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fleetwoodgat's review
4.0
Wish she would've explained the incident on the new jersey turnpike and how she escaped to Cuba. Other than that, this is probably the most engaging, interesting autobiography I've ever read.
4.5
4.5
jdreads7's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
An amazing memoir (from a self proclaimed memoir lover)
charris0903's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
tense
fast-paced
5.0
onwinedarkseas's review
5.0
This is an absolute must-read for anyone getting into the sociopolitical struggle of the African Diaspora. Assata' autobiography is a raw and honest account of the events leading up to her asylum in Cuba. Assata weaves a riveting recollection of the events from the first page where she is bleeding out on the New Jersey turnpike to the last page. Those in the struggle will recognize iconic names and places from the Black Power movement of the 60s and 70s. Most brilliant, however, is how Assata explains through her narrative how the seeds of revolution and resistance were planted through glimpses of her life between the moments she spent in captivity shuffling from prison to courtroom and back.
She also brilliantly breaks down the ugly truth about the system America is built upon, and not in the oversimplified sense. Her analyses are not only well informed and researched, but also appended with the context of revolutionaries of other races and gender identities including Asians and Latinxs. She is not afraid to admit her own shortcomings and the end leaves one feeling ready to change the world for the betterment of all.
She also brilliantly breaks down the ugly truth about the system America is built upon, and not in the oversimplified sense. Her analyses are not only well informed and researched, but also appended with the context of revolutionaries of other races and gender identities including Asians and Latinxs. She is not afraid to admit her own shortcomings and the end leaves one feeling ready to change the world for the betterment of all.
lovelykd's review
2.0
It took me an inordinate amount of time to complete this book because, beyond the first few chapters, it really wasn’t very good.
To be honest, a lot of it bored me and much of it felt disconnected from anything real or pertinent to the events that landed her in exile.
Like Huey Newton’s “Revolutionary Suicide”—a book I actually DID enjoy—Assata used alternating chapters to describe her life post-arrest versus her life before it; the two time frames ran, mostly, parallel to each other and were meant to give an idea behind the why of Assata’s choice to become a “revolutionary”.
Honestly though? Assata came across less as a revolutionary than as a woman who suffered through life, without much guidance and who, as a result, was looking for a tether to something, anything, that could make her feel valued and/or of service.
Something upon which she could define herself and find purpose.
She wasn’t very smart and was often easily led by anyone who had intelligence or showed intense passion in something.
I believe if Assata’s life had been less fraught, from the beginning, or if she’d been able to actually have the opportunity to fully develop intellectually, perhaps there is no “Assata” to speak of—at least not in the way we know her today.
However, it’s clear she had no role models and very little structure to her life: she bent whatever way the person she admired most led and that led her to make decisions that weren’t very good ones ...despite having an at least surface knowledge of the negative impact.
Case in point, the decision to have a child while imprisoned.
Too much time is given to the various trials and I gleaned nothing about her from those interactions.
The sections about the Black Panther Party and Huey Newton? Those could have easily been confused as parts siphoned from Newton’s book—having read his in tandem with hers, I noted some similarities and, some of what she says, makes it seem as if she read his book before deciding to write her own.
The book ends without truly getting into the “escape”. That may be for legal reasons, or not, but you get her in prison and then she’s suddenly in Cuba.
In the end, I’m glad to have read it, but I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone else, if pushed. There are far better books—and I say that as one who went in with grand expectations to actually like this book.
To be honest, a lot of it bored me and much of it felt disconnected from anything real or pertinent to the events that landed her in exile.
Like Huey Newton’s “Revolutionary Suicide”—a book I actually DID enjoy—Assata used alternating chapters to describe her life post-arrest versus her life before it; the two time frames ran, mostly, parallel to each other and were meant to give an idea behind the why of Assata’s choice to become a “revolutionary”.
Honestly though? Assata came across less as a revolutionary than as a woman who suffered through life, without much guidance and who, as a result, was looking for a tether to something, anything, that could make her feel valued and/or of service.
Something upon which she could define herself and find purpose.
She wasn’t very smart and was often easily led by anyone who had intelligence or showed intense passion in something.
I believe if Assata’s life had been less fraught, from the beginning, or if she’d been able to actually have the opportunity to fully develop intellectually, perhaps there is no “Assata” to speak of—at least not in the way we know her today.
However, it’s clear she had no role models and very little structure to her life: she bent whatever way the person she admired most led and that led her to make decisions that weren’t very good ones ...despite having an at least surface knowledge of the negative impact.
Case in point, the decision to have a child while imprisoned.
Too much time is given to the various trials and I gleaned nothing about her from those interactions.
The sections about the Black Panther Party and Huey Newton? Those could have easily been confused as parts siphoned from Newton’s book—having read his in tandem with hers, I noted some similarities and, some of what she says, makes it seem as if she read his book before deciding to write her own.
The book ends without truly getting into the “escape”. That may be for legal reasons, or not, but you get her in prison and then she’s suddenly in Cuba.
In the end, I’m glad to have read it, but I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone else, if pushed. There are far better books—and I say that as one who went in with grand expectations to actually like this book.
eedward's review
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
souvlacki's review
5.0
such an accessible book for everyone to read. i will never stop recommending this.
rhiosborne's review
challenging
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
5.0
everyone especially any organisers and political radicals should read this book