An Essay On Assata Is Inhumane

In the novel, The New Jim Crow Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, author and criminal rights lawyer, Michelle Alexander emphasizes her overall thesis as our nation is currently in a state of racism, prejudice, and mass incarceration, and it is ultimately turning back time to the years of Jim Crow. Throughout her novel, she analyzes series of significant civil rights cases that support her thesis, and describe ramifications that these cases had on her thesis. In my critical analysis, I will discuss the importance of Alexanders thesis describe several turning point cases and the ramifications these cases had on her thesis, and give my own argument of why I overall agree with Alexanders novel.

Race has always been an issue,especially in the 1970’s, but it doesn’t help that the government adds more fuel to the fire. In 1977 during a time of social/people movements,like the Black Panthers,Black Liberation Army,etc…, an outspoken and well known Black woman named Assata Shakur was in the wrong place at the wrong time. When a state trooper pulled over Shakur and other people in her car for a traffic stop, there was a shootout that left a state trooper dead. No one knows who killed the trooper, but the government convicted Assata Shakur of the first degree murder. Where she later escaped prison and fled to Cuba for political asylum. As told in her speech “To My People”, Assata Shakur ,most notably, uses allusion,metaphors, and logos to highlight the problems in “Amerikkka” surrounding race.

I commence with this anecdote for several reasons one of which is to humbly acknowledge my unique, and privileged position as a Black female scholar in the midst of a war waged against Black bodies. Another reason is to recognize police brutality as a national endemic that plagues Black communities, unveiling remnants of anti-Black racism that legitimately suppresses the lives of Blacks in America . The non-indictments in each case concerning the sanctioned murder of Black youths evoke a

In “To My People”, a speech by Assata Shakur, a former member of the Black Liberation Army, explains her frustrations and disappointments on how African Americans were treated and more importantly how she was treated by white authorities in the US. Her story is that she was stopped on the turnpike because of a traffic violation in 1973 in New Jersey by Trooper Foerster. During this traffic stop, Shakur was accused of shooting and killing Trooper Foerster with his own gun. Shakur was soon convicted of first degree murder and quickly fled to Cuba. While in Cuba, she wrote and delivered a speech targeted towards her “brothers and sisters” about how unfair African Americans had been treated in the United States. Assata Shakur in this speech utilized a variety of rhetorical devices to emphasize her frustrations with the accusations by the hypocritical US authorities.

In Chapter 1 Assata Shakur makes a profound statement and recollection of the 1970’s, a historical era in our society known for its movement against injustice, corruption, and cruel treatment of minorities by the White citizens and government in America, “the land of the free”. Non-white citizens were denied their civil and constitutional rights as being an American by a nation which glorifies itself for its equality and justice for all, under ‘one’ nation. Instead, acts of harassment, brutality, and illegal incarceration were committed, whether innocent or not. The Black Liberation Army was an organization of people who had the courage to react to the Nazism in America by revealing and voicing the truth about the ongoing malice brought

Police brutality and feminism are some of the issues the United States faces today. Police have always been an issue for people to deal with especially for the black community. Numerous African American males have encountered situations where they have been accused of crimes or beaten by the police. Feminism dates back to history where women were discriminated and degraded because of their gender. In today’s society, many of these conflicts still occur today and many prejudicial statements are made to downgrade women as a whole. In the book “Meet Me Halfway; Milwaukee Stories” written by Jennifer Morales, she addresses these two topics that people face everyday. In her book, she states the issues that African Americans face in

For the past few years, racial tensions have been on the rise. Although many actions have been taken to prevent these conflicts from occurring, African Americans are still being undervalued by the state. As more African Americans are being turned away with little to no assistance from the American government, anger and the desire for change increased among them. When Trayvon Martin’s murderer George Zimmerman was acquitted for his crime, a great number of Americans were furious at the outcome. Three African American women named Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi expressed their view on a Facebook post titled “A Love Note to Black People” and it ends with “Our Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter” (“Black Lives Matter”). Thus, a new liberation movement for black people was born. The hashtag #BlackLivesMatter rapidly spread throughout social media, bringing awareness of the struggles of African Americans. The Black Lives Matter movement is a call to action to eradicate the dehumanization of African Americans that exists in American society. With the constant targeting of African Americans by the police and the unfair treatment in the criminal justice system, the Black Lives Matter movement is a necessity to combat racism.

Lately in the media police brutality has been a very popular topic. Most of the instances reported in the media are of white police officers killing African Americans for seemingly nothing. These reports have strengthened the divide between both races. In “White Rage” by Carol Anderson the issue of police brutality is touched on within the first few words of her essay. Anderson talks about many acts of aggression at the hands of white men, and she seems to really focus on an unarmed African American male who was shot by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. “Black and Blue,” by Garnette Cadogan continues with the struggles of police brutality in America, but also touches on the abuse in his home country of Jamaica. Cadogan

In her opinion, understanding history helps African Americans to understand the meaning and value of their movement. Once people know their goals and values by history, they know why they take part in the movement and what should they do. Comparing Assata’s political view with other nationalists and feminists, we can find some similarities and some of Assata’s distinctiveness.

Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a loosely‐coordinated, nationwide movement dedicated to ending police brutality that rose to prominence in late 2014. It takes its name from a hashtag started by three Black feminist activists Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza, and Opal Tometi but the movement and the hashtag are not identical (Freelon, McIlwain, & Clark, 2016). BLM has achieved national reputation through their online and offline organizing, obtaining extensive news media coverage and glowing references in music and entertainment television. Based on a horrendous incident that sparked a concern for a lot of Black people across the world, the sudden need for a social movement was born called BLM. Black Lives Matter is a national organization working for the validity of Black life and also working to rebuild the Black liberation movement. Black Lives Matter broadens the conversation and highlight the incidents around state violence to include the ways in which Black people are intentionally left powerless at the hands of the state. This referring to the ways in which Black lives are deprived of basic human rights and dignity. According to the article The Murder of Walter Scott, which talks about race and class, “African Americans are less than 13% of the U.S. population yet they are nearly 50% of those killed by the police. North Charleston has a population of 104,000, 47% Black and the police force is 80% white (Miah, 2015)”.

Police brutality is a major issue in today’s society. Many African Americans tend to avoid the police for that very reason. A campaign was started in 2012 against police brutality and the unfair treating of African Americans entitled, Black Lives Matter. This movement was met with controversy as well as support from the American people. This movement has followed several controversial police brutality cases in the United States including, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, and Sandra Bland. All African American and all killed in the presence of a police officer, with no convictions. These three cases have been some of the biggest cases in the Black Lives Matter campaign. This campaign is determined to make sure that Black lives are treated just as equally as white live and Hispanic lives, because black lives matter

“Black Lives Matter” —an intended progression in society without a hierarchy, merely marching forward by spur of the people. Started by three sisters who continue to keep the organization a chapter-based, left wing social justice operation, it can best be described as “Not a moment, but a movement” by those that follow it. The case that began this outcry involved a man —George Zimmerman— whom, according to Lizette Alvarez and Cara Buckley (2013), “was found not guilty [of] second-degree murder [and] was also acquitted of manslaughter, a lesser charge.” (para. 1). Since its initial start in 2013, the movement follows and protests against police brutality and civil injustice towards individuals of the Black minority; however, this is a prime example of hate breeding hate as the movement, has opened a new floodgate full of antipathy aimed towards the White-community and Law Enforcement Officials. In short, the initial idea of “Black Lives Matter” —which is to bring civil justice to the Black-community— is a good concept, but the execution by its adherents are, ironically, bigoted; the movement needs to either evolve its state of thought or disperse before it further segregates America.

The movement continued its encounter beyond racial police violence to make sure change. “Because of social media we reach people in the smallest corners of America. We are plucking at a cord that has not been plucked forever. There is a network and a hashtag to gather around. It is powerful to be in alignment with our own people.” (De Choudhury et al., 2015) ‘Reformist and Revolutionary’ is a social action that fits in with the Black Lives Matter movement. Reformist regularly pursue to help bring about change without challenging the limitations of legal systems however it is often that the motivation is the legal change. Revolutionary disputes that change can’t happen unless there is a change within the legal system for instance; social, political and economic. This backs up the movement as the Black Lives matter movement aims to make sure that change occurs within the judicial system. There aiming for a new social direction. The main focus is to change the political system and the American Districts perspective on viewing police officers who use excessive force, which is leading to the deaths of black

Anna Deavere Smith is arguably the most talented docudrama performer of her time and has constructed many great plays such as House Arrest, Twilight: Los Angeles, and Fires in the Mirror. Her docudramas seek to speak the voices of the unheard in order for her audience to have a broad understanding of different perspectives on major events throughout history. She does this by interviewing a large number of people that come from different racial backgrounds and social classes who were involved in a stressful event, generally regarding racial or political unrest. Anna Deavere Smith’s work seeks to identify the reactions of citizens when placed in socially uncomfortable situations, express the disadvantages and hardships that minorities have to endure throughout the country, and question the roles of authority regarding political leaders and police officers.

The media has changed the mindset of many individuals in society. If a peaceful protest is happening, then the citizens are portrayed to be angry and rioters in the media. In today’s society, people gain their knowledge from either reading off social media networking sites and newspaper outlets online. The miscommunication and biased perspectives are formed because of sources that may have an enticing headline such as saying, “Black Lives Matter is the newest hate group.” For someone who might not understand this organization would believe the negative stigma behind it. This organization stands against violence and systemic racism toward African-Americans involving the issues of police brutality, profiling, and injustices. Black Lives Matter holds peaceful protests and meetings to find solutions to help end racial inequality for African-Americans. The headline should state that “Black Lives Matter stands up for unity,” which is respectable toward the organization. However, the media tries not to promote positivity because they want to appeal more individuals with newsworthy articles. The Nationalist Association of Black Journalists Award Winning Artist, Akiba Solomon is a freelance writer who focuses on writing about race and gender. One of her most indulgence writings is titled Thugs. Students. Rioters. Fans: Media’s Subtle Racism in Unrest Coverage. Solomon is a lecturer that instructs and teaches about women and social justice issues. She discusses the intolerant