Oppressed people have to resort to violence as they have no political voice and lack a platform to expose their reality, as the media is controlled by the wealthiest 1% of society.

In The Wretched of the Earth, Fanon clearly delineates the methods for decolonization, and ultimately for escaping oppression, while Shakur seems to contemplate several strategies to revolutionize the minority masses in her autobiography. Assata’s views toward achieving equality become more action-oriented throughout her autobiography as the oppressive social climate remained static throughout her life. Initially, Assata believed that, by appealing to the consciences of the white population, the social structure could be improved by the integration of whites and people of color. However, as she gained further education and more exposure to police brutality, her viewpoints align more with Fanon’s as she states that “nobody in history has ever gotten their freedom by appealing to the moral sense of the people who were oppressing them”. In saying this, Shakur emphasizes that one cannot appeal to the conscience of people who have no moral sense of the hardships that minorities face.

The capitalistic systems in the US and in Algeria are both fundamentally violent. The oppression of blacks in the United States originated from the implementation of slavery to defend the financial interests of whites by providing free labor. In Algeria, this oppression began as a result of its violent exploitation by France in order to strengthen its economic system. Both Fanon and Shakur emphasize that compromise is not a viable strategy to eliminate a historically violent social system, however, Shakur does not explicitly support the use of violence as a political solution. In her book, Shakur introduces the issue of African liberation to parallel the struggle that blacks face in the United States. Shakur believes that African liberation did not revolve around race. She states that “even if they managed to get rid of white colonialists, if they didn’t rid themselves of the capitalistic economic structure, the white colonialists would simply be replaced by black neocolonialists”. Fanon believes that the only solution to this capitalistic dilemma is the use of violence to establish a clean slate, or “tabula rasa,” thereby eliminating the entire oppressive system.

In their works, both authors contemplate the means toward igniting a revolution. Like decolonization in Algeria, the fight for freedom from oppression is a battle with the national power structure. Revolutionary war is a war of the people and requires support from the masses in order to establish a united front against a common enemy. Both Fanon and Shakur would agree that the main obstacle that both the native Algerians and African Americans face is the development of a national consciousness. However, Shakur believes that “an armed struggle alone can never bring about revolution” while Fanon believes that violence unifies the people and creates a national identity. Fanon’s beliefs better align with the views of many members of the Black Panther Party. 
