Assata Shakur, Date of Birth, Place of Birth
TweetAssata Shakur
American activist who was a member of the Black Panther Party and Black Liberation Army
Date of Birth: 16-Jul-1947
Place of Birth: United States of America, United States
Profession: activist
Nationality: United States
Zodiac Sign: Cancer 
About Assata Shakur
- Assata Olugbala Shakur (born JoAnne Deborah Byron; July 16, 1947, sometimes referred to by her married surname Chesimard) is a former member of the Black Liberation Army, who was convicted of the first-degree murder of State Trooper Werner Foerster during a shootout on the New Jersey Turnpike in 1973.
- Shakur was also the target of the FBI's COINTELPRO (counterintelligence program) directed towards Black Liberation groups and activists.Born in Flushing, Queens, she 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.
- She 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 Black Liberation Army, a loosely knit offshoot of the Black Panthers which led an armed struggle against the US government through tactics such as robbing banks and killing police officers and drug dealers. 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 New Jersey State Troopers Werner Foerster and James Harper and BLA members Sundiata Acoli and Zayd Malik Shakur.
- Harper was wounded; Zayd was killed; Foerster was killed by Acoli.
- Between 1973 and 1977, she was charged with murder, attempted murder, armed robbery, bank 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 Foerster and of seven other felonies related to the shootout. While serving a life sentence for murder, she escaped from prison in 1979, later surfacing in Cuba in 1984 where she was granted political asylum. Shakur has lived in Cuba since 1984, despite US government efforts to have her returned.
- The FBI has added her to its list of most-wanted terrorists as Joanne Deborah Chesimard.
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