Assata Shakur, a key activist in the Black Liberation Army who had lived in exile in Cuba for forty years, has died in Havana at the age of 78. Known also as Joanne Chesimard, Shakur passed away on Thursday due to unspecified health conditions and “advanced age,” as announced by Cuba’s foreign affairs ministry on Friday.
Shakur was a figure on the FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorists list for many years. She made her escape in 1979 from a New Jersey prison, where she was serving a life sentence for murder convictions related to a shootout that resulted in the deaths of a New Jersey state trooper and a fellow activist. Shakur consistently maintained her innocence and was granted asylum in Cuba in 1984 by former president Fidel Castro.
Born JoAnne Deborah Byron in New York City in July 1947, Shakur was raised between New York and Wilmington, North Carolina. She was also the step-aunt and godmother to the late rapper Tupac Shakur. Her involvement in political activism for Black Americans began during her college years, initially with the Black Panther Party, known for its radical approach to resisting racism and its efforts to provide social services to Black communities. The FBI heavily monitored the Black Panther Party, viewing it as a threat to national security. Shakur later joined the Black Liberation Army, a more radical group composed of former Black Panthers.
In 1973, Shakur and other activists were stopped by New Jersey police, leading to a shootout where State Trooper Werner Foerster and activist Zayd Malik Shakur were killed, and Assata Shakur was injured. She was arrested and tried for Foerster’s death, but she denied firing the fatal shot and asserted that her trial, presided over by an all-white jury, was unfair. In a 1998 interview in Havana, Shakur told NBC News that she fled because she feared for her life and believed she would not receive justice in the United States. Her exile in Cuba represented a significant point of contention between the two nations.
Shakur was the first woman to be included on the FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorists list, with both the FBI and New Jersey offering $1 million rewards for information leading to her capture. Her life and activism have been recognized in popular culture, notably in the 1998 song “Rebel Without a Pause” by Public Enemy and “A Song for Assata” by Common. She is survived by her daughter, Kakuya Shakur, who expressed her profound grief on Facebook, stating, “Words cannot describe the depth of loss that I am feeling at this time.”