Reviews with content warning for Medical trauma - Assata: An Autobiography

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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witches_teet's review

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funny hopeful informative inspiring sad medium-paced

5.0

Assata really has a gift for story telling and a wonderful sense of humor that adds necessary levity between tales of nauseating injustice. Because of this her life as a child in the segregated South, a teenage runaway in the streets of New York & a neglected and abused prisoner all remain equal parts captivating and abhorrant.

Her time in the Black Panther Party really peaked my interest. She details some of the internal conflicts present during her affiliation. Some examples of which include the penalization of critical thinking amongst members, lack of separation between political and militant revolutionary action, and the abuse of power and resources by leaders within the organization. She also discussed how COINTELPRO exacerbated and even initiated some of these issues which ultimately led to the collapse of the Black Panther Party. I loved how she never put any particular person or organization on an untouchable pedestal & freely expressed her criticisms informed by first hand experience. She talked about the importance of self reflection and challenging unjust or illogical ideas even when presented by those you revere and respect lest you condone dogmatism & ignorance.

I really respected her international view of anti-imperialism and how she stressed the importance of global liberation regarding oppressed people. She also noted the need to acknowledge the shared evil root of white supremacy and patriarchy and how they intersect, something both black revolutionaries and white feminists often failed to recognize. So crazy reading the work of leftist black women from this era because so much of the ideology they pioneered is now common place so you forget how mind blowing this intersectional understanding of oppression is. Definitely a must read.

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