At approximately 1:15 PM on September 25th, my mother, Assata Shakur, took her last earthly breath. Words cannot describe the depth of loss that I am feeling at this time. I want to thank you for your loving prayers that continue to anchor me in the strength that I need in this moment. My spirit is overflowing in unison with all of you who are grieving with me at this time.
Sending much love and appreciation to you all,
Kakuya Shakur (1)
Black Liberation Warrior Queen Mama Assata Olugbala Shakur has passed into the Ancestral Realm in Cuba where she has lived in exile from the USA since 1984 having broken out of prison in 1979 for a crime she did not and could not have committed. (2)
“Assata Shakur was born in New York on July 16th 1947. She became a student activist in her teens and later joined the Black Panther Party at age 23 in Harlem, fast becoming one its leading members. While with the panthers she was instrumental in the organising and implementation of the School & Breakfast program aimed to educate and feed Black children. On facing ideological differences with the Party, Mama Assata moved on to join the Black Liberation Army (BLA) and also the Republic of New Afrika.” (3)
She became known to the American authorities as the “Mother Hen” of the Black Liberation Movement and as such became a prime target of the FBI, Counter Intelligence Program (COINTELPRO) initiated under the leadership of J Edgar Hoover against what it regarded as “Black Extremists” or “Black Nationalist Hate Groups” that were “the greatest threat to the internal security of the country.” (4)
On May 2nd 1973 she confronted the brutality of the USA government head on when she was involved in shootout with state troopers on the New Jersey Turnpike. It claimed the life of BLA member Zayd Malik. A state trooper was also killed. Even though Assata was wounded in the interaction, meaning she couldn’t have fired a gun. Neverthless she was convicted on one murder charge and six assault charges and sentenced to life in prison where she suffered unspeakable abuse, yet managed to give birth to daughter Kakuya in September 1974. Fellow BLA member Sundiata Acoli survived the ordeal and was also sentenced to life imprisonment. He was released in May 2022, one of flurry of releases of long-term political prisoners from organisations like the Black Liberation Army, The Black Panther Party and the MOVE Organization, that’s been occurring since the late 2010s. Although many, of which Mumia Abu Jamal is arguably the most well known, remain incarcerated. (5)
Assata Shakur’s trajectory was very different. Members of the BLA broke her out of prison in 1979. She eluded capture in America for five years before being granted asylum in cuba in 1984. They tried to frame her for every crime that a woman was involved in and branded her a terrorist. (6) But in 2013 under president Barack Obama’s watch they upped the ante by placing her on the FBI most wanted terrorist list. The was the first woman ever on the list joining the likes of Osama Bin Laden, Abdullah Ahmed Abdallah & Ramadan Abdullah Mohamed Shallah who were accused of such crimes as “Conspiracy to Place a Destructive Device Aboard an Aircraft”, “Attempting to Destroy and Damage, by Means of Explosives…” At the press conference announcing the move, which included doubling the bounty on her head to $2,000,000, Aaron Ford, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Newark, New Jersey proclaimed: “While living openly and freely in Cuba she continues to maintain and promote her terrorist ideology.” (7)
In reality, aside from Assata Shakur, this characterisation of the Black Liberation Movement continued even after the alledged abandonment of COINTELLPRO. In Donald Trump’s first term the FBI cooked up the designation “black identity extremists” that they considered a bigger threat than terror groups such as Al Qaeda and “despite Surge in White Supremacist Violence.” They later walked back the specific term after receiving pushback on its failure to define what it really means, but the general posture remained. (8)
Fast forward to September 2025 and the presidential action, “Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence,” issued from Trump’s White House, essential seeks to re-animate the corpse of J Edgar Hoover:
“There are common recurrent motivations and indicia uniting this pattern of violent and terroristic activities under the umbrella of self-described “anti-fascism.” These movements portray foundational American principles (e.g., support for law enforcement and border control) as “fascist” to justify and encourage acts of violent revolution. This “anti-fascist” lie has become the organizing rallying cry used by domestic terrorists to wage a violent assault against democratic institutions, constitutional rights, and fundamental American liberties. Common threads animating this violent conduct include anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, and anti-Christianity; support for the overthrow of the United States Government; extremism on migration, race, and gender; and hostility towards those who hold traditional American views on family, religion, and morality.” (9)
What this makes clear, if there were any doubt, is that the cause to which Mama Assata Shakur dedicated her life is as urgent and vital as ever. It’s a cause few articulated as eloquently and presciently as she did while locked up in 1973:
“Black brothers, Black sisters, i want you to know that i love you and i hope that somewhere in your hearts you have love for me. My name is Assata Shakur (slave name joanne chesimard), and i am a revolutionary. A Black revolutionary. By that i mean that i have declared war on all forces that have raped our women, castrated our men, and kept our babies empty-bellied.
