Assata Shakur

There are a lot of words to describe Assata Shakur. These words include strong, intelligent,
beautiful, determined, compassionate, and giving. She is a Sister who loves her family and escaped
tyranny in order for her to be liberated from oppression. The beauty of her hair, her gorgeous smile,
and her wonderful personality has inspired people throughout the Earth. Assata Shakur is a strong
black woman who gives wisdom for this generation and for future generations too. She is a freedom
fighter who once was involved in the revolutionary, pro-socialist Black Panther Party. She accepted
many socialist philosophies, but she is not dogmatic as we have the right to analyze and question
the diverse philosophies of the world. Therefore, it is important to know about her real story not
the lies that the FBI and others say about her. She's a wonderful, phenomenal woman. I love her
wisdom and I respect her strength. Also, we are in a struggle for liberation ourselves. Black people
and all oppressed people deserve freedom, justice, and equality without exception. Assata
Shakur's legacy is a glorious one and we will continue to fight for justice.
 This picture shows Sister Assata Shakur with her daughter Sister Kakuya.

The Early Years

Sister Assata Shakurs story begins in July 16, 1947. That was the year of her birth. She was named
Joanne Deborah Bryon originally. She was born in Jamaica, Queens New York City. She lived there
for three years with her parents and grandparents, Lula and Frank Hill. Her parents were divorced in
1950. Later, Shakur spent most of her childhood in Wilmington, North Carolina with her
grandmother. In Wilmington, there was massive Jim Crow apartheid there. She lived where her
grandfather grew up in. There were Colored Only and White Only signs there. Yet, her
grandparents taught her about personal dignity and strength. They wanted her to stand up against
racism and oppression. Her family then relocated to Queens when she was a teenager. For a time,
she ran away from home. She lived with strangers until she was taken in by her aunt named Evelyn
Williams. Evelyn later became her lawyer. Assata Shakur dropped out of high school, but she later
earned her GED or General Educational Development via her aunts help. Then, Shakur attended
BMCC or the Borough of Manhattan Community College. Then, she attended the City College of
New York or the CCNY in the mid 1960s. During this stage of her life, she was involved in many
political activities like protests and sit-ins. Assata Shakur was arrested for the first time in 1967 with
100 other BMCC students, on charges of trespassing. The students had chained and locked the
entrance to a college building to protest a curriculum deficient in black studies and a lack of black
faculty.

In April of 1967, she married Louis Chesimard, who was a fellow student activist at CCNY. They were
divorced in December of 1970. Shakur wrote one paragraph in her autobiography to her marriage.
She wrote that the termination of the marriage came about because of disagreements related to
gender roles as sexism was very common back then (and today), even in the black freedom
struggle. She graduated from CCNY at 23. She later joined the Black Panther Party and she was a
leading member of the Harlem branch. Before joining the BPP, Assata Shakur met many of its
members on a 1970 trip to Oakland, California. One of Shakur's main activities with the BPP was
coordinating a school breakfast program. However, she soon left the Party, charging macho
behavior of males in these organizations. Other female Panthers like Regina Jennings left the
organization over sexual harassment. Shakurs main critique of the BPP was that she felt that it
didnt focus enough on black history. She changed her name to Assata Shakur. She joined the BLA or
the Black Liberation Army. The BLA wanted to fight for the independence and self-determination of
African people in America. In 1971, she joined the Republic of New Afrika, which was an
organization that wanted to create an independent black-majority nation composed of Alabama,
Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina. Also, Sister Assata Shakur was a strong
opponent of the imperialist Vietnam War where the Vietnamese people wanted self-determination.
They were against French and American occupation.

In 1973, in a compelling opening statement when she and co-defendant Ronald Myers stood
accused of a bank robbery in 1971 in Queens, N.Y., Shakur spoke out with the following words:

This case is just another example of what has been going on in this country. Throughout Amerikas
history, people have been imprisoned because of their political beliefs and charged with criminal
acts in order to justify that imprisonment. Those who dared to speak out against the injustices in
this country, both Black and white, have paid dearly for their courage, sometimes with their lives.

