[News] Message to My Sistas by Assata Shakur

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http://www.assatashakur.org/sistas.htm
A Message to My Sistas
by Assata Shakur

At this time I'd like to say a few words especially to my sisters: SISTERS. 
BLACK PEOPLE WILL NEVER BE FREE UNLESS BLACK WOMEN PARTICIPATE IN EVERY 
ASPECT OF OUR STRUGGLE, ON EVERY LEVEL OF OUR STRUGGLE. I think that Black 
women, more than anybody on the face of the earth, recognize the urgency of 
our situation. Because it is We who come face to face daily with the 
institutions of our oppression. And because it is We who have borne the 
major responsibility of raising our children. And it is We who have to deal 
with the welfare systems that do not care about the welfare of our 
children. And it is We who have to deal with the school systems that do not 
educate our children. It is We who have to deal with the racist teachers 
who teach our children to hate themselves. It is We who have seen the 
terrible effects of racism on our children. I JUST WANT TO TAKE A MOMENT 
OUT TO EXPRESS MY LOVE TO ALL OF YOU WHO RISK YOUR LIVES DAILY STRUGGLING 
OUT HERE ON THE FRONT LINES. We who have watched our young grow too old, 
too soon. We who have watched our children come home angry and frustrated 
and seen them grow more bitter, more disillusioned with the passing of each 
day. And We who have seen the sick, trapped look on the faces of our 
children when they come to fully realize what it means to be Black in 
Amerikkka. And we know what deprivation is. How many times have We run out 
of bus fare, rent money, food money and how many times have our children 
gone to school in hand-me-down clothes, with holes in their shoes. We know 
what a hell-hole Amerikkka is. We're afraid to let our children go out and 
play. We're afraid to walk the streets at night. We sisters, We have seen 
our young, the babies that We brought into this world with such great hopes 
for, We have seen their bodies bloated and aching from drugs, scarred and 
deformed by bullet holes. We know what oppression is. We have been abused 
in every way imaginable. We have been abused economically, politically. We 
have been abused physically, and We have been abused sexually. And sisters, 
We have a long and glorious history of struggle on this land/planet. 
Afrikan women were strong and courageous warriors long before We came to 
this country in chains. And here in Amerikkka, our sisters have been on the 
front lines. Sister Harriet Tubman led the underground railroad. And 
sisters like Rosa Parks, Fannie Lou Hammer, Sandra Pratt and our Queen 
Mother Moore have carried it on. Sisters, We have been the backbone of our 
communities, and We have got to be the backbone of our nation. We have got 
to build strong family units, based on love and struggle. We don't have no 
time to play around.

A REVOLUTIONARY WOMAN CAN'T HAVE NO REACTIONARY MAN.

If he's not about liberation, if he's not about struggle, if he ain't about 
building a strong Black nation then he ain't about nothing. We know how to 
struggle. We know how to struggle and finagle to survive. We know what it 
means, sisters, to struggle tooth and nail. We know what it means to 
struggle with love. We know what unity is. We know what sisterhood is. We 
have always been kind to each other, brought each other hot soup and 
biscuits. We have always helped each other through the hard times. Sisters, 
We must celebrate Afrikan womanhood. We don't want to be like Miss Ann. She 
can keep her false eyelashes and her false, despoiled image of womanhood. 
She can keep her mink stole and her French provincial furniture. We will 
define for ourselves what womanhood is. And We will create our own style 
and our own ways of dress. We can't have no white man in France telling 
Afrikan women what to look like. We will create our own New Afrikan way of 
living. We will create our own way of being and living our own New Afrikan 
culture, taking the best of the old and mixing it with the new.

SISTERS WE HAVE GOT TO TAKE CONTROL OF OUR LIVES AND OUR FUTURE WHEREVER WE 
ARE. AND WE HAVE GOT TO ORGANIZE OURSELVES INTO A STRONG BODY OF AFRIKAN WOMEN



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