I have declared war on the rich who prosper on our poverty, the politicians who lie to us with smiling faces, and all the mindless, heart-less robots who protect them and their property.
I am a Black revolutionary, and, as such, i am a victim of all the wrath, hatred, and slander that amerika is capable of. Like all other Black revolutionaries, amerika is trying to lynch me.
I am a Black revolutionary woman, and because of this i have been charged with and accused of every alleged crime in which a woman was believed to have participated. The alleged crimes in which only men were supposedly involved, i have been accused of planning. They have plastered pictures alleged to be me in post offices, airports, hotels, police cars, subways, banks, television, and newspapers. They have offered over fifty thousand dollars in rewards for my capture and they have issued orders to shoot on sight and shoot to kill.
I am a Black revolutionary, and, by definition, that makes me a part of the Black Liberation Army. The pigs have used their newspapers and TVs to paint the Black Liberation Army as vicious, brutal, mad-dog criminals. They have called us gangsters and gun molls and have compared us to such characters as john dillinger and ma barker. It should be clear, it must be clear to anyone who can think, see, or hear, that we are the victims. The victims and not the criminals.
It should also be clear to us by now who the real criminals are. Nixon and his crime partners have murdered hundreds of Third World brothers and sisters in Vietnam, Cambodia, Mozambique, Angola, and South Africa. As was proved by Watergate, the top law enforcement officials in this country are a lying bunch of criminals. The president, two attorney generals, the head of the fbi, the head of the cia, and half the white house staff have been implicated in the Watergate crimes.
They call us murderers, but we did not murder over two hundred fifty unarmed Black men, women, and children, or wound thousands of others in the riots they provoked during the sixties. The rulers of this country have always considered their property more important than our lives. They call us murderers, but we were not responsible for the twenty-eight brother inmates and nine hostages murdered at attica. They call us murderers, but we did not murder and wound over thirty unarmed Black students at Jackson State—or Southern State, either.
They call us murderers, but we did not murder Martin Luther King, Jr., Emmett Till, Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, George Jackson, Nat Turner, James Chaney, and countless others. We did not murder, by shooting in the back, sixteen-year-old Rita Lloyd, eleven-year-old Rickie Bodden, or ten-year-old Clifford Glover. They call us murderers, but we do not control or enforce a system of racism and oppression that systematically murders Black and Third World people. Although Black people supposedly comprise about fifteen percent of the total amerikkkan population, at least sixty percent of murder victims are Black. For every pig that is killed in the so-called line of duty, there are at least fifty Black people murdered by the police.
Black life expectancy is much lower than white and they do their best to kill us before we are even born. We are burned alive in fire-trap tenements. Our brothers and sisters OD daily from heroin and methadone. Our babies die from lead poisoning. Millions of Black people have died as a result of indecent medical care. This is murder. But they have got the gall to call us murderers.
