Assata Shakur

Assata Shakur
Photograph taken in the 1970s
Born	JoAnne Deborah Byron (1947-07-16) July 16, 1947 (age 77)[a] New York City, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Activist, revolutionary[1]
Known for	Convicted of murder, one of the FBI's "Most Wanted Terrorists", friend of Afeni Shakur and Mutulu Shakur and often described as their son Tupac Shakur's "godmother" or "step-aunt"[2]
Criminal status	Escaped/At large
Spouse	Louis Chesimard ​ ​ (m. 1967; div. 1970)​
Children	1 (Kakuya Shakur)
Allegiance	Black Liberation Army (1970/1–1981) Black Panther Party (1970)
Convictions	First degree murder Atrocious assault and battery Assault and battery against a police officer Assault with a dangerous weapon Assault with intent to kill Illegal possession of a weapon
Criminal penalty	Life sentence
Reward amount	$2,000,000
Capture status	Fugitive
Wanted by	FBI
Escaped	November 2, 1979; 45 years ago (1979-11-02)

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Assata Olugbala Shakur (born JoAnne Deborah Byron; July 16, 1947),^[a] also known as Joanne Chesimard, is an American political activist who was a member of the Black Liberation Army (BLA). In 1977, she was convicted in the murder of state trooper Werner Foerster during a shootout on the New Jersey Turnpike in 1973. She escaped from prison in 1979 and is wanted by the FBI, with a $1 million FBI reward for information leading to her capture, and an additional $1 million reward offered by the New Jersey attorney general.^[4]

Born in Flushing, Queens, Byron grew up in New York City and Wilmington, North Carolina. After she ran away from home several times, her aunt, who would later act as one of her lawyers, took her in. Byron became involved in political activism at Borough of Manhattan Community College and City College of New York. After graduation, she began using the name Assata Shakur, and briefly joined the Black Panther Party. She then joined the BLA. Assata means "she who struggles", Olugbala means "the one who saves", and Shakur means "the thankful one".^[5]

Between 1971 and 1973, she was charged with several crimes and was the subject of a multi-state manhunt. In May 1973, Shakur was arrested after being wounded in a shootout on the New Jersey Turnpike. Also involved in the shootout were officers Werner Foerster and James Harper, and BLA members Sundiata Acoli and Zayd Malik Shakur. Harper was wounded, and Zayd Shakur and Foerster were killed. Between 1973 and 1977, Shakur was charged with murder, attempted murder, armed robbery, and kidnapping in relation to the shootout and six other incidents. She was acquitted on three of the charges and three were dismissed. In 1977, she was convicted of the murder of State Trooper Foerster and of seven other felonies related to the 1973 shootout. Her defense argued that medical evidence exonerated her, i.e., her right arm was shot and paralyzed while her hands were raised, and she would have been unable to fire a weapon.

While serving a life sentence for murder in New Jersey's Clinton Correctional Facility for Women, Shakur escaped in 1979, with assistance from the BLA and the May 19 Communist Organization. In 1984, she was granted political asylum in Cuba, where she has remained despite U.S. government efforts to have her extradited.^[6] Since 2013, she has been on the FBI Most Wanted Terrorists list, as Joanne Deborah Chesimard, and was the first woman ever added to the list.^[7][8]

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