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Stand Up, Struggle Forward: New Afrikan Revolutionary Writings on Nation, Class and Patriarchy
“It was over 20 years ago that the book Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member exploded on the scene and gave us all a front row seat to explore the genocidal brutality of the neo-colonial world of gangbanging. A world that exists at the expense of New Afrikan communities and New Afrikan youth in particular, through our social savage way of attempting to gain power through AK’s, bats and beat downs ... it was in the belly of the beast (prison) that ‘Monster’ underwent a revolutionary transformation, dissecting and re-building himself from the inside out, slaying the colonial thug ‘Monster’ and emerging through a re-birth as ‘Sanyika Shakur,’ a New Afrikan Revolutionary Nationalist.” -- from the Foreword by Yusef “Bunchy” Shakur
This collection of writings by Sanyika Shakur, formerly known as Monster Kody Scott, includes several essays written from within the infamous Pelican Bay Security Housing Unit in the period around the historic 2011 California prisoners’ hunger strike, as well as two interviews conducted just before and after his release in Black August 2012.
Shakur rejects the easy answers and false solutions of the neocolonial age - integration and racism, the colonial-criminal mentality and subservience to imperialism - as the “oppo-sames” that they are. Firmly rooted in the New Afrikan Communist tradition, he skillfully uses the tools of dialectical materialism to lay bare the deeper connections between racism, sexism, and homophobia and how these mental diseases relate to the ongoing capitalist (neo-)colonial catastrophe we remain trapped within.
Defending the legacy of New Afrikans’ historic struggle for Land, Independence, and Socialism, Shakur spells out a uniquely liberatory Revolutionary Nationalist vision. Annihilating the “amerikan” mental fog that has new generations continuing to self-defeat rather than coming together against the real enemy, Stand Up, Struggle Forward serves as a battle cry against all forms of oppression.
Stand Up, Struggle Forward also contains a valuable account of political repression in the California prison system, including several of the intelligence memoranda they were used to condemn Shakur to years of solitary confinement in Pelican Bay. These internal prison documents clearly show that this prolonged solitary confinement was a direct result of Shakur’s continuing promotion of New Afrikan Revolutionary Nationalist politics. As such, they provide a clear example of the way in which solitary confinement continues to be used as a tool of political repression against thousands of prisoners in California today.
This collection of writings by Sanyika Shakur, formerly known as Monster Kody Scott, includes several essays written from within the infamous Pelican Bay Security Housing Unit in the period around the historic 2011 California prisoners’ hunger strike, as well as two interviews conducted just before and after his release in Black August 2012.
Shakur rejects the easy answers and false solutions of the neocolonial age - integration and racism, the colonial-criminal mentality and subservience to imperialism - as the “oppo-sames” that they are. Firmly rooted in the New Afrikan Communist tradition, he skillfully uses the tools of dialectical materialism to lay bare the deeper connections between racism, sexism, and homophobia and how these mental diseases relate to the ongoing capitalist (neo-)colonial catastrophe we remain trapped within.
Defending the legacy of New Afrikans’ historic struggle for Land, Independence, and Socialism, Shakur spells out a uniquely liberatory Revolutionary Nationalist vision. Annihilating the “amerikan” mental fog that has new generations continuing to self-defeat rather than coming together against the real enemy, Stand Up, Struggle Forward serves as a battle cry against all forms of oppression.
Stand Up, Struggle Forward also contains a valuable account of political repression in the California prison system, including several of the intelligence memoranda they were used to condemn Shakur to years of solitary confinement in Pelican Bay. These internal prison documents clearly show that this prolonged solitary confinement was a direct result of Shakur’s continuing promotion of New Afrikan Revolutionary Nationalist politics. As such, they provide a clear example of the way in which solitary confinement continues to be used as a tool of political repression against thousands of prisoners in California today.
226 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 1, 2013
8 people are currently reading
342 people want to read
About the author
Sanyika Shakur
5 books46 followersSanyika Shakur (born Kody Scott), also known by his former street moniker Monster, was a former member of the Los Angeles gang the Eight-Tray Gangster Crips. He got his nickname as a 13-year-old gang member when he beat and stomped a robbery victim into a coma. Shakur claimed to have reformed in prison, joined the Republic of New Afrika movement, and wrote an acclaimed autobiography called Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member, which was first published in 1993.
Shakur spent 36 months at San Quentin State Prison and five years at Pelican Bay State Prison, most of which was spent in solitary confinement, where he converted to Islam, but it is not known if the form he practices is traditional Islam or Faradian Islam.
In May 2008 Shakur pleaded no contest to carjacking and robbery charges, and was sentenced to six years in state prison. Also in 2008, Shakur made his fiction debut with the publication of T.H.U.G. L.I.F.E. (Grove Atlantic Books) In the book, Shakur claims his mother told him his father was former NFL running back Dick Bass.
On July 10, 2017, Shakur was sent back to prison for an assault conviction out of San Diego County. He was incarcerated at Centinela State Prison in Imperial, California and was later released on parole.
On June 6, 2021, Shakur was found deceased in a tent in a homeless encampment in Oceanside, California.
Shakur spent 36 months at San Quentin State Prison and five years at Pelican Bay State Prison, most of which was spent in solitary confinement, where he converted to Islam, but it is not known if the form he practices is traditional Islam or Faradian Islam.
In May 2008 Shakur pleaded no contest to carjacking and robbery charges, and was sentenced to six years in state prison. Also in 2008, Shakur made his fiction debut with the publication of T.H.U.G. L.I.F.E. (Grove Atlantic Books) In the book, Shakur claims his mother told him his father was former NFL running back Dick Bass.
On July 10, 2017, Shakur was sent back to prison for an assault conviction out of San Diego County. He was incarcerated at Centinela State Prison in Imperial, California and was later released on parole.
On June 6, 2021, Shakur was found deceased in a tent in a homeless encampment in Oceanside, California.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 20, 2024
Through criticism, Shakur provides a great into to the New Afrikan Independence Movement. Sanyika’s seriousness and analysis moved me deeply, may he rest in power.
December 25, 2021
Great read. Very good way to learn more about the New Afrikan Independence Movement.
December 28, 2023
one of the best books i’ve read maybe ever. will definitely be rereading and rereading in the months to come
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews