Assata: An Autobiography is a deeply moving and eye-opening account of the life and experiences of Assata Shakur and the rabid persecution she faced by the American government for her actions towards black liberation. Alternating chapters between her childhood and her incarceration, Assata demonstrates the society that propelled her radicalization and her desire to enact change, as well as the viciousness of a system determined to keep her down. From being threatened and beaten while lying in a hospital bed, to spending months in solitary confinement, to being framed for crimes she never committed, Assata was punished and brutally mistreated for her radical ideals. Assata presents the reader with a layered, complex, and above all human perspective on the Black Liberation movement and the consequences of the aggressive and often violent response of governmental institutions. Assata weaves together her memories of childhood, the injustices of the prisons and the courts, and her own poetry to leave the reader feeling the stirrings of revolution and the bittersweet admiration for a woman who fought. She fought for her convictions, for her family and her community, and for the truth.
Reviewer: Sydney