A Turning Point
The turning point would involve the New Jersey Turnpike shootout. This happened on May 2, 1973.
Assata Shakur, Zayd Malik Shakur, and Sundiata Acoli were stopped on the New Jersey Turnpike in
East Brunswick by the State Trooper Harper. Harper was backed up by Trooper Werner Forester in
second patrol vehicle or Car 820. They stopped them since the cops said that they were driving with
a broken tail light. According to Col. David B. Kelly, the vehicle was also "slightly" exceeding the
speed limit. Recordings of Trooper Harper calling the dispatcher were played at the trials of both
 Acoli and Assata Shakur. After reporting his plans to stop the vehicle he had
been following, Harper can later be heard to say: "Hold ontwo black
males, one female." The stop occurred 200 yards (183 m) south of what was
then the Turnpike Authority administration building at exit 9, the
headquarters of Troop D. Zayd Shakur was driving the two door vehicle.
Assata Shakur was seated in the right front seat and Acoli was in the right
rear seat. Trooper Harper asked the driver for identification, noticed a
discrepancy, asked him to get out of the car, and questioned him at the rear
of the vehicle. It is, at this point, with the questioning of Zayd Shakur, that
the accounts of the confrontation begin to differ. What is true is that there
is the shootout and Trooper Forester was shot twice in the head with his
This image shows Black own gun and killed. Zayd Shakur was killed. Assata Shakur and Trooper
Panthers standing face to
Harper were wounded.
face to the NYPD in
standing up for the Panther
21 (in the courthouse steps
in 1969). The Panther 21 Acoli then drove the car (a white Pontiac LeMans with Vermont license
were 21 Black Panthers plates)which contained Assata Shakur, who was wounded, and Zayd
members (who included Shakur, who was dead or dying5 miles (8 km) down the road at milepost
Afeni Shakur or the mother 78 across from Service Area 8-N (the Joyce Kilmer Service Area), where
the late Tupac Shakur). Assata Shakur was apprehended. The vehicle was chased by three patrol
They were accused of many cars and the booths down the turnpike were alerted. Acoli then exited the
crimes and they were
car andafter being ordered to halt by Trooper Robert Palentchar (Car
acquitted in 1971.
817), the first on the scene fled into the woods as Palentchar emptied his
gun. According to Palentchar, Assata Shakur then walked towards him from
50 feet (15 m) away with her bloody arms raised in surrender. Acoli was
captured after a 36-hour manhuntinvolving 400 people, state police
helicopters, and bloodhounds from the Ocean County Sheriff's Departmentthe following day.
Zayd Shakur's body was found in a nearby gully along the road. Assata Shakur was wounded. She
was moved to Middlesex General Hospital and was under heavy guard. She was in serious
condition, but she survived. Trooper Harper was wounded in the left shoulder and left the hospital.
Assata Shakur was interrogated an arraigned from her hospital bed. She was transferred from
Middlesex General Hospital in New Brunswick to Roosevelt Hospital in Edison after her lawyers
obtained a court order from Judge John Bachman, and then transferred to Middlesex County
Workhouse a few weeks late. Assata Shakur was charged with many charges. She experienced
seven trials. She was acquitted in three trials, one was in a hung jury and one in a change of venue,
one had a mistrial due to pregnancy, one in a conviction, and including three other indictments
were dismissed without trial.

There are many facts about this case that should be known:

1. Dr. David Spain, a pathologist from Brookdale Community College, testified that her bullet scars
as well as X-rays supported her claim that her arms were raised, and that there was "no conceivable
way" the first bullet could have hit Shakur's clavicle if her arm was down.

2. Neutron activation analysis administered after the shootout showed no gunpowder residue on
Shakur's fingers; her fingerprints were not found on any weapon at the scene, according to forensic
analysis performed at the Trenton, New Jersey crime lab and the FBI crime labs in Washington, D.C.
According to tape recordings and police reports made several hours after the shoot-out, when
Harper returned on foot to the administration building 200 yards (183 m) away, he did not report
Foresters presence at the scene; no one at headquarters knew of Foresters involvement in the
shoot-out until his body was discovered beside his patrol car, more than an hour later.

