Assata Shakur
Assata Olugbala Shakur (born JoAnne Deborah Byron; July 16, 1947 – September 25, 2025)[2] was an African-American activist. She was a member of the Black Panther Party and the Black Liberation Army. She was put into prison, but in 1984 she managed to escape. She lived in Havana, Cuba, as a fugitive. She was the first woman to be put on the FBI's Most Wanted Terrorists list.[verification needed] Shakur was the step-aunt of Tupac Shakur, a rapper who was assassinated in 1996.
| Assata Shakur | |
|---|---|
 Photograph taken in 1977 | |
| Born | JoAnne Deborah Byron July 16, 1947[a] New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Died | September 25, 2025 (aged 78) Havana, Cuba |
| Allegiance | Black Liberation Army (1970/1–1981) Black Panther Party (1970) |
| Conviction(s) |
|
| Penalty | Life sentence |
| Escape | November 2, 1979 |
| Spouse | Louis Chesimard
(m. 1967; div. 1970) |
| Children | 1 (Kakuya Shakur) |
Early life
Shakur was born in Jamaica, Queens, New York City. She lived there for three years. She then moved to North Carolina with her grandparents. Shakur was arrested for the first time in 1967 for trespassing during a protest.
Activism
In 1971, Shakur joined the Republic of New Afrika and the Black Liberation Army. She chose the name Assata Olugbala Shakur because she felt that her English name was a "slave name." She wrote in her book, "It sounded so strange when people called me Joanne. It really had nothing to do with me. I didn’t feel like no Joanne, or no negro, or no amerikan. I felt like an African woman".[3]
Assata is a West African name from the Arabic name Aisha, which means "she who struggles." Olugbala is from Yoruba and means "savior."[4] Shakur means "thankful one" in Arabic.
Arrests and trials
On April 6, 1971, Shakur was shot in the stomach. She was charged with attempted robbery, felonious assault, reckless endangerment, and possession of a deadly weapon, then released on bail. Between 1973 and 1977 Shakur was charged with two bank robberies, the kidnapping of a Brooklyn heroin dealer, and attempted murder of two Queens police officers. She was put in prison in 1973. On November 2, 1979 she escaped the Clinton Correctional Facility for Women in New Jersey.
1st wanted poster Assata Shakur
2nd wanted poster for Assata Shakur
Joanne Chesimard aka Assata Shakur 3rd wanted poster 2 may 2013 40th annivesary of murder of NJSP Officer Werner Foerster]]
Political asylum in Cuba
In 1984, the Cuban government granted political asylum to Shakur. Her daughter Kakuya came to live with her in 1985.
Shakur wrote in a letter that Cuba was "one of the largest, most resistant and most courageous Palenques (Maroon Camps) that has ever existed on the face of this planet".[5]
Death
Shakur died in Havana, Cuba on September 25, 2025, following health problems, at the age of 78.[6]
Assata Shakur Media
New York City Police Department mugshot of Shakur, April 1971
Police stand next to the patrol car that was destroyed by a hand grenade attack on December 20, 1971.
Shakur's murder trial for the Turnpike shootout took place in New Brunswick, Middlesex County, New Jersey, not far from the East Brunswick site of the gunfight.
William Kunstler, the chief of Shakur's defense staff.
Shakur's broken clavicle was a key element of her defense, and the implications of her injury for the differing accounts of the shootout were points of contention.
Shakur was kept in solitary confinement on Rikers Island for 21 months.
Related pages
Notes
- ↑ The Federal Bureau of Investigation says that Shakur also said that 19, 1952 was her birthdate.[1]
References
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- ↑ "Most Wanted Terrorists". Federal Bureau of Investigation. Archived from the original on June 11, 2008. Retrieved July 16, 2021.
- ↑ "FBI - Wanted:Assata Shakur". FBI. Retrieved February 24, 2013.
- ↑ Shakur, Assata. Assata - an autobiography. London: Zed, 2014. Print.
- ↑ Van Deburg; William L. (1997). Modern Black Nationalism: From Marcus Garvey to Louis Farrakhan. NYU Press. p. 269. ISBN 0-8147-8789-4. As early as 1973, Shakur referred to Joanne Chesimard as her "slave name".
- ↑ "An open letter from Assata Shakur: 'I am a 20th century escaped slave'". Worker's World. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
- ↑ "Nota de Prensa del Ministerio Relaciones Exteriores". Ministry of Foreign Affairs (in español). September 26, 2025. Retrieved September 26, 2025.