On a Path to Liberation
Dog-eared pages, sharpened questions, and the subtle arc of the left
Dear Reader,
There are many points throughout my life that have radicalized me. Sometimes these come through direct experience — the weight of the world pressing in, watching loved ones face struggle, being a student of liberation work. But most often, it has been books.
Yesterday, hearing of the passing of Assata Shakur, I pulled her autobiography from my shelf and turned to the dog-eared pages. I sat with her poems, her words. I felt the strange blessing that her death came in freedom, not captivity — and the reminder that freedom was something she worked toward in every moment and in every word of the book.
One passage came back to me immediately:
“As far as I can tell, you have the extreme right, who are fascist, racist, capitalist dogs like Ronald Reagan, who come right out and let you know where they’re coming from. And on the opposite end, you have the left, who are supposed to be committed to justice, equality, and human rights. And somewhere between those two points is the liberal. As far as I’m concerned, ‘liberal’ is the most meaningless word in the dictionary.”
Over the years, I have carried this distinction with me. It is easy — comfortable, even — to fall into the middle, to call yourself “liberal” and feel that is enough. But Assata and the movements she was part of — The Black Panthers, The Black Liberation Army, and comrades like The Weather Underground and The Young Lords — demanded something sharper. Something riskier. They showed that the middle is not neutral. The middle upholds the state. The middle whitewashes radical Black struggle into something palatable for white comfort.
As a white person, I have to keep asking: where do I stand? Who do I align with? What am I willing to risk? I can’t claim the legacy of Assata, but I can be shaped by it. I can read her words and let them unsettle me, call me further left, remind me that “justice, equality, and human rights” are not abstractions — they require action, solidarity, refusal.
Throughout Assata’s autobiography I also made note of her own allies, and how to replicate the support they gave her. She makes a distinction between two white fellow political prisoners, Rita Brown and Jane Alpert - citing Rita’s dedication to “not separating the oppression of women from the racism and classism of u.s.society”. And Jane who she “couldn’t stand personally or politically”. Rita was a feminist and a lesbian, and Assata goes on to say “I respected Rita because she really practiced the sisterhood, and wasn’t just one of those big mouths who go on and on about men”
I underline these moments — how Assata respected Rita’s feminism because it was lived, not performed. And how she dismissed Jane, who spoke but did not practice solidarity. These notes remind me to ask: who am I in community with? Who am I willing to be accountable to?
To honor Assata is to refuse liberalism’s safe distance.
To honor her is to remember that her exile was a survival strategy against a government that criminalized Black resistance.
To honor her is to keep showing up — not for comfort, not for credit, but for the ongoing work of dismantling what kills and creating what lets us live.
There is a subtle arc to this work, this work of resistance. It is not quick, but long living. It is not sharp, but steady. It requires us to get it wrong so we can get it right. It requires imperfection as a starting point.
Paying Attention To
Quilt Raffle for Trans Rights from Public Library Quilts - always so inspired by the way Dr. Jess Bailey shows up to this work
U.P. Dream Days: A guide to Michigan's Upper Peninsula
An insider’s guide to the backwoods watering holes, secluded swimming spots, + uncrowded trails that make the U.P. "someplace special” - an amazing book about one of the best places on Earth! Consider pre-ordering by supporting the Kickstarter
Reading : Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin
A new episode of Common Shapes on planning a season of business - which just celebrated 100k downloads
YOU ARE INVITED : Apply to be a part of The Practice of Attention Field Team - be a part of a cool group, get an early Advance Copy of the book, and so much more
Assata Shakur, In Her Own Words (1998)
Twenty Things : by Fariha Róisín (Become a paid subscriber, you won’t regret it)
The Creative Dilemma by James Baldwin (a short essay pdf)
I made The Mapping Your Creative Business Template available for $33 - enjoy - Here is a loom video that walks through it when I was promoting the class of the same name
This weekend October 4 12-3EST I am teaching The Long Arc : Building consistency in your practice overtime so that giving up doesn’t feel so bad and you can finally finish that project that has been haunting you
What I am most excited about is the six week plan we’ll make together for any project you are ready to weave in a repertoire of practice, of getting to the finish line of a project, of finally feeling momentum.
I hope you’ll consider joining me for class - $55 over three hours with lifetime access if you can’t make it live!
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Are.na
Email : info@codycookparrott.com
Website : https://www.codycookparrott.com