Scan barcode
amethysthunter's reviews
381 reviews
Assata: An Autobiography by Assata Shakur
5.0
Still processing...but I'm so glad I was able to pick up this book. Shakur provides super interesting insights on her upbringing in Flushing, NY and Wilmington, NC woven in with alternating chapters detailing the experiences she has in the prison system following her trial for murdering a cop and various other made up charges the gov creates. It's crazy to think that she is younger than my grandparents and how unlikely her escape and survival were as the FBI and entire US gov killed many of her comrades and tried to kill her,,,, and how she remains on the FBI most wanted list today??
I particularly enjoyed her perspective on her educational experiences and rise to consciousness. She also describes reading James Baldwin and how it impacts her. "Me and James Baldwin are communicating. His fiction is more real than reality". I think I've felt this sentiment a lot when reading and sums up why (good) books are superior to humans most of the time lmao.
Her memoir also provided an interesting look into the Black Panther Party which she was a part of and their day to day struggles and successes. She also talks about theory vs practice and how theory without practice is just as complete as practice without theory.
"It has always intrigued me how the world can be so beautiful and so ugly at the same time".
Overall, although Shakur's life was wrought with violence, exploitation, and brutality as a Black revolutionary, she remains an incredible force of hope and voices reasoning for how we can reimagine a better society and how we can eradicate racism.
I particularly enjoyed her perspective on her educational experiences and rise to consciousness. She also describes reading James Baldwin and how it impacts her. "Me and James Baldwin are communicating. His fiction is more real than reality". I think I've felt this sentiment a lot when reading and sums up why (good) books are superior to humans most of the time lmao.
Her memoir also provided an interesting look into the Black Panther Party which she was a part of and their day to day struggles and successes. She also talks about theory vs practice and how theory without practice is just as complete as practice without theory.
"It has always intrigued me how the world can be so beautiful and so ugly at the same time".
Overall, although Shakur's life was wrought with violence, exploitation, and brutality as a Black revolutionary, she remains an incredible force of hope and voices reasoning for how we can reimagine a better society and how we can eradicate racism.