Assata: An Autobiography

On May 2, 1973, Assata Shakur was driving down the New Jersey Turnpike with fellow members of the Black Liberation Army, Sundiata Acoli and Zayd Malik Shakur, when New Jersey state troopers apprehended them. A shootout ensued, which led to multiple deaths.

The first chapter opens with Assata’s memory of being wounded on the New Jersey Turnpike after the shootout. She heard one of the cops on the scene share that they “oughta finish her off” (3), but before they could enact further violence towards her, they became consumed with searching her car. Assata felt her “chest was on fire” and she could not feel her arm (3). An ambulance took Assata to the hospital where she was handcuffed to her bed and interrogated by the police. She was beaten repeatedly and told by the cops, “If you don’t hurry up and start talking, I’m gonna bash your face in for you” (5). Assata tried to relay a message to a nurse to contact her aunt, Evelyn Williams, who was also her lawyer. However, this was to no avail.

The police moved Assata to a private suite to continue torturing her. She learned that Zayd was killed and Sundiata was arrested.