gigireadswithkiki's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
This memoir is absolutely breathtaking from start to finish, but one of my favorite parts has got to be the poems that Assata Shakur adds in between chapters, scattered throughout her story. The poems are impactful and powerful, showing with lyrical clarity and deep emotion the intense struggles of her life. In conjunction to this, Shakur's life story, told through alternating story lines starting from her childhood and from her arrest on the new jersey turnpike in May of 1973, is so deeply momentous.
She doesn't shy away from the mistakes she has made throughout her life, owning up to her ignorance about the struggles of the Global South. I loved how much she stresses the importance of community building, purposefully seeking out political movements outside of the Black Liberation Army (notably the Red Guard in San Francisco) in order to highlight the ways in which different communities are, at their root, fighting for the same goal. This book is such an important read, both in this current political landscape, and as BIPOC continue to gather to overthrow capitalist regimes/power structures; Assata Shakur is an inspiration and this is definitely one of, if not the top, favorite memoir I've ever read.
She doesn't shy away from the mistakes she has made throughout her life, owning up to her ignorance about the struggles of the Global South. I loved how much she stresses the importance of community building, purposefully seeking out political movements outside of the Black Liberation Army (notably the Red Guard in San Francisco) in order to highlight the ways in which different communities are, at their root, fighting for the same goal. This book is such an important read, both in this current political landscape, and as BIPOC continue to gather to overthrow capitalist regimes/power structures; Assata Shakur is an inspiration and this is definitely one of, if not the top, favorite memoir I've ever read.
cadybooks's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
Graphic: Medical trauma, Racial slurs, Rape, Police brutality, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Grief, Kidnapping, Body horror, Colonisation, Gun violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Pregnancy, Confinement, Death, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Medical content, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Sexual violence, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Abortion
jdizzle's review against another edition
5.0
This book is so incredibly well written and easy to read while conveying such important information. Everyone should read this, especially with the context that Assata is still wanted by the FBI with a bounty of a million dollars. Can be pretty heavy emotionally but definitely worth it. Not to mention the policy that is implied in her experiences, from communism to prison abolition, assata does not need to explain these issues as her lived experiences which she so expertly writes about are, in my opinion, enough to convince anyone.
I would easily give this book a 6/5 if I could
I would easily give this book a 6/5 if I could
brittanyboston18's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
3.5
wellreadrebel's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
These are the kind of books that give me hope in times like these.
gmiller117's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
magicallisa's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
5.0