3. Her fingerprints were not found on any weapon at the scene, according to forensic analysis
performed at the Trenton, New Jersey crime lab and the FBI crime labs in Washington, D.C.

4. Trooper Harper retracted his previous statements and said that he had never seen Shakur with a
gun and that she did not shoot him.

Imprisonment
Assata Shakur was imprisoned in the New Jersey State Reception and Correction center after the
Turnpike shootings. The center is located Yardville, Burlington County (in New Jersey). She was later
move to Rikers Island Correctional Institution for Women in New York City where she was kept in
solitary confinement for 21 months. Solitary confinement takes a toll on people emotionally and
physically. She survived it. Her only daughter is Kakuya Shakur. Kakuya was conceived during her
trial. She was born in September 11, 1974 in Elmhurst General Hospital in Queens. Assata Shakur
stayed there for a few days before she returned to Rikers Island. Assata Shakur said that she was
beaten and restrained by several large female officers after refusing a medical exam from a prison
doctor shortly after giving birth. There are tons of people in the prison industrial complex who are
assaulted and beaten back then and today. Shakur filed a 1983 suit while she was imprisoned in
Rikers Island. She was suing because of the conditions of her confinement. She was unsuccessful in
persuading the federal courts to order that the legal aid paralegals assisting in her claim be granted
attorney like visitation rights. After a bomb threat was made against Judge Appleby, Sheriff Joseph
DeMarino lied to the press about the exact date of her transfer to Clinton Correctional Facility for
Women for security reasons. She was later transferred from the Clinton Correctional Facility for
Women to a special area staffed by women guards at the Yardville Youth Correction and Reception
Center in New Jersey. She was the only female inmate in the location, because of security
reasons. On May 6, 1977, Judge Clarkson, of the United States District Court for the District of New
Jersey, denied Shakur's request for an injunction requiring her transfer from the all-male facility to
Clinton Correctional Facility for Women; the Third Circuit affirmed.

On April 8, 1978, Assata Shakur was transferred to Alderson Federal Prison Camp in Alderson, West
Virginia. She met there Puerto Rican nationalist Lolita Lebron. She also met Mary Alice, who was a
Catholic nun who introduced Shakur to the concept of liberation theology. Assata Shakur was
placed in the Maximum Security Unit in Alderson. On March 31, 1978, after the Maximum Security
Unit at Alderson was closed, Shakur was transferred to the Clinton Correctional Facility for Women
in New Jersey. Her attorney, Lennox Hinds said that Assata Shakur experienced bad conditions in
the Facility along with invasive searches. Assata served time in a mens prison where she was
subjected to vaginal and anal strip searches. Hinds argues that "in the history of New Jersey, no
woman pretrial detainee or prisoner has ever been treated as she was, continuously confined in a
men's prison, under twenty-four hour surveillance of her most intimate functions, without
intellectual sustenance, adequate medical attention, and exercise, and without the company of
other women for all the years she was in custody." It is obvious that the prison administrators
wanted Assata to suffer in a sick way. Assata Shakur was a political activist. She was supported by
Angela Davis and other people internationally. An international panel of seven jurists representing
the United Nations Commission on Human Rights concluded in 1979 that her treatment was
"totally unbefitting any prisoner." Their investigation, which focused on alleged human rights
abuses of political prisoners, cited Shakur as "one of the worst cases" of such abuses and including
her in "a class of victims of FBI misconduct through the COINTELPRO strategy and other forms of
illegal government conduct who as political activists have been selectively targeted for provocation,
false arrests, entrapment, fabrication of evidence, and spurious criminal prosecutions."
Escape and Exile
Assata Shakur escaped the Clinton Correctional Facility for Women in New Jersey. The events
happened as followed. Three members of the Black Liberation Army visited her. The members of
the BLA drew concealed .45 caliber pistols, seized two guards as hostages and commandeered a
prison van. The van escaped through an unfenced section of the prison into the parking lot of a
state school for the handicapped. This was about 1.5 miles away. There was a blue and white
Lincoln and a blue Mercury Comet waiting. No one was injured during the prison break. The guards
held as hostages were left in the parking lot. Her brother Mutulu Shakur, Silvia Baraldini, former
Panther Sekou Odinga, and Marilyn Buck were charged with assisting in her escape. Ronald Boyd
Hill was also held on charged related to the escape. Mutulu was named on July 23, 1982 as the
380th addition to the FBIs Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list. He remained on the list or the next four
years until his capture in 1986. State correction officials disclosed in November 1979 that they had
not run identity checks on Shakur's visitors and that the three men and one woman, who assisted in
her escape, had presented false identification to enter the prison's visitor room, before which they
were not searched. Mutulu Shakur and Marilyn Buck were convicted in 1988 of several robberies as
well as the prison escape. At the time of the escape, Kunstler had just started to prepare her
appeal. Assata Shakur soon was called a fugitive by the FBI. The FBI circulated wanted posters all
over New York, New Jersey, etc. Her supporters hung Assata Shakur is Welcome Here posters in
response. In New York, three days after her escape, more than 5,000 demonstrators organized by
the National Black Human Rights Coalition carried signs with the same slogan. The image of Shakur
on the wanted posters featured a wig and blurred black and white features.

