Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Assata Shakur: Assata. Eine Autobiografie by Assata Shakur

15 reviews

grei's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

Before I start, please note that I am white, nonbinary, mentally ill, & neurodivergent and that informs how I read this book written by a Black revolutionary woman on her experience with racism.

This book is absolutely beautifully written. It is an autobiography that alternates between a chronological biography of her life and her experience with the u.s. prison & "justice" system. Shakur not only discusses her life & activism but also includes important history that the u.s. school system either lied about or left out to serve their own narrative.

An incredibly important book, perfect for anyone interested in u.s. history, the u.s. prison and/or judicial system, activism and learning to become an activist, and the u.s. Civil Rights Movement of the '60s and '70s.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Racism, Sexism, Xenophobia, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Addiction, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Police brutality, Islamophobia, and Medical content

Minor: Ableism, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, and Trafficking

Before I start, please note that I am white, nonbinary, mentally ill, & neurodivergent and that informs how I read this book written by a Black revolutionary woman on her experience with racism. Though I've tagged a myriad of different content warnings, Shakur always describes and discusses them within context of why it's important, and I found that because of that her focus is not on the trauma or pain. She chooses to write about all her experiences as lessons learned along the way, and framing it in that context makes her writing much less emotionally triggering. She never goes into explicit or gory detail, but I put many topics in the "graphic" category because they are discussed thoroughly in ways that if someone is particularly sensitive it could potentially put them in a bad place if they are caught off guard.

This is particularly true of her experience almost getting raped and of her experience being pregnant in prison and trying to attain proper medical care.

The ableism I tagged is solely her use of slurs to describe some of the incompetent people she encounters; I only noticed it three or four times throughout the entire book.

peachmoni's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Gun violence and Sexual assault

hagiasophia's review against another edition

dark emotional informative medium-paced

I don't like to give memoirs star ratings, because I feel weird passing judgement on somebody's life story. That being said, I thought this was a very well done memoir. I read this after reading The Autobiography of Malcolm X  this summer & it was a great follow up to the history discussed in that book, as I saw how things had progressed and changed since Malcolm X's time. However, Assata's story is different in many ways and uniquely her own. She does not dwell or draw out her trauma, but describes it point-blank and continues the narrative. I enjoyed the structure of the narrative, which alternated between a description of her trial and imprisonment and the story of her childhood & young adulthood. It kept you engaged and wondering how she got to the present moment. It didn't go into depth on some topics I was curious about, but that is probably for the sake of privacy or secrecy, which makes sense. I definitely recommend it to anybody interested in the history of Black liberation movements in the US or anyone with an interest in Assata Shakur's life story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, and Police brutality

meha's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative tense medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, and Police brutality

unread_shelves's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

This is a book I’ll be reflecting on for years to come. I cannot wait to own a copy to be able to highlight all over the place. But trust me when I say I was highlighting like crazy in my libraries e copy. 

I truly don’t even know where to begin. The TLDR of the whole book is that Assata Shakur is an amazing woman, and I can’t wait to shove this book into the hands of every reader I know. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, and Police brutality

Minor: Slavery