Assata Shakur, Tupac’s Godmother and Black Liberation Icon, Dies at 78 in Cuba
Written by b87fm on 09/26/2025
Assata Shakur, the former Black Liberation Army member who became one of America’s most wanted fugitives before living in exile in Cuba for more than four decades, has passed away at the age of 78. Her death was confirmed by Cuban outlet CubaMinRex, with Cuba’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs citing “advanced age” as the cause.
Born JoAnne Deborah Byron on July 16, 1947, in Queens, New York, Shakur came of age during the turbulence of the 1960s. She was active in the Black Panther Party and later the Black Liberation Army, groups that challenged systemic racism and state violence in the U.S.
Shakur’s name became infamous in 1973 after a New Jersey Turnpike shootout that left State Trooper Werner Foerster and fellow BLA member Zayd Malik Shakur dead. Wounded in the incident, she was arrested and later convicted of Foerster’s murder—a charge she always denied. Supporters have long argued her trial was riddled with racism and injustice.
In 1979, Shakur made a daring prison escape with help from allies and eventually surfaced in Cuba, where Fidel Castro granted her political asylum. She lived there under the name Assata Shakur for the rest of her life, shielded from U.S. extradition.
To U.S. law enforcement, she was one of the country’s most wanted fugitives. In 2013, she became the first woman placed on the FBI’s “Most Wanted Terrorists” list, with a $2 million reward for her capture. But to many activists and artists, she became a global symbol of Black resistance and survival.
Her 1987 autobiography, Assata: An Autobiography, remains a cornerstone for generations of organizers, and her name continues to echo in hip-hop lyrics, social justice movements, and conversations around state violence and liberation.
Shakur is survived by her daughter, Kakuya Shakur, and extended family.