For years after Shakurs escape, the movements, activities, and phone calls of her friends and
relatives (even her daughter walking to school in upper Manhattan) were monitored by
investigators in an attempt to ascertain her whereabouts. In July 1980, FBI Director William
Webster said that the search for Shakur had been frustrated by residents refusal to cooperate. A
New York Times editorial opined that the department acted in a crude sweep which was lacking in
sensitivity to civil rights and civil liberties. There was one pre-dawn raid in April 20, 1980 on 92
Morningside Avenue. The FBI agents were armed with shotguns and machine guns. They broke
down doors and searches through the building for many hours. They prevented residents from
leaving. Residents thought that these actions had racist overtones. In October 1980, New Jersey and
New York City Police denied published reports that they had declined to raid a Bedford-Stuyvesant,
Brooklyn building where Shakur was suspected to be hiding for fear of provoking a racial incident.

Life in Cuba
Assata Shakur fled to Cuba in 1984. In that year, she was granted political asylum by Cuba. The
Cuban government paid about $13 a day towards her living expenses. In 1985, she was reunited
with her daughter, Kakuya, who had been raised by Shakurs mother in New York. Shakur made an
open letter. In it, she wrote that Cuba was: One of the Largest, Most Resistant and Most
Courageous Palenques (Maroon Camps) that has existed on the Face of this Planet. Shakur also
worked as an English language editor for Radio Havana Cuba.

In 1987, she published the book, Assata: An Autobiography. Her book was written in Cuba. Her
autobiography has been cited in relation to critical legal studies and critical race theory. The book
gives some information on the events in New Jersey Turnpike. The book was published by Lawrence
Hill & Company in the United States and Canada but the copyright is held by Zed Books Ltd. of
London due to "Son of Sam" laws, which restrict who can receive profits from a book.[199] In the six
months prior to the publications of the book, Evelyn Williams, Shakur's aunt and attorney, made
several trips to Cuba and served as a go-between with Hill. In 1993, she published a second book,
Still Black, Still Strong, with Dhoruba bin Wahad and Mumia Abu-Jamal.
 The FBIs evil COINTELPRO (or Counter Intelligence Program) targeted the Black Panther Party as the
number one organization to end domestically by 1969. The FBI targeted anyone who supported racial
justice and opposed poverty including war. The FBI persecuted, framed, and assassinated African
American progressive leaders. The FBI also spied on, slandered, and did other evil actions against the
American Native American movement, the SCLC, the NAACP, CORE, anti-war groups, labor rights groups,
etc. Assata Shakur visited the Oakland branch of the Black Panthers and advocated internationalist
liberation for the oppressed on this Earth. Assata Shakur is a black woman who continues to fight for
justice, socialism, and liberation.

