The Assata autobiography depicts and portrays the life Chesimard now going by the name Assata Shakur and the plight she has undergone throughout her life. Assata is a black revolutionary who has found residence in Cuba after she escaped to seek political asylum. The autobiography enlightens on disturbing stories that are at the same time inspiring from the time Assata faces arrest to the time she flees to Cuba. The Cuban government gives her a stipend, Internet access, a home, food, and gas (Wood)
The Assata autobiography captures intriguing themes, but the theme that vividly occurs from the beginning to the end of this piece is oppression. One of the instances of oppression is where Assata is shot, and the police seem to be relentless as to whether they should take her to the hospital or just take away her life on the spot. Solely because she is a member of the Black Liberation Army, a former member of the Black Panther Party and on top of all she is black (Chaane 96). When gains conscious she find herself in the hospital surrounded by white people, and immediately they attack her with numerous questions. They further examined her and took her fingerprints. Oppression vividly occurs in this section and shows the extent the perpetrators are willing to go to pursue their desires at the expense of another person’s life.
According to Assata, when she was growing up, the environment made her understand that oppression only occurs when she gets a pass into colored-only sections of the south and the gruesome image of her mother struggling to provide for the family while at the same time being an asset of the society in a world that unjust. An experience of this realities always leaves her sad and irritated when she sees how the white people enjoyed the freedom that she a citizen of the same country had been denied.
Assata faced prosecution ten times between 1973 and 1977 New Jersey and New York, which eventually made her face seven separate criminal charges. In connection with the proceedings, she was accused of double bank robberies, attempted murder of two Queens police officers, kidnapping of a Brooklyn heroin dealer, 1973 failed ambush, and eight other felonies related to the Turnpike shootout (Chaane 96). Oppression clearly shows that Assata faced the accusation of many crimes that the indictees do not have evidence over or did not undertake enough investigation to come up with a credible verdict.
Assata suffered incarceration after the Turnpike shootings in the New Jersey State Reception and Correction Center and later moved to solitary confinement in Rikers Island Correctional Institution for Women in New York. Assata gave birth during her trial, and she openly confesses that she faced challenges after as she was beaten and restrained because she did not want to take a medical exam after she gave birth (Chaane 95). After a woman has given birth, she should be left to relax for a few days and if there are any test that should be carried out the doctor should nicely explain to the patient what the tests are meant for. Assata faced oppression while in jail and even when she was in her most vulnerable conditions, the wardens still used force on her. However, Assata was able to convince the jury of the plight she was undergoing, and she was granted attorney visitation rights.
During a struggle with a guest in the Statler Hilton Hotel, Assata was shot in her stomach and afterward received multiple charges. The police claimed that Assata knocked on the door of the guest and inquired about the party. However, the guest replied negatively, that is when Assata removed a revolver, and from there a struggle followed. She was charged and was later released on bail (Chaane 95). The initial accusations that faced Assata played a significant role in how the police viewed every incident that she encountered. There is no moment that the police would consider that the revolver belonged to the guest. If Assata had the gun and she was as bad as the earlier instigation stipulated the guest should be the one landing a bullet in the stomach. Assata honestly faced the oppression of its kind in this scenario; however, she took the incident positively claiming she did not have to worry about landing a bullet as she had the experience.
Assata got in the web of the bank robbery in Queens after an assumption of a woman with thick-rimmed black glasses, a high hairdo pulled tightly over her head, and a steadily pointed gun as observed from a photograph. The photo circulated in banks and as an ad in page printouts. Later in the year, she was again associated with a hand grenade attack that left two patrol officers injured (McCabe 003). It is true that the incidents were dangerous and they got people injured but there is people do look alike, and if a photograph pops up and the first suspect on the list is Assata, then this raises an eyebrow. Assata has gone to the police so many several times for questioning and even when the there is no conclusive evidence to indict her, she is victimized, this is a true nature of victimization.
The FBI was out to capture Assata by using any means, and since she was associated with many organizations, they planned to accuse her of any bank robbery or offenses that had female perpetrators. Assata herself admitted that the FBI was targeting her by using COINTEPRO, which flows the organization that she participates (McCabe bsw003). The FBI wanted to link her in every bank robbery or violent crime involving a black woman. Oppression is evident, and it only proves that the police did not have conclusive evidence to convict this poor woman.
The autobiography clearly states the involvement of external forces that were out to inflict pain on Assata Shakur. Assata Shakur has been linked to multiple charges that had no conclusive evidence. The pain she faced from being shot at and at worst facing questioning while she was nursing a bullet wound in the hospital is just too inhuman for one person to handle. Assata is a human being and facing all these allegations just gives her the right of escaping and seeking asylum in Cuba. The police have placed a manhunt on her several times waiting for her to trip and accuse her of crimes that do not even fit her personality or description. Assata Shakur is a black woman who is trying to survive in a nation faced with racism. The oppression Assata Shakur has gone through is evident throughout her autobiography.
Works Cited
Chaane, B. "Book Reviews : Assata: An Autobiography By ASSATA SHAKUR (London, Zed Press, 1988). 288Pp. F7.95". Race & Class 31.1 (1989): 95-96. Web.
McCabe, Angus. "Assata: An Autobiography". Community Development Journal (2016): bsw003. Web.
Wood, Sam. "Always a Priority: Fugitive Cop-Killers: As a N.J. Case shows, Law Officers Never Give Up - Despite Even Decades and Foreign Obstacles." Knight Ridder Tribune Business News: 1. May 15 2006. ProQuest. Web. 14 Apr. 2016
