Assata Shakur, Black Liberation Activist and ‘Most Wanted Terrorist’, Dies in Cuba After Escaping U.S. Prison Sentence for Police Officer’s Killing

Assata Shakur, a prominent figure in the Black liberation movement, passed away on Thursday at the age of 78 in Havana, Cuba. The news was confirmed by her daughter Kakuya Shakur via a Facebook post and by the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Born Joanne Deborah Chesimard, Shakur was serving a life sentence for the killing of a police officer when she escaped from a US prison in 1979. She was later granted political asylum in Cuba.

A member of both the Black Panther Party and Black Liberation Army, Shakur’s case became symbolic of the complex relationship between the US and Cuba, with American authorities repeatedly demanding her return from the communist nation.

The FBI had listed Shakur as a most wanted terrorist, but her supporters maintained she was pursued for crimes she did not commit or were justified. The incident that led to her imprisonment occurred on May 2, 1973, when a traffic stop of a car she was in turned violent, resulting in the death of one New Jersey State Police trooper and injuries to another.

Shakur was eventually apprehended, tried, and sentenced to life in prison for murder, armed robbery, and other crimes. However, many charges against her were later dismissed or resulted in acquittal. In November 1979, she managed to escape from prison with the help of members of the Black Liberation Army.

She eventually surfaced in Cuba, where Fidel Castro granted her asylum. Cuba’s decision to provide Shakur safe harbor was a significant alignment with what it describes as revolutionary forces struggling against capitalist oppression. The Cuban government saw the US’s armed Black liberation movement as part of a global revolutionary struggle.

In response to Shakur’s death, New Jersey officials expressed regret that justice was not served in the death of the trooper she is accused of killing. However, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and State Police Superintendent Patrick Callahan vowed to oppose any attempt to repatriate her remains to the US.

Shakur’s influence extended beyond the political realm, with her writings becoming a rallying cry during the Black Lives Matter movement, although opponents criticized her words as being influenced by Marxist and communist ideology. Her autobiography, “Assata: An Autobiography,” published in 1988, continues to be influential.

Shakur’s influence also reached the music world, with the family of late rapper Tupac Shakur regarding her as a godmother. Public Enemy, a political hip-hop group and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees, were among the first major artists to reference Shakur in their music. Rapper Common told her story in his 2000 song “A Song for Assata.”