Assata: An Autobiography

Raised in Wilmington, North Carolina, and Queens, New York, in a time of intense racial injustice, Shakur became radicalized through her exposure to the constant racism and sexism she endured during her childhood and through her adulthood as a wanted political refugee. Her family taught her to “speak in a loud, clear voice and to hold [her] head up high” (19) with pride and dignity in a racist society. The lessons from her childhood helped shape her sense of independence and determination in her adulthood when she became politically conscious and decided to work toward Black liberation.

Shakur was acutely aware that as a Black revolutionary woman, she was especially vulnerable to racist and sexist attacks from the state as well as those around her. She showed a keen understanding of the historical context for these attitudes and actions, dating this behavior to the period of legal enslavement in which enslavers perpetuated the notion that Black women were “less than human, unintelligent” and “less than a woman” (116). While enslavement was no longer legal in the US, Shakur believed that these historical attitudes still had ramifications in the present-day. To refute these beliefs, Shakur dedicated herself to political causes that celebrated Black dignity and pride.

While Shakur did not imagine children in her future, her decision to have a child with Kamau Sadiki was a major turning point in her determination to be free from incarceration. In her poem, “Love,” Shakur writes that “Love is contraband in Hell, / cause love is an acid / that eats away bars” (130). When she found out she was pregnant, she knew that she would pose a greater threat to the US justice system because it demonstrated her determination to create life despite the oppressive state in which she lived. Being pregnant meant that she saw a future for a Black child. She knew that this ability to dream as a Black revolutionary woman was considered dangerous to the US government.

While the autobiography never indicates the details behind Shakur’s escape from Alderson maximum-security prison, later records suggest that other Black activists helped her escape to Cuba, where she remains a political refugee.