ASSATA by Assata Shakur (Audiobook)(Nonfiction)
ASSATA by Assata Shakur (Audiobook)(Nonfiction)
Title: Assata: An Autobiography.
Author: Assata Shakur.
Narrator: Shari Williams.
Release Date: 1987 (original book); audiobook editions available since 2014.
Length: 10 hours and 45 minutes.
Genres: Nonfiction, Autobiography, Biography, Civil Rights.
Assata: An Autobiography details Assata Shakur's transformation from JoAnne Deborah Byron, a child navigating racism in Queens and North Carolina, to a Black revolutionary activist with the Black Panther Party and Black Liberation Army, culminating in her 1973 New Jersey Turnpike shootout, wrongful conviction for a state trooper's murder, and 1979 escape to Cuban exile. Interweaving her hospitalization, trials, pregnancy in prison, and radicalization amid FBI's COINTELPRO infiltration, the narrative critiques systemic oppression, police brutality, and media distortions through her "To My People" statement, emphasizing resistance, Black history, and the need for revolution against white supremacy. Foreworded by Angela Davis and Lennox S. Hinds, it portrays Shakur's resilience as a symbol of Black liberation, influencing critical race theory and prison writings while challenging traditional autobiography with her unapologetic voice from exile until her death in 2025.