The FBI
Since the 1980s, the U.S. government have tried to extradite Sister Assata Shakur. They have failed.
Carl Williams was the superintendent of the New Jersey State Police and he wanted that extradition
in 1998, Assata Shakur had an interview with NBC Journalist Ralph Penza. This was when Pope John
Paul II came into Cuba. On March 10, 1998, New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman asked
Attorney General Janet Reno to do whatever it takes to return Shakur from Cuba. On May 2, 2005,
the 32nd anniversary of the Turnpike shootings, the FBI classified her as a domestic terrorist,
increasing the reward for assistance in her capture to $1 million, the largest reward placed on an
individual in the history of New Jersey. The FBI has recently raised the bounty or Assata to $2
million in 2013. Today, we have the easing of the tensions between Cuba and America. The FBI has
used terrorism and illegal policies like COINTELPRO, etc. for decades ironically want to get Assata,
yet she is still living her life in Cuba.

A Queen and a Warrior

Assata Shakur is a strong black woman. Her courage is incredible and she has done great political
work in Cuba. Also, she has done art, communicated with African Americans in Cuba, and she has
spoken up for black liberation and liberation for all oppressed people for decades. No one of any
color should experience oppression, brutality, and injustice. The handwriting is on the wall. We
witness a world filled with imperialism and oppression. We witness the epidemic of the extrajudicial
murder of our Brothers and Sisters in America. We see the viciousness of police brutality and racial
profiling. Also, we know that women have been discriminated against, abused, raped, and
murdered. These evils must end and we will continue to stand up for the truth and follow real
consciousness. It is the content of one's soul and one's conscious behavior that relates to
consciousness. Loving our Blackness is a prerequisite for us to have justice. Assata Shakur is very
intelligent and she loved her people. Today, in this year alone, we see a white racist killed nine
innocent black people in church in Charleston, South Carolina, the murder of innocent black people,
and the continuation of the economic inequality. Overseas, we see exploitation of the poor and the
crimes of imperialism in many nations. So, we are in a fight for our liberation.
In a 1998 Open Letter from Assata, posted by Colorlines in May 2013, the revolutionary Assata
Shakur told her story:

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.
governments policy towards people of colorBlack people, poor people in the U.S. have no real
freedom of speech and very little freedom of the press.

The good news is that people among many backgrounds are waking up. We will not be silent.
We will resist evil and we will continue to defend Sister Assata Shakur. She is a Queen.

The Struggle Continues

Black people have suffered centuries of oppression. We still rise and fought for freedom. For that
period of time, there are structural economic problems that have grown economic inequality. We
see how the neoliberal policies decades ago (including Reaganomics, the growth of wars, bad trade
deals, etc.) contributing to poverty, health care issues, gender inequalities, and ecological problems.
Solutions dont just deal with economics, because we are humans. We must fight socioeconomic
problems in order for us to address biases and injustices.

Three, beautiful, intelligent black women created the Black Lives Matter movement. It has been
slandered by many, but the BLM movement is still strong. It has been demonized by racists and
reactionaries, but it persists. It persists, because truth is better than fiction and racial justice is a just
cause to pursue. This struggle isn't just for an end to police terrorism in our communities. It is a
struggle to make sure that every black human life, irrespective of background, is treated with
dignity and with respect. It is about fighting back against imperialism and seeking a living wage for
all workers. It is about showing compassion to the homeless and showing true respect to the poor.
This movement is about promoting unity among all people of Black African descent internationally
and it is very inspiring to see three Sisters fighting for the liberation of black people. Their sacrifice,
their enduring strength, and their wisdom are things that we cherish. We cherish love as there is no
sin in love. Political independence is what we believe in. We also cherish truth and we will continue
to fight. We will fight for the oppressed and we will fight for the principle that diversity in our
community and the unity of us in calling for justice are part of our strength. Dr. Martin Luther King
Jr., Malcolm X, Septima, Clark, Fannie Lou Hamer, and other heroes have passed away. Yet, these 3
Black Sisters are making them very happy with their activism.

Also, we are loyal to all black people of the Diaspora and all black Africans
too. I honor Afro-Caribbeans, Afro-French, Afro-Brazilians, Afro-
Colombians, etc. We are one black people irrespective of our nationality.

