"I have advocated and I still advocate revolutionary change"

I just finished reading Assata Shakur's book, Assata: In Her Own Words and since I was already an Assata supporter, this didn't take me long to get through. As always, her spirit and her words encouraged me to get involved with the movement. What movement you ask? The REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT.

This PEACE of literature is compiled of letters and memoirs that she has written over the years; many of which I believe are an attempt to uplift the community. She talks about her trial, the events that led up to her being arrested, and the aftermath of her escape from prison. She shines light on her side of the story and the inconsistent reports and testimony of the officers involved in the shoot out which left State Trooper Werner Forrester dead. The New Jersey State Government wrote a letter to Pope, hoping to get him to convince Fidel Castro to let the U.S. extradite Shakur back to the States to serve out her sentence during his trip to Cuba. Their letter was never made public, however, she wrote a letter to the Pope in response to what she assumes they said and that letter was included in the book. She does include a few statistics so if you're really interested in numbers for research purposes, then a pen and paper would come in handy.

Some of the information is repetitive, but that is to be expected when you have several writings that were done at separate times all combined into one book. Evelyn A. Williams wrote the "Statement of Facts in the New Jersey Trial of Assata Shakur" and that portion of the book, in my opinion, is wordy. She has a lot of sentences that seem to be rambling but if you can get past the intro then the rest of the book is smooth sailing.

I would recommend this book to everyone who is interested in educating yourself. The light she shines on the judicial system and the state of racism is remarkable. It is a must read!

Purchase The Book Here

Have you read the book? Do you have any questions? Please feel free to share your opinion or ask me any questions you may have!

*~Writer's Ink~*