Summary
Assata Shakur, a black liberation activist involved with the Black Liberation Army, died at age 78 in Cuba. She had lived in exile there for decades after escaping a U.S. prison, where she was serving a life sentence for murder. Shakur had always maintained her innocence, and Cuba granted her asylum in 1984.
Key Facts
- Assata Shakur was an activist with the Black Liberation Army exiled in Cuba for over 40 years.
- She was born JoAnne Deborah Byron in New York City in 1947.
- Shakur was involved in a 1973 shootout in New Jersey that resulted in the deaths of a state trooper and a fellow activist.
- She was convicted and sentenced to life in prison but escaped in 1979.
- Shakur reappeared in Cuba in 1984, where former president Fidel Castro granted her asylum.
- She was the first woman on the FBI's Most Wanted Terrorists list.
- The U.S. and New Jersey offered $1 million rewards for information leading to her capture.
- Shakur became a cultural figure, referenced in songs by artists like Public Enemy and Common.
