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Carlos Lima
11/17/14
Section: 10385
Assata Shakur Essay
Assata Shakur’s political views are similar and different from many other political activists but the injustice she faced changed her views in ways other will never understand. Assata Shakur was an African American activist who became a member of the Black Panther party which supported the black power movement. Shakur faces oppression and is persecuted by the FBI for being a member of the black liberation army and the Black Panther party. Assata was convicted and charged with murdering a New Jersey police officer. She faced life in prison but she escaped and fled to Cuba where she seeked political asylum. Assata was persecuted so heavily and incarcerated because of her involvement
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and leadership in the Black Panthers party and black liberation army which at the time was seen as a great threat to the country’s internal security. The FBI tried to criminalize the party and its members which Assata came to experience first-hand. Assata pled innocent to all charges but was convicted anyway and because a political prisoner. She experienced the injustice of the government for fighting against police brutality and for political equality. The political views of Assata Shakur can be compared to those of Malcolm X. Malcolm X’s practices were incorporated into the foundations of the black panthers. Assata practiced some of the same principles of Malcolm X. They both strived and fought for social and economic equality of minorities. It was Malcolm X’s criticism of racist whites that inspired Page 2 radical militant organizations to form like the Black Panthers.
In a way they both used militant strategies to directly fight for Black liberation.
Malcom X differs from Assata in many ways. Malcolm X wanted a separate state for African Americans. He believed that blacks were feeding into the white power structure and then whites were holding them down. Malcolm X challenged the political economy which had African Americans facing poor working conditions and rates of unemployment higher than whites. Assata was not striving for a separate African American state but was more for equality in the United States for all people of color. She fought against police brutality and political injustice with the black panthers. Also Malcolm X was part of the nation of Islam while Assata was part of the Black Panther’s party and black liberation army.
Assata’s political beliefs are also similar in some ways to those of W.E.B Du Bois. They both believed in equal rights in every aspect of a person’s life. They fought for full equality and were against accommodation. For example when W.E.B Du Bois apposed the Atlanta Compromise because he believed blacks should not have to compromise on this issue and they deserve to have the same rights that all citizens are promised in the constitution. As W.E.B. Du Bois believed only direct protest would advance African American civil rights, Assata also took direct action in the fight for black
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power. There are also a few differences in the beliefs and political views of Assata Shakur and W.E.B. Du Bois. Assata’s was never part of the communist party and believed it was necessary for black people to come together and organize their own structures and revolutionary political party (Assata, Pg.192). Assata attacks the political side of racism. Assata believed that black people would always be at the bottom of the ladder because they are the easiest to discriminate Pg. 3 against. She also says that both the democratic and republican parties are run by millionaires so as long as African Americans are at the lower end of the ladder they will not have any political power. Angela Davis and Assata Shakur were similar in some of their views and beliefs. Angela Davis was an activist who spoke about racism, sexism and the prison industrial complex. Angela believed the prison system was another way to enslave African Americans and she fought for prisoner’s rights. Angela Davis was a supporter of the Black panthers which Assata was a part of. Assata also wanted to expose what was wrong with the prison system and the corruption of the government. Angela Davis was charged with a crime she was not guilty of like Assata Shakur and declared she was innocent. Assata also declared she was innocent and this showed the corruption and injustice of the government and justice system and also helped them gain followers and support for their cause. Assata Shakur’s opening statement when she was on trial was about injustice to African Americans (Assata, Pg. 166). Angela Davis was part of the communist party which Assata Shakur did not believe was necessary. Assata says she is not against communism but she is not for it either. Angela Davis was a leader of the communist party. Assata used her arrest to bring attention to the injustice and corruption of the government. Angela Davis’ main question was whether our criminal justice system is effective and just. Assata’s focus was on the self-defense and the defense of African Americans against the injustice towards them in the United States (Assata, Pg. 235). The political views of Alice Walker and Assata Shakur appeared to have some similarities. Alice Walker was a political activist like Assata Shakur. Alice walker was an author who wrote the color purple which was about women of color in the south. She was an activist for Pg. 4 the civil rights movement and fought for colored women’s rights and equality. Both of these women fought for the civil rights of African Americans in the United States and believed they deserved all the rights the constitution promises to citizens. Assata Shakur and Alice walker differ in the ways they gained support for their activism. Alice Walker was a writer so she wrote stories that demonstrated the life and struggles of women of color. She also took part in the march on Washington. Assata on the other hand used her arrest and the injustice she faced to make people aware of the corruption that black people faced especially those in groups that fought for equally and justice for blacks (Assata, Pg. 98). Alice Walker did a lot in fighting for equality of women as well as African Americans while Assata Shakur was fighting towards political justice and making people aware of the injustice the government commits on people of color and people of a lower class. Assata Shakur’s incarceration affected her political views in many ways.
