Freedom fighter Assata Olugbala Shakur (JoAnne Chesimard) died this past Thursday afternoon, Sept. 25, in Havana, Cuba, where she spent the last four decades of her life in exile. She was 78. The Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement in Spanish announcing Shakur’s death from illness and advanced age.
Her daughter, Kakuya Shakur, confirmed the news on Facebook.
“Words cannot describe the depth of loss that I am feeling at this time,” Kakuya wrote. “I want to thank you for your loving prayers that continue to anchor me in the strength that I need in this movement. My spirit is overflowing in unison with all of you who are grieving with me at this time.
Born in Queens on July 16, 1947, Shakur is remembered as an ex-political prisoner who participated in struggles ranging from the Black Liberation Army (BLA) and the Black Panthers to Manhattan Community College and City College campus groups like the Golden Drums.
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A perennial target in United States efforts to dismantle Black Nationalist Movements, she spent six years behind bars — despite countless calls for her innocence and conflicting medical evidence — before her BLA comrades sprung her from a New Jersey prison. Despite FBI manhunts, massive bounties, and numerous Black Panther site raids, Shakur evaded authorities and resurfaced in Cuba in 1984, where Pres. Fidel Castro offered her political asylum.
In 1998, the Amsterdam News published an open letter by Shakur to the media with her side of the story regarding the deadly New Jersey Turnpike shooting which she had been convicted (after a mistrial) for after New Jersey State Troopers stopped her and two comrades. The encounter left fellow revolutionary Zayd Malik Shakur and state trooper Werner Foerster dead. She was charged alongside Sundiata Acoli, who was also in the car.
“Neither [Sundiata] Acoli nor I ever received a fair trial,” she wrote. “We were both convicted in the news media way before our trials. No news media were ever permitted to interview us, although the New Jersey police and the FBI fed stories to the press daily. In 1977, I was convicted by an all-white jury and sentenced to life plus 33 years in prison.”
Before Shakur’s conviction, authorities threw several other criminal cases at her, which ended in dismissals or acquittals. Malcolm X Grassroots Movement organizer Jomo Muhammad called her as a beacon of hope for New Afrikan movements. But he says it’s important to remember her also as a person and hopes more people will come forward to share stories about her now that concerns for attempts to lure her back to the United States are over.
Assata Shakur: An open letter to the media (1998)
My name is Assata Shakur, and I am a 20th century escaped slave. Because of government persecution, I was left with no other choice than to flee from the political repression, racism and violence that dominate the U.S. government’s policy toward people of color.
“It’s important to always remember that Assata was a parent, an auntie and a human being,” said Muhammad. “And a human being that loved people, that loved her people — that she was willing to make sacrifices for her people and their desire to be free. She’s been categorized as the soul of the BLA but I think she was a little bit bigger than that: she was really a soul of a movement.
“She is one of the most recognized political prisoners and political exiles, and so she continued, even in her exile in Cuba, to be a force here inside the United States, in helping to keep alive our fight to bring home our captured freedom fighters and to create the conditions for Assata to come home, if that’s what she had chose.”
Recently, the state released several of her political prisoner peers due to elder parole and compassionate release mechanisms. In 2022, the AmNews reported Acoli’s release from prison 29 years after he became parole eligible. Her close confidant and stepfather to her godson (the icon Tupac Shakur), Mulutu Shakur, faced a conviction stemming charges including orchestrating her escape and was also released as an elder in 2023 shortly before his passing. Sekou Odinga, a New Afrikan organizer who also aided Shakur’s escape, was released from prison in 2014 and died last year.
I’m glad she made it safely to the ancestors.
Sister Shakur will be missed. I feel like I have always known her as a kindred spirit. I read her book in college. Unable to put it down, her struggle, her words helped me understand how complex and complicated our struggle is. She was larger than life in my mind. Knowing that President Castro understood snapped a desire in me to put this struggle inside of a world view.
My thoughts at that time. “Where to go from here? “ pushed me to law school.
After finishing law school I had the pleasure of meeting the family and found them to be some of the most humble souls I have ever met. I can only imagine the deep loss for such a heroic icon.
As fate had it, I would later have an opportunity to travel to Cuba, a country that has endured systematic oppression and welcomed her and me with open arms.
On the trip I had conversations with her long time lawyer and asked every question about the legal case and experience in the US and Cuba that could not go into the book. I learned things I can never unsee. Life and my world view could never be the same because of her life.
My deepest condolences to the family and all who loved Sister Shakur. RIP. You cannot ever be forgotten. Your legacy, light and life were and will always be a beacon of hope. I know that you are part of our cloud of witnesses.
As the struggle continues we know that we can survive and thrive through the path you have shown. Thank you. Ase.
Maybe she is not dead; maybe the story of her death was designed to throw off law enforcement who were unashamed to say over the years that they were still looking to arrest her.
I personally put sister Shakur in high ranks along with sister Angela Davis. She won the race and did justice for her people and ancestors. May she rest in peace with love and dignity. God bless
Hi!! My deep condolences Ms Skakur!;;/Rest in peace!! Dear sister!! Bythe way,are you the mom of your son who was shot and killed because he rapped and sang??? In the music scenes .it’s about jealousy etc!!!!
Condolences to the Shakur Family….Rest In Peace….much love and respect to the Shakur Family all Family member be well be safe 🙏!!
I HOPE the Amsterdam News puts this story on the front page.
This is an important story esp for those of us in the NY/NJ AREA of the country
Assata Shakur was a witness to the world that Black people and all people deserve to live free and not be subjected to cruel policies of racism and bigotry. She made the ultimate sacrifice by living her life away from her family and life in order to continue the struggle.
More people especially young people need to study and learn about Sister Shakur. May the peace and love of our Lord and Savior be with her in heaven and with her family here on earth.
Power to the people.
Peace.
Thanks for the story and history. Long live Black institutions like the New York Amsterdam News and those who labor and sacrifice to keep them alive and relevant for our posterity!