“I had changed a lot and moved to a different beat. “The name JoAnne began to irk my nerves,” she writes in her autobiography. She changed her name to Assata Shakur in 1971. Shakur was born Joanne Deborah Chesimard, in Jamaica, Queens. The island has long been a haven for African-Americans who’ve committed “political crimes” or domestic “terrorism” (In the 1960s, Black Panthers such as Eldridge Cleaver, Huey Newton and Raymond Johnson all spent time in Cuba).Ī mystic lore now surrounds Shakur, both in her four-decade evasion of law enforcement - she was the first woman to ever make the FBI’s most wanted terrorist list - as well as her proximity to hip-hop royalty - she is step-aunt and godmother to the late Tupac Shakur.Ĭharged and convicted with the murder of a New Jersey state trooper in 1973, Shakur, a member of the Black Pather party, escaped prison and fled to Cuba, where she has resided ever since.
It will end.”Ĭuba pushed back, refusing to hand her over, and adding another chapter to Shakur’s revolutionary life. “The harboring of criminals and fugitives will end,” Trump said to Cuba. In 2017, President Trump announced that the US would impose new limits on US travelers to Cuba, adding that the US would consider lifting those and other restrictions only after certain changes were made - including returning American fugitives like Shakur.
The Queens, N.Y, native has been living in Cuba for over 30 years, after having escaped from the prison where she was serving a sentence for allegedly killing a New Jersey state trooper in 1973. Shakur is a revolutionary Black icon, whose legend has evolved into making her a patron saint of Black rebellion in the last half-century. Every few years, it’s not uncommon to see Assata Shakur’s name back in the news headlines.
0 kommentar(er)