She states she was no longer the wide eyed, romantic young revolutionary who believed the revolution was just around the corner. She is saying she is not so hopeful that change will come so quick. She has realized that the revolution is a process and it is going to take for things to change. At that point they should not expect a revolution all of the sudden because it was not ready yet. It was going to take a lot more for real change to actually occur. She is still a revolutionary fighting for liberation of black people but now that she has escaped prison and fled to Cuba, she must do her work from afar. She is no longer in the middle of the conflict and directly working towards liberation and equality. She also now believes that it is not the government who runs the country. She says those who believe that the president or the vice-president and the congress and the Supreme Court run this country are sadly mistaken. The almighty dollar is king (Assata,
Pg. Pg. 5 139). She is saying that those with money run this country which is all just rich whites. She believes that the system does not allow for blacks to move in the social classes so whites will always be the ones on top with all the money and the power. The country will always be run by whites and therefore justice for African Americans will not come from the government. There are a few similarities between the conditions Assata Shakur faced in prison compared to prisons nowadays. Similarly to jails today Assata had to wear a uniform which was cleaned once a week. She described the jail cell as a room with bars and a heavy metal door. There was a cot and a toilet and shower but there was no privacy. This is similar to prisons nowadays with one toilet in the middle of the cell which all the inmates have to use. She describes the powerful warden, Cahill, and how he is in charge (Assata, Pg. 49). In prisons today there is one warden with all the power who controls everything that goes on in the prison. She says the food was terrible and she was not allowed out of her cell so she exercised by running around in her cell. There were also guards who patrolled the parking lots and made sure no prisoners tried to escape similar to prisons nowadays. There were many differences between the conditions Assata faced in prison and conditions now. Assata Shakur face a lot of injustices in prison. When she was pregnant the guards would not allow her to see a gynecologist and told her the best thing was to have an abortion. They beat her and dragged her across the floor for refusing an examination (Assata, Pg. 144). They did not allow children to visit their mothers in prison (Assata, Pg. 53). Lennox Hinds describes the injustice Assata faced. She says no prisoner has ever been treated as she was. She was confined in a men’s prison, under 24 hour surveillance of intimate functions, she was without intellectual sustenance, medical attention and exercise (Assata, Pg. XV). She filled Pg. 6 endless civil rights lawsuits complaining of barbarous treatment. Nowadays this kind of treatment is rarely seen and is unconstitutional.
The history of The Black Civil Rights Movement in the United States is a fascinating account of a group of human beings, forcibly taken from their homeland, brought to a strange new continent, and forced to endure countless inhuman atrocities. Forced into a life of involuntary servitude to white slave owners, African Americans were to face an uphill battle for many years to come. Who would face that battle? To say the fight for black civil rights "was a grassroots movement of ordinary people who accomplished extraordinary things" would be an understatement. Countless people made it their life's work to see the progression of civil rights in America. People like W.E.B. DuBois, Marcus Garvey, A Phillip Randolph, Eleanor Roosevelt, and many others contributed to the fight although it would take ordinary people as well to lead the way in the fight for civil rights. This paper will focus on two people whose intelligence and bravery influenced future generations of civil rights organizers and crusaders. Ida B.Wells and Mary Mcleod Bethune were two African American women whose tenacity and influence would define the term "ordinary to extraordinary".
Imagine being objectified not being seen like a human. How would you feel? Sad? Angry? Depressed? Devastated? In “Assata An Autobiography” by Assata Shakur that is what happened to her and other people whom were not white. Being arrested and shot by troopers with no evidence simply by assumptions is what happened to Assata Shakur. Since she and Zayd were black they were mistreated and taken into custody. During the 70’s social justice rarely existed, the whites had power over any other ethnic group. All thought the autobiography social justice is what Shakur empathizes and how she did not obtain it with many other blacks. That caused her to become part of The Black Panther Party. She wanted a change to happen for the better not only for her and her people but for other facing the same issue of inequality. Social justice being a touchy topic in Assata Shakur’s life has made more people
"I am a positive person, I never think of the glass as half empty. I just keep pushing forward" Rosie Perez the proud woman who declared this quote is a person who overcame many obstacles and difficulties to bring success in her life, despite her many hardships and traumatizing past.
Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois are two incredibly famous civil rights activists in United States history. Although they both sought to uplift blacks socially and economically across the country, they clashed over the best strategy for doing so. Coming from vastly different backgrounds, it’s understandable as to why they disagreed. However, as is evident by our current societal problems, Du Bois was the one who had the correct plan. That doesn’t mean that Washington’s ideas were wrong, but they were a temporary solution to a permanent and systematic problem.
“If there is anybody in this land who thoroughly believes that the meek shall inherit the earth they have not often let their presence be known” (Du Bois). This is a quote from African American rights activists W.E.B. Du Bois. It’s a good example of how he views the situation at this time, and how he works mentally as a rights activist. This was a very dangerous time for the African American population in America. During this time period, there were two very well-known men who protested for rights for the African American community. Their names were Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois. Both had very different views, but were both doing it as a way to help the African American community. However, for this time period, W.E.B. Du Bois’ philosophies
When it all comes down to it, one of the greatest intellectual battles U.S. history was the legendary disagreement between Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois. This intellectual debate sparked the interest of the Northerners as well as the racist whites that occupied the south. This debate was simply about how the blacks, who just gained freedom from slavery, should exist in America with the white majority. Even though Washington and DuBois stood on opposite sides of the fence they both agreed on one thing, that it was a time for a change in the treatment of African Americans. I chose his topic to write about because I strongly agree with both of the men’s ideas but there is some things about their views that I don’t agree with. Their ideas and views are the things that will be addressed in this essay.
During the late 19th and early 20th century, racial injustice was very prominent and even wildly accepted in the South. Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois were two of the most renowned “pioneers in the [search] for African-American equality in America” (Washington, DuBois, and the Black Future). Washington was “born a slave” who highly believed in the concept of “separate but equal,” meaning that “we can be as [distant] as the fingers, yet one as the hand in all things essential to mutual progress” (Washington 1042). DuBois was a victim of many “racial problems before his years as a student” and disagreed with Washington’s point of view, which led
The time period when Booker T. Washington gave his Atlanta Compromise Speech and W.E.B. DuBois wrote ‘The Souls of Black Folk’, it was a big step to talk about equality and social problems of the black race; which led Washington not to state those topics directly to the Southern white audiences at the moment. Even though Washington and DuBois ultimately were in the same boat for the black race, they expressed and represented oppositely. While Washington decided to have oblique approach in the parts of politics, rights, and education, DuBois exclaimed utter equality unswervingly and brutally. As DuBois was frustrated and furious by Washington’s speech, He rebuked Washington severely for asking the black race to give up three things for the
When talking about the history of African-Americans at the turn of the twentieth century, two notable names cannot be left out; Booker T. Washington and W.E.B Du Bois. They were both African-American leaders in the late 1800’s to early 1900’s, fighting for social justice, education and civil rights for slaves, and both stressed education. This was a time when blacks were segregated and discriminated against. Both these men had a vision to free blacks from this oppression. While they came from different backgrounds, Washington coming from a plantation in Virginia where he was a slave, and Du Bois coming from a free home in Massachusetts, they both experienced the heavy oppression blacks were under in this Post-Civil War society. Booker T. Washington and W.E.B Du Bois were both pioneers in striving to obtain equality for blacks, yet their ways of achieving this equality were completely different. W.E.B Du Bois is the more celebrated figure today since he had the better method because it didn’t give the whites any power, and his method was intended to achieve a more noble goal than Washington’s.
