Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Assata Shakur: A 20th Century Escaped Slave by Barbara Casey

On May 2, 2013, the FBI added her to the Most Wanted Terrorist List, the first woman to be listed. Assata Shakur: A 20th Century Escaped Slave is the story of Assata Shakur, before she became a fugitive and since.
Assata Shakur: A 20th Century Escaped Slave by Barbara Casey
Book Details:

Book Title:   Assata Shakur: A 20th Century Escaped Slave by Barbara Casey
Category:  Adult Non-Fiction, 210 pages
Genre:  Biography/True Crime
Publisher:  Strategic Media Books
Release date:  February 15, 2017
Format available for review:  Print, ebook (gifted Kindle and PDF)
Will send print books:  Internationally
Tour dates: April 10 to 28, 2017
Content Rating: PG-13 (There is occasional use of bad language and it deals with crime including killings.)

Book Description:

In May 1973, Assata Olugbala Shakur was involved in a shootout on the New Jersey Turnpike in which she was accused of killing New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster and assaulting Trooper James Harper. This resulted in her indictment of first-degree murder of Foerster and seven other felonies related to the shootout. A member of the Black Panther Party, she became a prime target of the Federal Bureau of Investigations Counterintelligence Program. When she joined the Black Liberation Army and went into hiding, between 1973 and 1977, she was placed on the FBI's Most Wanted List for three bank robberies, the kidnapping and murder of two drug dealers, and the attempted murder of two New Jersey police officers.

In March 1977 Assata Shakur was convicted of murdering state trooper Werner Forrester and was imprisoned. Two years later she broke out of the maximum-security wing of Clinton Correctional Facility in New Jersey, pistol in hand, as she and three cohorts sped out of the prison grounds. In 1984 she was granted political asylum in Cuba where she has lived ever since. On May 2, 2013, the FBI added her to the Most Wanted Terrorist List, the first woman to be listed. Assata Shakur: A 20th Century Escaped Slave is the story of Assata Shakur, before she became a fugitive and since.

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My Review
Assata Shakur: A 20th Century Escaped Slave by Barbara Casey was a well written adult non-fiction book that followed the life of Assata Olugbala Shakur. I personally liked the fact that the book was about Assata Olugbala Shakur both before and after she became a fugitive. I found it interesting to learn about the very first woman to be added to the FBI's Most Wanted List. I found it difficult not to sympathize with her as I was reading about her life and coming to understand her both as a person and as a fugitive. Her choices might not have always been right, but her life did make for an interesting book.

1 comment:

  1. Books for Books - Thank you so much for your review of my latest nonfiction book, Assata Shakur: A 20th Century Escaped Slave. I appreciate your interest. Writing about Assata was a challenge, and, like you, I found Assata interesting and complex. I wish you and your bloggers all the best.

    Barbara

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