Assata

Really good book

This important read. I drank this book up. Such a page turner. I was always intrigued by Assata and her story but was hesitant as I oftentimes struggle to read about the black struggle and trauma in the hands of white racists. However this is a necessary read. Despite how the media and the whites have portrayed people like Assata and Malcom, erasing their work and true story. Its so important to read and do your own research into our histories. If you want to continue to learn more about revolutionary thinkers and believers, this book is a good start.

I loved everything about this book. The non linear structure and how she kept switching from her childhood perspective growing up to when she was getting arrested and all the struggles she went through being a prisoner and going through all the trials. The writing was very vivid as you read you feel like you are living in the moment. The language is amazing as well the abundance of language techniques was put well together. What I loved was how she was very honest about the struggles she went through as a black child and how each time she was growing up she always had the desire to educate herself in a lot of issues. Moreover it’s an amazing autobiography to read I recommend it, the poetry was beautiful as well!!

A thoroughly thought-provoking, engaging and enraging read. It could have been written in present times.

Gives an angle on parts of American history that most might not want to hear about. The legal processes Assata had to endure are in effect criminal themselves and still prevalent today - which in itself is depressing. Civil rights in America continues to be a bone of contention which is odd seeing as it's supposed to be the "Land of the Free". Assata's story is both inspiring and heart-breaking, but a great read nonetheless.

Assata is a well paced book that is easy to read and enjoyable. She includes some of her own poetry that is relevant to the bigger story. It is well constructed and I can't see anyone being disappointed. At times her story made me cry, but in no way does it try to milk emotion; indeed it is usually understated. The book cleverly and simply alternates between her early childhood and her difficult time in prison, including the string of ridiculous trials. The writing has a ring of the beat generation (like spelling america as amerika) but this adds quaintness to the book and places it neatly in the era in which it was written. My only criticism would be that it could have included more details to produce a really authoritative text, but it isn't that type of book: it's a book about her feelings, her thoughts, her childhood and her progress and development through active socialism, and how she coped with her time in prison. An important and enjoyable book.

This autobiography grabs you from the first page and the story exposes the underbelly of America.I passed it on to my teenage son - it is the first non-fiction book he has read and now he is engaging with and enjoying books of this type.

Before I read this, I knew about COINTELPRO and the FBI’s mission to destabilise black communities and black liberation activists in the us, but reading about it in clinical white academic dates and times doesn’t communicate even a tiny bit of the damage they did to black liberation activists. Assata is amazing and I feel like having been able to read her unique voice talking about her experiences will put me and others on the road to being more useful activists in the world today.