2. •
In the last few chapters of the book , Assata critiques the Black
Liberation Army in their lack of group wide coordination and
leadership; too many people were full of differing ideologies, political
consciousness, and ideas. She points out how the media portrayed
the BLA as “monsters and terrorists” due to the lack of political
mobilization. She details how one of her lawyers, Stanley Cohen,
mysteriously died in his home with all of the legal paperwork
regarding Assata's case being confiscated by the NYPD. In 1978,
Assata was Alderson Prison where she was held until its closure. She
escaped to Cuba and continues to live there as a political refugee.
Chapter 17 to Postscript
3. •
What do you believe is the central theme for this book and why is
Assata telling her story so important?
Questions on Assata
4. Coupling Assata Shakur’s autobiography with Chapter 14 of Global Lockdown,
“Nigerian Women in Prison”, what patterns or trends are we beginning to see
with the prison-industrial complex and how it is functioning on a global scale?
Global Lockdown, Chapter 14
5. Agozino notes, “that what is considered “criminal” is situational and culturally
specific” and also points out that “when people complain that Nigerian criminals
are allowed to roam the streets, they more often mean the criminals in the
corridors of power who cannot be touched, whereas many of the prisoners
happen to be innocent poor people who lack the resources with which to bribe or
influence their way out of the prison preindustrial complex” (186-187).
How do we identify what is considered to be “criminal” here in the United States
and in what ways, if any, have the constructions of criminality in the United States
been used to mask and/or protect corruption or individuals in power?
Global Lockdown, Chapter 14
6. Linda Evans describes the prison system as an “expansion that has not
made women in poor urban communities any safer…incarceration,
racism, and poverty generate a mutually reinforcing cycle of violence
and social disintegration” (p. 219).
Considering this statement, if money were allocated, what social
programs outside of the prison-industrial complex would be beneficial to
helping stop this cycle? Inside the prison-industrial complex?
Global Lockdown, Chapter 16
7. Evans explains how government surveillance has increased on many
levels since 9/11 (p. 220-221).
Briefly describe the ways in which surveillance has increased. Does this
make you feel safer, or skeptical about your lack of privacy?
Global Lockdown, Chapter 16
8. “Worldwide resistance to globalization has mandated the political
development of the war against terrorism just as surely as
suppressing revolutionary movements in the United States during the
1960s and 1970s required mass incarceration of people of color to
maintain social control” (p. 225).
If this path continues, what will the prison-industrial complex look like in
15-20 years? Will revolutionary movements prevail, or will further
measures be taken by the government to maintain social control?
Global Lockdown, Chapter 16
9. THANK YOU!
By Brenda Molina, Alexandra Henninger, and Chinue Igwe
WGS 514 , SFSU
Dr. Janelle White
March 11, 2013