They call us kidnappers, yet Brother Clark Squires (who is accused, along with me, of murdering a new jersey state trooper) was kidnapped on April z, 1969, from our Black community and held on one million dollars’ ransom in the New York Panther 21 conspiracy case. He was acquitted on May 13, 1971, along with all the others, of 156 counts of conspiracy by a jury that took less than two hours to deliberate. Brother Squires was innocent. Yet he was kidnapped from his community and family. Over two years of his life was stolen, but they call us kidnappers. We did not kidnap the thousands of Brothers and Sisters held captive in amerika’s concentration camps. Ninety percent of the prison population in this country are Black and Third World people who can afford neither bail nor lawyers.
They call us thieves and bandits. They say we steal. But it was not we who stole millions of Black people from the continent of Africa. We were robbed of our language, of our Gods, of our culture, of our human dignity, of our labor, and of our lives. They call us thieves, yet it is not we who rip off billions of dollars every year through tax evasions, illegal price fixing, embezzlement, consumer fraud, bribes, kickbacks, and swindles. They call us bandits, yet every time most Black people pick up our paychecks we are being robbed. Every time we walk into a store in our neighborhood we are being held up. And every time we pay our rent the landlord sticks a gun into our ribs.
They call us thieves, but we did not rob and murder millions of Indians by ripping off their homeland, then call ourselves pioneers. They call us bandits, but it is not we who are robbing Africa, Asia, and Latin America of their natural resources and freedom while the people who live there are sick and starving. The rulers of this country and their flunkies have committed some of the most brutal, vicious crimes in history. They are the bandits. They are the murderers. And they should be treated as such. These maniacs are not fit to judge me, Clark, or any other Black person on trial in amerika. Black people should and, inevitably, must determine our destinies.
Every revolution in history has been accomplished by actions, al-though words are necessary. We must create shields that protect us and spears that penetrate our enemies. Black people must learn how to struggle by struggling. We must learn by our mistakes.
I want to apologize to you, my Black brothers and sisters, for being on the new jersey turnpike. I should have known better. The turnpike is a checkpoint where Black people are stopped, searched, harassed, and assaulted. Revolutionaries must never be in too much of a hurry or make careless decisions. He who runs when the sun is sleeping will stumble many times.
Every time a Black Freedom Fighter is murdered or captured, the pigs try to create the impression that they have quashed the movement, destroyed our forces, and put down the Black Revolution. The pigs also try to give the impression that five or ten guerrillas are responsible for every revolutionary action carried out in amerika. That is nonsense. That is absurd. Black revolutionaries do not drop from the moon. We are created by our conditions. Shaped by our oppression. We are being manufactured in droves in the ghetto streets, places like attica, san quentin, bedford hills, leavenworth, and sing sing. They are turning out thousands of us. Many jobless Black veterans and welfare mothers are joining our ranks. Brothers and sisters from all walks of life, who are tired of suffering passively, make up the BLA.
There is, and always will be, until every Black man, woman, and child is free, a Black Liberation Army. The main function of the Black
Liberation Army at this time is to create good examples, to struggle for Black freedom, and to prepare for the future. We must defend ourselves and let no one disrespect us. We must gain our liberation by any means necessary.
It is our duty to fight for our freedom.
It is our duty to win.
We must love each other and support each other.
We have nothing to lose but our chains.” (10)
May the spirit of Assata Olugbala Shakur rise on the wings of Ma’at after a favourable judgement in the counsel of Asar.
