Assata: An Autobiography

After high school, Shakur decided she wanted to join the workforce immediately and moved out on her own. She worked in an office for a while and was grateful for the work until she came to understand the reality of her working conditions, which featured “low pay, indecent working conditions, no medical benefits, only one week vacation” (149). She would get into debates with her coworkers, who wanted to talk about the anti-racist uprisings taking place across the nation. While her coworkers passed judgement on “those people” (149), Shakur believed that the “rioters” had just cause for their actions. When she vocalized her dissenting opinion, she was eventually fired.

Shakur also came to learn about the Vietnam War and became increasingly critical of US military efforts abroad. She was challenged in her nascent perspectives about the war by fellow Black students she met at Manhattan Community College, who encouraged her to question US actions in Vietnam. Shakur began to read about the Vietnam War and the history of French colonialism in Vietnam. She became more critical of the US government after that.

While Shakur grew politically through her interactions with the African students, she also differed from them due to her working-class position.