For those that don't know, Assata Shakur is a Black Panther and member of the Black Liberation Army. (And no, she's not Tupac's mom...that's Afeni). In this book, she re-tells her life story, including her time in jail and trial for murder.
I love the perspective on history Assata brings. She breaks down everything from the Vietnam War to the real reason why Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This is an aspect of history that's missing in our schools, but a history that must be told. Also, I was reading this book during the height of the Trayvon Martin case. It really shows you the world we live in has not changed much from 1972 to 2012.
While I'm a huge fan of biographies, especially auto-biographies, Assata's style of switching between past & present in every chapter wore on me. I would be really into one period in her life, then we would stop to jump to another. But, Assata is a piece of our history so I recommend this book to everyone. Also, in doing further research, I discovered that me & Assata have the same birthday!! Kindred spirits indeed.
Next up: Black is the New White by Paul Mooney
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