Essay on Assata: an Autobiography by Assata Shakur

The book I chose to read is Tupac Shakur:The Life & Times of an American Icon. This book hasn’t been out for very long. It’s publication date was January 26, 2010 so it is a somewhat newer book. Fred and Tayannah examined very closely and did a great deal of research to write this book. They had to examine all the theories and myths about Tupac Shakur. So i’m guessing you can imagine how hard they worked to write & publish this biography.

She has risen from a poor background and was ranked the richest African American of the 20th Century, the greatest black philanthropist in American history and was once the world’s only black billionaire. She is also known as the most influential woman in the world, both older generations and young.

She was a black woman in the 1900’s. “Why is she so dark?” asked her father Ben Jordan when she was first born. Jordan was the first black woman to have a seat in the congress and in the Texas state senate, that means that she had to work with men. Men that probably didn’t think much of her because she was black and a woman, also because women weren’t respected very much then. She made it clear to the men who worked on the Texas Legislature and the United States Congress that she would never betray her people but that everything else was on the table.

She showed them that they could be equal. The only difference was the color of the skin. She taught them that that wasn’t even a big difference. She fought segregation her entire life.

     Her parents nurtured the background of this crusader to make her a great spokesperson. She also held positions throughout her life that allowed her to learn a lot about lynching. She was

Assata Shakur has the most direct commentary out of all of the activists that we have

Assata Shakur is a very strong and determined individual that refused to give up her beliefs and ideas to receive her freedom. When she was incarcerated, treated like an animal, beaten to a bloody pulp and lost all basic human rights, she only grew more stronger and determined. Shakur was a political prisoner and suffered because of her Black Panther & Black Liberation Army affiliation. She spent six years in prison for crimes that she was not proven to have done or had any connection to. Most people would have given up and “sold out” to get their freedom back, she didn’t because she simply took it back!

Additionally, her contribution to helping re-open the grisly murder of 14 year old Emmett Till only helped prepare her for what was to come. After three years of working alongside her husband at the NAACP, her worst fear became reality when she found her husband dying in front of their home from a gunshot wound to his back. What transpired that night changed her life forever.

It shows that she sees her entire race as a family. She goes on to say, “ My name is Assata Shakur (slave name joanne chesimard), and i am a revolutionary. A Black revolutionary. By that i mean that i have declared war on all forces that have raped our women, castrated our men, and kept our babies empty-bellied.” Assata Shakur is saying that she changed her name to show that she is going away from the name that was given to her ancestor’s through oppression. She goes on with her speech saying that the government is the true criminal and have accused Assata and her movement to terrorism, “It should also be clear to us by now who the real criminals are. Nixon and his crime partners have murdered hundreds of Third World brothers and sisters in Vietnam, Cambodia, Mozambique, Angola, and South Africa.” Using her position as a Black Liberation Army leader, she has the advantage of power and stance to persuade others to

Many people find identity in their culture, art and literature. Both in Maya Angelou’s “Africa” and Mos Def’s “Hip-Hop” both have themes of identity and exploitation. Both show that the black experience in the Americas and mostly all over the world is based on being the one’s who are exploited. Both poems have to do with one’s identity or autonomy being stolen from them. They do differ when it comes to the genre and the context but they do share the themes of identity and exploitation. Angelou in her poem uses the examples of the slave trade and using a women to convey two different means of exploitation. Her poem can even connect towards today, where Africa is still being exploited for its natural resources. Def’s song has to do with mainly a commentary of hip-hop as a genre and a culture. This song jam packs a myriad of subject matters such as history, progression, warnings, friendship, perfection, and identity. Def in a song that should seem like a celebration for hip-hop, instead criticizes it for it’s exploitive nature. In both poems you could get to hear the voice of the exploited.

In 2015, she made international headlines for her stance against the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement.

Assata Shakur is an African-American lady who had strong believes in defending her Black race amid the seventies. She is an amazing and motivating image of conquering a degenerate society's restrictions and racial fortresses. In 1971, Assata Shakur was blamed for robbing a bank in Queens, NY. This was the start of a considerable rundown of allegations and accusations that she would be encountering in her life. Life in the US in the 50s was extreme, if you weren't white and Assata experience this in the worst way. The social equality development was gradually attempting to fix hundreds of years of harm and change government plans. Assata Shakur was an individual from the Black Panther Party, an association that was devoted to the empowerment of the Black race. On May 2, 1973, Black Panther Assata Shakur known as JoAnne Chesimard lay in a hospital bed, almost dying, under arrest and hands cuffed to her bed, while state and government officers at any chance they got were scrutinizing and physically abuse her trying to get her to incriminate herself or her friends at a shootout on the New Jersey Turnpike were a white state trooper was killed.

In the summer of 1995 Andre, the city boy, goes to his older cousins home deep in the bayou of louisiana. Aaliyah who was born and raised here was very very excited to see her younger cousin, it had been years! Aaliyah believed the best way to celebrate his visit was to go ‘gator hunting.

Even though Shakur was considered a notorious artist because of his gang and drug connections, it is believed that he also possessed an inner beauty that many rappers envy and would like to have. Many people believe that Shakur would be considered a real iconic figure if he had not lead a gangster life. From his personal experiences, Shakur managed to develop a form of intelligence that was rare and could not be found in any of the scholarly sources (McQuillar and Johnson 95). In addition, he would portray his wisdom in his numerous songs depending on the controversial issue that was eminent at the time, which made his music more interesting. Shakur was a courteous individual that respected everybody and possessed firm morals, which he attempted to communicate to others through his many songs and poems. Because of his exceptional talent, his revered personality, and the incredible intelligence that he possessed, Shakur is a well-known figure whose prominence will be with many for years yet to come (McQuillar and Johnson

With comments and statements with racial undertone, the actress was surely at the receiving end of abuse and harassment. The media were also quick to mention that the actress has an African-American mother.