It is our duty to win. We must love each other and support each other. We have nothing to lose but our chains. Assata’s words were important in 1973, and they continue to be relevant for Black communities across the nation. It makes sense that Assata's words have become a go-to chant for Black activists. She wrote them during a time of great crisis. They were born of pain, yet they were filled with the integrity of one who refused to let her deadly adversaries gain victory over her resilient spirit. When we recite Assata's words, we acknowledge our own traumas and signal our determined perseverance. The chant captures this perfectly. The BAMN staff highly recommend that everyone read the entire letter and then read her 10 autobiography. Understanding the full magnitude of those four powerful lines that we now chant will help clarify the legacy that we have the honor to carry on.
Photo Credit - blackyouthproject.com
Even as Assata lives on through our work, she also lives free in Cuba because a unit of the Black Liberation Army removed her from prison on November 2, 1979. The daring action occurred just three days prior to a Black Solidarity Day demonstration at the United Nations, which was organized by the founders-to-be of the New Afrikan People's Organization and Malcolm X Grassroots Movement. Under the banner of the National Black Human Rights Coalition, the event brought over 5,000 people to the United Nations where they charged the United States with genocide for centuries of human rights abuses. Coalition chair and Afrikan People's Party member Muntu Matsimela announced Assata's liberation to the unknowing audience before reading a message that she had already prepared for the 10
Assata Shakur, Assata: An Autobiography (Chicago: Lawrence-Hill Books, 1988)