Assata Shakur, Black Revolutionary and 2Pac’s Godmother, Dies at 78
NEW YORK – Assata Shakur, a prominent figure in the Black liberation movement and godmother to the late rapper Tupac Shakur, has died in Cuba at the age of 78, her daughter announced Monday. ”At approximately 1:15 PM on September 25th, my mother, Assata Shakur, took her last earthly breath,” she wrote in a Facebook post. “Words cannot describe the depth of loss that I am feeling at this time.”
born JoAnne Deborah Byron in 1947 to an accountant father and schoolteacher mother, Shakur spent her childhood between Queens, New York, and her grandparents’ home in North Carolina, then still under Jim Crow laws. She dropped out of high school at 17, but continued her education through night classes and eventually attended the City College of New York, where she met and married Louis Chesimard. Their marriage lasted a year, according to The New York Times, but Shakur retained Chesimard’s surname.
At City College,Shakur joined the Golden Drums society,a black activist organization,and later the Black Panther Party. Disliking what she perceived as the Panthers’ macho culture, she joined the Black Liberation Army (BLA), a Marxist-Leninist offshoot, in 1971. That same year, she adopted the name Assata Olugbala Shakur. In her 1988 autobiography, she explained that “assata” means “she who struggles,” “Olugbala” means “Love for the people,” and “Shakur” means “the thankful.”
Between 1971 and 1973, Shakur faced ten indictments on charges including murder, aggravated assault, and armed robbery, with onyl one resulting in a conviction. On May 2, 1973, Shakur and fellow BLA members Sundiata Acoli and James Costan were stopped by New Jersey state troopers for a broken taillight. A gunfight ensued, resulting in the deaths of officer Werner Foerster and Costan, and injuries to another officer.
Shakur maintained her innocence,stating she had her arms raised when she was shot. medical examiners corroborated this account.Though,under New Jersey law,she was deemed equally responsible for foerster’s death. In 1977, Shakur was found guilty of first-degree murder and assault and sentenced to life in prison plus 33 years.
In 1979, members of the BLA orchestrated a jailbreak at the Clinton Correctional Facility for Women, commandeering a prison van and freeing Shakur while taking two guards hostage. She later disappeared and resurfaced in Cuba in 1984, having been granted political asylum by President Fidel Castro. She remained on the FBI’s “Most Wanted Terrorists” list with a $2 million bounty on her head until her death. In 2017, then-President Donald J. trump demanded her return to the United States.
Beyond her activism, Shakur was known as a mentor and godmother to Tupac shakur, whose mother, Afeni Shakur, was a member of the Black Panther Party and a close friend. Her life and legacy remain a subject of intense debate and continue to inspire activists and scholars alike.
