Assata Shakur

Assata Olugbala Shakur (born JoAnne Deborah Byron; July 16, 1947 – September 25, 2025) 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. Shakur was the step-aunt of Tupac Shakur, a rapper who was assassinated in 1996.

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".Shakur, Assata. Assata - an autobiography. London: Zed, 2014. Print.

Assata is a West African name from the Arabic name Aisha, which means "she who struggles." Olugbala is from Yoruba and means "savior." As early as 1973, Shakur referred to Joanne Chesimard as her "slave name". 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.

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".

Death
Shakur died in Havana, Cuba on September 25, 2025, following health problems, at the age of 78.

 Related pages 

 FBI
 Tupac Shakur
 List of feminists

Notes

 References 

Category:1947 births
Category:2025 deaths
Category:African-American people
Category:American communists
Category:American murderers
Category:American people convicted of assault
Category:American robbers
Category:Criminals from New York City
Category:People from North Carolina
Category:People from Queens
Category:Shakur family