Assata Shakur

Assata Shakur (born Joanne Deborah Byron Chesimard July 16, 1947 in New York City) was an activist in the Black Panther Party. Shakur grew up in New York City and attended Manhattan Community College and CCNY, where she was involved in many struggles. Granted political asylum in Cuba (where she presently lives), Assata Shakur remains fugitive in New Jersey and the United States for the slayings of fellow activist Zayd Shakur and New Jersey State Police officer Werner Foerster.

Related Topics:
July 16 - 1947 - New York City - Activist - Black Panther Party - Cuba - Fugitive - New Jersey - United States - Zayd Shakur - Officer - Werner Foerster

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On May 2, 1973, Shakur, at the time a member of Black Liberation Army and no longer a member of the Black Panther Party, was stopped on the New Jersey State Turnpike by State Troopers James Harper and Werner Foerster, along with two Black Panthers: Zayd Shakur and Sundiata Acoli, for driving with a broken taillight. According to police records, Assata opened fire on the troopers, and a gunfight ensued, during which Zayd Shakur and Trooper Foerster were killed, Assata Shakur and Trooper Harper injured. Assata is said to have taken the service weapon of the then wounded Trooper Foerster, and shot him twice in the head.

Related Topics:
May 2 - 1973 - Black Liberation Army - Sundiata Acoli

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The three then got back into their car and escaped. Eight miles away, Sundiata abandoned the car holding the wounded Assata and the dead Zayd to flee into the woods, and was captured after a manhunt the following day.

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Over the next two-and-a-half years Assata Shakur was incarcerated while tried in six different criminal trials. Shakur alleges that she was beaten and tortured during her incarceration in a number of different federal and state prisons. The charges ranged from kidnapping to assault and battery to bank robbery.

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Shakur was found guilty of the murder of both Foerster and her companion Zayd Shakur, for her involvement at the gun battle, despite physical evidence that she could not have fired a weapon during the incident (Felony murder). In 1979 she escaped a maximum-security prison in Hunterdon County and lived as a fugitive until 1984 when she fled to Cuba where she was granted political asylum. In 1998, the United States Congress unanimously passed a resolution asking Cuba for the extradition of JoAnne Chesimard. Many members of the Congressional Black Caucus later explained that they were against her extradition, but they had not recognized her name when the bill was proposed.

Related Topics:
Murder - 1979 - 1984 - Cuba - Political asylum - 1998 - Congressional Black Caucus

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The National Conference of Black Lawyers and Mos Def are among the professional organizations and politically conscious entertainers to support Assata Shakur. There are also anarchist and socialist movements that support her, as well as many leftists, evidenced by the t-shirt "Hands Off Assata."

Related Topics:
National Conference of Black Lawyers - Mos Def - Anarchist - Socialist - Leftists

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Her book, Assata: An Autobiography, was written in Cuba, where she still resides in exile.

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On May 2, 2005, her name was added to the FBI's Domestic Terrorist List with a $1 million reward for assistance in her capture. Some activists assert that this is an application of newly revised terrorist laws against a non-terrorist.

Related Topics:
May 2 - 2005

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Assata has one daughter and is also the godmother of the late rap artist Tupac Shakur.

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