From exile with love: Former Black Panther Assata Shakur speaks to America from Cuba [Editor’s note: Final Call Staff Writer Nisa Islam Muhammad traveled to Cuba with a group of 15 journalists under the guidance of DeWayne Wickham and the Institute for Advanced Journalism Studies. They are documenting the African influence in the Americas. While there, […]
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YOUNGBLOOD (A poem by Assata Shakur) They think they killed you But I saw you yesterday, standing with your hands in your pocket waiting for the real deal to go down. I saw you smiling your “fuck it” smile, blood in your eyes, your heart pumping freedom Youngblood! They think they killed you. But I […]
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No One Can Stop The Rain (A poem by Assata Shakur) Watch, the grass is growing. Watch, but don’t make it obvious. Let your eyes roam casually, but watch! In any prison yard, you can see it – growing. In the cracks, in the crevices, between the steel and the concrete, out of the dead […]
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I Believe In Living By Assata Shakur i believe in living. i believe in the spectrum of Beta days and Gamma people. i believe in sunshine. In windmills and waterfalls, tricycles and rocking chairs; And i believe that seeds grow into sprouts. And sprouts grow into trees. i believe in the magic of the hands. […]
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I Love Tha Future by Assata Shakur i love tha future i love the idea of the future i love tha idea of sayin ,wait a minute let’s make a future, lets make this pretty, make it good, make it sweet, make it juicy, make it real, make it, you know something other than pre-packaged […]
Read MoreTHE TRADITION (A poem by Assata Shakur) Carry it on now. Carry it on. Carry it on now. Carry it on. Carry on the tradition. Their were Black People since the childhood of time who carried it on. In Ghana and Mali and Timbuktu We carried it on. Carried on the tradition. We hid in […]
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POEM FOR SUNDIATA by Assata Shakur I remember your smile Bright as the sun’s explosion Wide as the arms of Yemaya Deep as a gushing well of kindness I remember your smile Slow like the dawn of recognition Quick like the wit of observation Clear as the logic of common sense I remember your smile […]
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Letter from Assata on the Prison Industrial Complex by Assata Shakur September 25, 1998 Greetings Sisters, Brothers, Comrades, Never in our history has critical resistance to the status quo been more important. The growth of the Prison-Industrial complex has been appallingly rapid and the escalating repression that has accompanied it is totally alarming. What of future […]
Read MoreMessages of Condolences From Nehanda Abiodun & Assata Shakur on the Transition of Our Revolutionary Sista, Comrade & Friend Safiya Bukhari (Assata Shakur & Nehanda Abiodun) on the Transition of Our Revolutionary Sista, Comrade & Friend Safiya Bukhari From Assata Shakur, Havana Cuba August 29, 2003: It is with much sadness that i say my […]
Read MoreAssata Shakur: Profiled and on the run New Crisis, The, Nov/Dec 2000 by Shakur, Assata, Lewis, Ida E A political activist most of my life, I am an ex-political prisoner who has lived in exile in Cuba since 1984. Although the U.S. government has done everything in its power to criminalize me, I am no […]
Read MoreCritique of Interview of Assata Shakur with NBC journalist Ralph Penza Assata Shakur, in Covert Action Quaterly [26 October 1998] In January of 1998, during the Pope’s visit to Cuba, Assata agreed to do an interview with NBC journalist, Ralph Penza, about her letter to the Pope, her experiences in the NewJersey court system, and her […]
Read MoreAxioms of Assata Shakur Quotes, Comments & Excerpts “So many of my sisters are so completely unaware of who the real criminals and dogs are. They blame themselves for being hungry; they hate themselves for surviving the best way they know how, to see so much fear, doubt, hurt, and self hatred is the most […]
Read MoreTo My People By Assata Shakur (written while in prison) 4 July 1973 Black brothers, Black sisters, i want you to know that i love you and i hope that somewhere in your hearts you have love for me. My name is Assata Shakur (slave name joanne chesimard), and i am a revolutionary. A Black […]
Read MoreMartha Pitts: Remembering A Revolutionary By, Assata Shakur This is not an easy statement for me to write. Somehow, I thought that Martha would always be here. In my mind she was like Mt. Kilimanjaro, always strong, always solid, always standing tall. I met Martha about 30 years ago. She was a proud intelligent, irreverent […]
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An Open Letter From Assata My name is Assata (she who struggles) Olugbala (for the people) Shakur (the thankful one), and I am a 20th century escaped slave. Because of government persecution, I was left with no other choice than to flee from the political repression, racism and violence that dominate the US government’s policy […]
Read MoreAsante Sana from Assata Shakur PLEASE REDISTRIBUTE First of all, let me say thank you, to the many people who have helped me to celebrate my 60th birthday. Thank you for your beautiful birthday cards and for your warm and eloquent messages. Thank you for your activism, your radiant energy and most of all for […]
Read MoreA Letter to the Pope, Havana Cuba From Assata Shakur March 1998 Your Holiness, I hope this letter finds you in good health, in good disposition, and enveloped in the spirit of goodness. I must confess that it had never occurred to me before to write to you, and I find myself overwhelmed and moved […]
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