Assata: An Autobiography

Shakur remembers her childhood, first in Wilmington, North Carolina, and then later in Jamaica, New York. In Wilmington, Shakur learned about Southern segregation and racism. Her grandparents were forced to pay for their property twice since their initial ownership was not recognized by other white people. When they installed a dirt parking lot on their property for other Black people to park for a small charge, they were routinely terrorized by white people who drove through the lot with guns. This stopped only when Shakur’s grandfather installed a chain at the lot’s entryway.

Shakur’s grandmother instilled in her a sense of pride in her identity. She was taught to act with decorum toward Black elders but also to not make herself smaller in front of white people. She was told to play only with other “decent” middle class children (21). While she understood that these lessons were meant to protect her from the racism of the white people around her, she also acknowledged in her adulthood that a lot of her grandmother’s sentiments came from the class prejudices of “the so-called Black bourgeoisie” (21).

While segregation was a part of life, Shakur also found subtle ways to rebel against the rules. Shakur’s mother provided an early example of this strategy when she pretended to be a Spanish-speaking foreigner to trick the workers at a whites-only amusement park into allowing them onto the rides. Later in life, Shakur herself would enter a whites-only part of a movie theater to request purchase of an Elvis Presley poster. This small protest was a joyous moment for Shakur that her family members celebrated as well.

While schools in Wilmington were segregated, Shakur felt that she received more attention and understanding from her Black teachers than she would have at integrated schools. When Shakur moved to New York to attend third grade, she felt the oppressive effects of integrated schools where white teachers treated her with either malice or indifference. Her third-grade teacher patronized her whenever she tried to demonstrate her knowledge on a subject. In fifth grade, her teacher, Mrs. Hoffler, would physically punish her and another Black student until Shakur fought back. When she finally revealed to her mother the troubles that she went through with Mrs. Hoffler, her mother demanded that she be moved to another classroom with a new instructor.

Shakur credits her aunt, Evelyn, as the “heroine of my childhood” (39). Evelyn took Shakur to museums and taught her about art and history. With Evelyn’s support, Shakur gained an education about the world that she did not receive through traditional schooling.

The narrative returns to the period after the police shooting. Before Shakur could properly recover in the hospital, she was taken to Middlesex County Jail, where she was kept in isolation. She was allowed to conduct some work in the workhouse, where she occasionally met with Evelyn to strategize for her impending trial.

Evelyn provided Shakur a tape recorder so that she could record a statement to the public, an attempt to counteract the mainstream media portrayal of her as a villain. On July 4, 1973, Shakur recorded her statement, “To My People,” where she declared that as a “Black revolutionary woman” (50), she was being targeted by the US government and charged with crimes she did not commit. She stated that the US government was criminalizing her for her involvement with the Black Liberation Army, painting all affiliated members as “vicious, brutal, mad-dog criminals” (50). However, she insisted that “we are the victims” and not the criminals (50). She ended her statement by reading the names of Black revolutionary leaders who died fighting for Black liberation, concluding, “We must fight on” (53).

While Shakur awaited trial, she socialized with other women inmates, most of whom were Black or Latina women who were charged with petty crimes or could not make bail. Shakur concluded that the prison system disproportionately penalized those who were poor and Black, as she saw very few incarcerated white women. She also had to endure random acts of violence against her, including the removal of the metal brace that was necessary to heal her arm. Her metal brace was eventually returned to her, but not without much protest. Shakur was finally allowed a joint conference with Evelyn and Sundiata at the workhouse. This gave Shakur brief hope.

Back in jail, Shakur met another inmate, Eva, whom she dubbed “Rhinoceros woman” and became close with (62). When male guards came to the jail looking to brutalize Shakur, Eva stood up for her and identified herself as Shakur. Since Eva was much larger than Shakur, the guards became nervous. Shakur eventually revealed herself to prevent Eva from getting into trouble. When the guards hassled Shakur once again the next day during lunchtime, she refused to comply with their aggressions. This led to a riot in the jail.

On July 19, 1973, Shakur was taken to New York to be arraigned on a Queens bank robbery indictment in a Brooklyn federal court. In September, she was moved from the workhouse to the basement of the jail preceding her trial for the New Jersey Turnpike homicides on October 1.

When October 1 finally arrived, Judge John E. Bachman denied all of Evelyn’s motions. Shakur describes the jury as “more like a lynch mob than a jury” (67). Eventually, the judge had to move the case to Morris County as rumors in the jury room of Shakur’s guilty verdict violated the rules for a fair trial. The trial then was postponed for another month.