How Tupac’s Godmother Went From Black Panther To Most Wanted

mugshot of assata shakur
Adé Hennis
October 10, 2024

Shackled to a hospital bed, Assata Shakur lay helplessly beside the cold, dead body of fellow Black Liberation Army (BLA) member Zayd Malik Shakur. She was supposed to feel safe in this hospital but instead was in constant fear for her life.

When Shakur and her fellow BLA members were pulled over by New Jersey state troopers on May 2, 1973, a suspicious traffic stop resulted in one trooper being shot dead and Shakur left with gunshot wounds that caused temporary paralysis in her arm.

Shakur’s chest burned as she was dragged across the pavement during her arrest. Her hospital food was spat in, and she was initially denied a lawyer while recovering. She pleaded her innocence, yet she was charged with murder and sentenced to life in 1977.

In 1979, Shakur refused to be left to rot in prison, and with the help of fellow BLA members, she escaped, eventually finding refuge in Cuba. The FBI remains desperate to have her back in their grasp.

While questions surrounding Assata Shakur's innocence persist, one fact remains undeniably pervasive: the systematic mistreatment of Black women, especially in times of resistance. It’s essential to protect our own, just as the BLA unapologetically stood by Shakur.

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