1) Kakuya Shakur (26/09/25) At approximately 1:15 PM on September 25th, my mother, Assata Shakur, took her last earthly breath. https://www.facebook.com/kakuya/posts/pfbid02fXrmrpMS12jHqQ7wekRWsTbzZkbeHFZYymGTtFXLUYoiV5yznnmr5MTSdr64zZ9Vl
2) Tafadzwa ShakaRa Mbandaka (09/05/13) The Imperishable Beauty of ASSATA SHAKUR. https://shakaraspeaks.wordpress.com/2013/05/
3) Ibid
4) Ibid.; Virgie Hoban (18/01/21) ‘Discredit, disrupt, and destroy’: FBI records acquired by the Library reveal violent surveillance of Black leaders, civil rights organizations. https://www.lib.berkeley.edu/about/news/fbi
5) Bim Adewunmi (13/07/14) Assata Shakur: from civil rights activist to FBI’s most-wanted. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jul/13/assata-shakur-civil-rights-activist-fbi-most-wanted; Johanna Chisholm (11/05/22) Sundiata Acoli: Oldest former member of the Black Panthers gets parole after nearly five decades. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/black-panther-sundiata-acoli-released-b2076514.html; Natalia Marques (14/08/14) Death by incarceration: The US prison system is slowly killing its political prisoners. https://peoplesdispatch.org/2024/08/14/death-by-incarceration-the-us-prison-system-is-slowly-killing-its-political-prisoners/
6) Aadewunmi. Op. cit.
7) David Jones (02/05/13) New Jersey trooper’s killer is first woman on FBI most wanted terror list. https://www.reuters.com/article/world/uk/new-jersey-troopers-killer-is-first-woman-on-fbi-most-wanted-terror-list-idUSBRE941141/; Mbandaka. Op. cit.
8) Nicole Hemmer (19/05/18) The government prosecution of a “black identity extremist” fell apart. Meanwhile, white supremacists are on the march. https://www.vox.com/the-big-idea/2018/5/18/17368328/black-identity-extremist-fbi-klan-white-supremacy-black-lives-matter-balogun; Byron Tau (23/07/19) FBI Abandons Use of Term ‘Black Identity Extremism.’ https://www.wsj.com/articles/fbi-abandons-use-of-terms-black-identity-extremism-11563921355; Amy Goodman & Malkia Cyril (16/10/17) COINTELPRO 2? FBI Targets “Black Identity Extremists” Despite Surge in White Supremacist Violence. https://www.democracynow.org/2017/10/16/cointelpro_2_fbi_targets_black_identity
9) National Security Presidential Memorandum/NSPM-7 (25/09/25) Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/09/countering-domestic-terrorism-and-organized-political-violence/
10) Assata Shakur (04/07/73) To My People (written while in prison). http://assatashakur.org/mypeople.htm
we ask the question:
Who is Assata Shakur?
1) How do we assess Assata Shakur’s legacy?
2) Are there still political prisoners from the Black Power era incarcerated today?
3) Is Trump reviving COINTELPRO or did it never go away?
4) How do current levels of activism compare to previous generations?
Our Special Guests:
Bro. Ldr. Mbandaka: Resident guest who is Spiritual Leader of the Alkebu-Lan Revivalist Movement and an Afrikan-Centred Education Consultant. Bro. Ldr is a veteran activist of over 40 years standing, a featured columnist in The Whirlwind newspaper and author of Mosiah Daily Affirmations and Education: An African-Centred Approach To Excellence.
Sis. Natacha Robert: is an educator, activist, and artist. She is a current doctoral student at Teachers College, Columbia University in the department of Curriculum and Teaching. Her research focuses on African-centered education with interests in culturally relevant education and decolonization. She has been an educator for over ten years, teaching Social Studies to middle and high school students with and without disabilities. Working with various community-based organizations, she has created and helped to direct after school programs for Black children and other minoritized youth. She is the founder of Elimu for Liberation, an African-centered educational company that provides resources to parents and teachers to support them in teaching African-centered lessons and content. As an activist and community organizer she has worked with the Westchester Alliance for Black School Educators and the December 12th Movement to raise awareness for and address the myriad of issues facing Black people. Currently she works to help support, raise awareness for, and free political prisoners as a member of the Northeast Political Prisoner Coalition. She is also a member of the Enslaved African Memorial committee, an organization working to build a memorial to honor and remember the Africans who were enslaved in Bergen County, New Jersey.
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