Du Bois was a scholar activist who proposed lots of solutions for the issue of racism and discrimination. Du Bois was sort of an opposition to Washington’s ideology, as he strongly believes that it can only help to disseminate white’s oppression towards blacks. We can see his dissatisfaction based on his writing with a title On Booker T. Washington and Others. He wrote that Washington’s philosophy was really not a good idea because the white extremists from the south will perceived this idea as blacks’ complete surrender for the request of civil rights and political equality. Du Bois had a different view on this issue if compared to Washington because of their different early lifestyles. Unlike Washington, Du Bois was born free in the North and he did not receive any harsh experienced as a slave himself and was also grew up in a predominantly white area. In his writings, it is obvious that he thought that the most important thing that the black should gain was to have the equality with whites. Regarding the issue of the voting rights, Du Bois strongly believed that it is important for black people to agitate to get the right to vote. He also believed that the disfranchisement of poor men could mean the catastrophe of South’s democracy (Painter 157). In his writing with a title Of Our Spiritual Strivings, he wrote that it was significant for blacks to exercise the right to vote because there were whites that wanted to put them back in their inferior position—and it was
Washington 's programme naturally takes an economic cast” (Du Bois). Du Bois believed that Washington’s theory was a gospel of Work and Money that ultimately overshadowed the higher aims of life” Later he makes another statement so powerful that should have made all African Americans want to stand up and fight for a better social status and rights for both the South and North. He goes on stating “The growing spirit of kindliness and reconciliation between the North and South after the frightful differences of a generation ago ought to be a source of deep congratulation to all, and especially to those whose mistreatment caused the war; but if that reconciliation is to be marked by the industrial slavery and civic death of those same black men, with permanent legislation into a position of inferiority, then those black men, if they are really men, are called upon by every consideration of patriotism and loyalty to oppose such a course by all civilized methods, even though such opposition involves disagreement with Mr. Booker T. Washington.” (Du
Du Bois, was the competing ideology at the time. Du Bois rose to prominence and became a great African-American leader in his own right around the time Washington was at his peak. Du Bois respected Washington but largely disagreed with his vision of black society and progression. Du Bois was a leader in several radical (at the time) organizations such as the Conference of Negro Problems and the Niagara Movement. (Lecture 9/27). With a background steeped in education, Du Bois also has a significantly different up-bringing than Washington. In part, this may explain some of the differences in their ideologies. In his book, The Souls of Black Folk, Du Bois addresses Washington and his vision directly. Although Du Bois recognizes Washington’s successes and the caution in which Washington has had to employ in the South, Du Bois is still critical of him. “But aside from this, there is among educated and thoughtful colored men in all parts of the land a feeling of deep regret, sorrow, and apprehension at the wide currency and ascendency which some of Mr. Washington’s theories have gained.” (Du Bois, Souls of Black Folk, pg.36). Washington’s Atlanta Compromise received acclaim but the submissive tone and ideology is what Du Bois is critical of. This quote expresses the emotions felt by not just Du Bois but other educated black men and women throughout the country realizing the errors made in the speech. The acclaim the speech received is also an issue here
Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois were very important African American leaders in the United States during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. They both felt strongly that African Americans should not be treated unequally in terms of education and civil rights. They had strong beliefs that education was important for the African American community and stressed that educating African Americans would lead them into obtaining government positions, possibly resulting in social change. Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois had similar goals to achieve racial equality in the United States, they had strongly opposing approaches in improving the lives of the black population. Washington was a conservative activist who felt that the subordination to white leaders was crucial for African Americans in becoming successful and gaining political power.
Tupac Amaru II, originally Jose Gabriel Condorcanqui, began a rebellion that rampaged through the Andes from the 1780s up until 1783. Amaru had started one of the largest Colonial Spanish-American movements in history when he captured and executed local authority, Antonio Arriaga. (OxfordBibliographies.com). This was an uprising of native and mestizo Campesino, or farmers/peasants, against Bourbon reforms from the Spaniard Viceroyalty at Peru. The goal of Tupac Amaru was to separate upper Peru, which is now modern-day Bolivia, and Argentina, which was only a territory before it became known as modern-day Argentina, from the Viceroys that had invaded Peru. The Spaniards invaded and established their authority over the people of Latin America
What I enjoy is that Shakur provides descriptive scenarios of when she was being attacked by police officers, when she was in prison and even of her childhood. By doing such thing she gives us the opportunity to feel and imagine how it must have been for her. The fact that she does she, she gives us, the readers, the opportunity to visualize and see how bad racism and police brutality was, especially against African Americans. What intrigues me the most about this piece of work is when her grandmother went to visit her to tell her that she had had a dream about her being free and soon enough Shakur was in Cuba contacting her aunt to tell her she was fine. Something I would like to know more about is her process of escaping and how it happened. Also, I’d like to know more on how she was able to flee to