panthers, and her years of imprisonment while on trial. It’s terrifying to read what the state will do when they perceive you as a threat and thr lengths they have gone to in order to demean Assata and break her spirit while framing her for violent crimes.

Sometimes I wished the writing style was tighter.my favorite parts are when she talks about her close relationships. She clearly has such love for the people close to her. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Forced institutionalization, and Police brutality

Moderate: Confinement

cadybooks's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Racial slurs, Rape, Police brutality, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Grief, Kidnapping, Body horror, Colonisation, Gun violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Pregnancy, Confinement, Death, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Medical content, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Sexual violence, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Abortion

leslie_overbookedsocialworker's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Death, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Racial slurs, Racism, and Police brutality

kshertz's review

challenging informative inspiring tense medium-paced

4.0

Wow. I thought I knew her story but I knew nothing. The things this woman has been through. It’s eye opening. It’s horrific. It’s important. I hope everyone gets a chance to read her story and takes her advice to heart. She learned so much. She has much that we can learn from her. This is an essential memoir. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Colonisation, Medical content, Abandonment, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Misogyny, Murder, Sexual harassment, Torture, Violence, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Racism

rhinoceroswoman's review

emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Violence, Torture, Police brutality, Forced institutionalization, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Car accident

mscalls's review

challenging dark hopeful informative tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Hate crime, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Slavery

grei's review

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

Before I start, please note that I am white, nonbinary, mentally ill, & neurodivergent and that informs how I read this book written by a Black revolutionary woman on her experience with racism.

This book is absolutely beautifully written. It is an autobiography that alternates between a chronological biography of her life and her experience with the u.s. prison & "justice" system. Shakur not only discusses her life & activism but also includes important history that the u.s. school system either lied about or left out to serve their own narrative.

An incredibly important book, perfect for anyone interested in u.s. history, the u.s. prison and/or judicial system, activism and learning to become an activist, and the u.s. Civil Rights Movement of the '60s and '70s.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexism, Medical trauma, Grief, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Xenophobia, Medical content, Kidnapping, Hate crime, and Bullying

Moderate: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Islamophobia, Medical content, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Addiction

Minor: Ableism, Violence, Trafficking, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Racial slurs, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Hate crime, Gun violence, Genocide, Forced institutionalization, Fatphobia, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, Blood, and Body shaming

Before I start, please note that I am white, nonbinary, mentally ill, & neurodivergent and that informs how I read this book written by a Black revolutionary woman on her experience with racism. Though I've tagged a myriad of different content warnings, Shakur always describes and discusses them within context of why it's important, and I found that because of that her focus is not on the trauma or pain. She chooses to write about all her experiences as lessons learned along the way, and framing it in that context makes her writing much less emotionally triggering. She never goes into explicit or gory detail, but I put many topics in the "graphic" category because they are discussed thoroughly in ways that if someone is particularly sensitive it could potentially put them in a bad place if they are caught off guard.

This is particularly true of her experience almost getting raped and of her experience being pregnant in prison and trying to attain proper medical care.

The ableism I tagged is solely her use of slurs to describe some of the incompetent people she encounters; I only noticed it three or four times throughout the entire book.

peachani's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Police brutality, Medical trauma, Hate crime, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, and Torture

Moderate: Gun violence and Sexual assault

tenten's review

inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.75

Assata was an incredible, moving autobiography that detailed the corruption of the u.s. government and "justice" system. After reading this, i'm baffled by the fact that Assata Shakur is on the FBI's Most Wanted list with a 2million dollar bounty on her head over a shoddy conviction that would have never happened in the modern era. Assata inspires those of us who are tired of dealing with and witnessing injustice, and provides an account of how one of the most famous Black activists of the 20th-century became who she was. reading that Assata has never actually committed any crimes, despite what propaganda has told us, made me sick–when she was forced into hiding, she was doing things to better her community. and she was punished for it!

content aside, this was simply-written and easily digestible, which i enjoyed. it took me a while to read this, longer than most books of this length, because i had to keep giving myself breaks. there wasn't anything particularly explicit, but it was just hard reading about someone going through all this. it was hard being reminded that Black people were–and still are– targeted because they wanted to end their oppression and better their communities. despite that, actually reading the book was easy, which was Assata's intention. in a brief line on page 203, there is an implied criticism of some people's tendency to over-intellectualise in organizing/activism movements. it's clear that Assata seeks to educate and inspire, and she does so with simple, yet striking, language that moves. 

and it certainly was inspiring. i have been feeling lately like i want to do more for my community, and reading this made me think about what my first steps to do that might be. i will continue reading and learning, getting knowledge and giving support to other revolutionaries like Assata. great book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Police brutality, Misogyny, and Gun violence

Minor: Sexual assault and Torture