We remember the 150th year anniversary of the 13th Amendment, which overtly ended legalized
slavery. We fought to end the Confederacy. It was righteous and good for the evil Confederacy to
be no more. We still have a long way to go. One part of the movement for liberation is for us to
defend our history and our culture as black people. Certainly, the CCC and other evil groups are
rather overt in their nefarious agendas. They want to eliminate their guilt of the criminal actions of
their ancestors as others have eloquently mentioned. It is a historical fact that black people were
slaves at the hands of white racists and even other non-blacks. These evil people (who are white
racists) desire to rewrite history (by denying the real history of slavery), because they want to deny
the right of black people to talk about slavery, racism, and white supremacy courageously and
without compromise. White racists organized the ships, the routes, the kidnapping, the land thefts,
and the genocide plus the rapes during the Maafa. European colonialism stole the resources of the
Motherland of Africa. The Maafa was created by European imperialist forces. Their actions prove
that our enemies didnt stop their malicious agenda during the 1960s. They are continuing in their
actions today.
Our youth should always know that we
must defeat the system of white supremacy
once and for all, so a system of justice can
come about. It is very obvious that white
racists want black people to deny slavery
and deny that slavery existed. The truth is
that slavery existed and the Maafa was the
worst international war crime in human
history. Black people were in enslaved in
Africa, in the Americas, in India, in Saudi
Arabia, in Iran, in Turkey, in Europe, etc. by
whites and other non-blacks during the
Maafa. These white racists certainly have
done the same with Jewish people with
their advocacy of Holocaust denial (which is
a lie and an evil agenda). The Holocaust or
the Shoah was evil. Also, many black people Black excellence is here to stay. For
died during the Holocaust. So, if these thousands of years, black people have
white racists deny the Holocaust, they also been masters of art, dance, music,
deny the black people (which included performance, mathematics, spirituality,
engineering, and other aspects of society.
Afro-Germans, Black American soldiers, and
So, we, as black people, should fulfill our
other black people) who died in the own standards and not the standards of
concentration camps too. For the sake of the status quo unconditionally (as we are
our black ancestors, I will never forget. Nazi opposed to racism). Our words matter. Our
Germany was influenced by American institutions matter and our black lives
white eugenicists (as Hitler was influenced definitely matter. When we contribute our
by the evil forced sterilization laws of talents to the world, we bless ourselves,
America) and they were funded by large we bless others, and we can inspire other
Western multinational corporations too. black people to continue their lives in a
positive direction.
This is deep. Real black scholars abound in
the world and we respect their work totally.
The heroic actions of the resisters to Nazi
oppression will be honored
wholeheartedly. We won't stop, because we can't stop. We own our black history and we will
defend it. They or the racists are certainly trying to test us. We should never take their bait and
speak truth to power. We want all people to be free, liberated, and have justice. The more that we
unify, the more love that we show to our people, and the more constructive action that we execute,
the better off that we will be as Black Brothers and as Black Sisters.
Over 30 years have passed when we see the redistribution of the nations wealth from the poor and
the middle class into the super wealthy. We know that capitalism is neither perfect nor divine. I am
not a free market fundamentalist as regulations are necessity to prevent monopolies and other evils
that are readily found in our current economic system. There have been profits made based on
discrimination from pay day loans to other corrupt policies done by some banks in other arenas.
That is why we need a radical redistribution of political and economic power since true justice is
about the fair usage of power in order of the masses of the people to benefit. So, we are in a
struggle for our liberation. We deal with a technological age and I have no problem with the
development of technology to benefit humankind. Likewise, we need to address the digital divide
among the rich and the poor. We have to use technology to not only help the poor, but to empower
the power in order for them to achieve their own destinies throughout their lives. I will always go
forward.

The truth is on our side. Also, we must always oppose stereotypes. Many black people, people of
color, women, immigrants, the handicapped, etc. experience false and cruel stereotypes that must
be exposed. In essence, all people deserve freedom, justice, and equality. We believe in economic
justice, the redistribution of wealth (to help humanity), and an end to the system of racism/white
supremacy. Assata Shakur is a heroic woman. She is an inspiration for us all.

By Timothy
Bless Sister Assata Shakur.