How to make your family members read the autobiography of Assata Shakur

Wednesday Delight

So you’ve given your family members a copy of the autobiography of Assata Shakur for their birthdays and they keep saying they’ll get to it. The following are different strategies to get them to read it because this book is a must read.

Tell them you finally finished writing your first book and you’d like them to read it. Send them the PDF version of Assata’s autobiography. This only works if you have a proven track record of writing something longer than a tweet.

Memorize the whole book and drop random quotes during every interaction. When your brother says, pass the mac and cheese, you can say, yes and “As far as I was concerned, the police in the Black communities are nothing but a foreign, occupying army.” It will surprise him, but at least he has now read one sentence of the book.

When your dad asks you to play music that you kids are listening to these days, play the audio book.

Send random quotes from the book in your family group chat.

Send your family emails of where you have typed excerpts of the book with your important life updates mixed in. Parents will read this because they want to know what’s happening in your life.