Hepp, Rick (October 31, 2004). Between 1971 and 1973, Shakur was accused of several crimes and made the subject of a multi-state manhunt. Her family struggled financially and argued frequently; Shakur spent little time at home. He was sentenced to life in prison in 1974 for murdering a New Jersey state trooper. [83] In protest, the lawyers stayed mute, and Shakur and Sadiki conducted their own defense. Sullivan, Joseph F. (May 4, 1973). Hershberger, James (March 24, 2006). Gysin, Fritz, and Mulvey, Christopher (eds.). [189][194], For years after Shakur's escape, the movements, activities and phone calls of her friends and relativesincluding her daughter walking to school in upper Manhattanwere monitored by investigators in an attempt to ascertain her whereabouts. ", Waggoner, Walter H. (February 14, 1977). [202] Shakur is also known to have worked as an English-language editor for Radio Havana Cuba. [113], Shakur was extradited to New York City on May 6,[114] arraigned on May 11 (pleading not guilty), and remanded to jail by Justice Albert S. McGrover of the State Supreme Court, pending a pretrial hearing on July 2. [64][149], Trooper Harper's official reports state that after he stopped the Pontiac, he ordered Acoli to the back of the vehicle for Trooper Foersterwho had arrived on the sceneto examine his driver's license. [226], In June 2017, President Donald Trump gave a speech "cancelling" the Cuban thaw policies of his predecessor Barack Obama. Shakur's only daughter, Kakuya Shakur, was conceived during her trial[108] and born on September 11, 1974, in the "fortified psychiatric ward" at Elmhurst General Hospital in Queens,[122][170] where Shakur stayed for a few days before being returned to Rikers Island. A few minutes later the prosecutor Barone disagreed with Kunstler's assessment saying the trial's outcome was decided "completely on the facts". On May 2, 1973, Chesimard, who was part of a revolutionary extremist organization known as the Black Liberation Army, and two accomplices were stopped for a motor vehicle violation on the New. [215] Later in 1998, U.S. media widely reported claims that the United States State Department had offered to lift the Cuban embargo in exchange for the return of 90U.S. fugitives, including Shakur. Assata Olugbala Shakur (born July 16, 1947 as JoAnne Deborah Byron) is an African-American activist.She was a member of the Black Panther Party and the Black Liberation Army.She was put into prison, but in 1984 she managed to escape.She now lives in Havana, Cuba, as a fugitive.She was the first woman to be put on the FBI's Most Wanted Terrorists list. [62] Judge Appleby also refused to investigate a burglary of her defense counsel's office that resulted in the disappearance of trial documents,[135] amounting to half of the legal papers related to her case. Shakur still frequently visited her grandparents in the south. (December 13, 1973), "Chesimard Trial Goes To The Jury". [29][30][31][32] Law enforcement officials in Atlanta, Georgia, said that Shakur and Jackson had lived together in Atlanta for several months in the summer of 1971. [165] The charges were dismissed without trial. She then joined the BLA, a loosely knit offshoot of the Black Panthers, which engaged in an armed struggle against the US government through tactics such as robbing banks and killing police officers and drug dealers.[4]. Browse, borrow, and enjoy titles from the Minuteman Library Network digital collection. By Assata Shakur (guest author) posted on July 15, 2022 In honor of Assata Shakur's 75th birthday on July 16, Workers World is reprinting this slightly edited version of her open letter, first posted on WW on Dec. 30, 2014. The Reemergence of Class in Critical Race Theory Symposium: Essay: Accumulation". If one were to examine, closely, the hegemonic discourses of black American history, one would be surprised to . Early life [ edit] Shakur converted to Catholicism as a child and attended the all-girls Cathedral High School, for six months before transferring to public high school. [63][b] Trooper Harper asked the driver for identification, noticed a discrepancy, asked him to get out of the car, and questioned him at the rear of the vehicle.[58]. She joined the Black Panthers in college, but the arrests of the Panther leadership in 1969 effectively crushed the organization. With connections to the Weather Underground, the Black Liberation Army and the Black Panther Party, this "anti-imperialist" organization executed a number of attacks well into the mid-1980s, inspired by the revolutionary left-wing tradition of pursuing "peace" through violent means. Johnston, Richard H. (February 13, 1974). After she ran away from home several times, her aunt, who would later act as one of her lawyers, took her in. Williams often took the girl to museums, theaters, and art galleries.[11]. She has been on the FBI Most Wanted Terrorist list since 2013 as Joanne Deborah Chesimard and was the first woman to be added to this list. With the questioning of Acoli, accounts by participants of the confrontation begin to differ (see the witnesses section below). [59] The vehicle was "slightly" exceeding the speed limit. ". [70] Ball's questioning ended with the following exchange: On that night of May 2[n]d, did you shoot, kill, execute or have anything to do with the death of Trooper Werner Foerster? Members of the State Troopers Fraternal Association of New Jersey expressed their anger over Common's "A Song For Assata". Cummings, Judith (October 8, 1973), "Angela Davis Asks Support for 'Political Prisoners'". Assata Shakur, otherwise known as Joanne Chesimard, an organizer who had been described as "the soul of the Black Liberation Army," had been arrested for the execution-style killing of a state trooper in May 1973, via the New York Times. [28] In 1987, when asked in Cuba about police allegations that the BLA gained funds by conducting bank robberies and theft, Shakur responded, "There were expropriations, there were bank robberies. [62][143] Hinds' disciplinary proceeding reached the U.S. Supreme Court in Middlesex County Ethics Committee v. Garden State Bar Ass'n (1982). [163], In October 1977, New York State Superior Court Justice John Starkey dismissed murder and robbery charges against Shakur related to the death of Richard Nelson during a hold-up of a Brooklyn social club on December 28, 1972, ruling that the state had delayed too long in bringing her to trial. Black Liberation activist Assata Shakur was found guilty of killing a police officer in 1977, only to escape prison two years later and become a political refugee in Cuba. [77], Between 1973 and 1977, in New York and New Jersey, Shakur was indicted ten times, resulting in seven different criminal trials. Black Panther activist Assata Shakur was pulled over by New Jersey police, shot twice and then charged with the murder of a police officer in 1973. Kamau Sadiki (born Fred W. X. Hilton), a co-defendant who shared a cell with Shakur during their trial for armed robbery in the Bronx (of which both were acquitted), is believed to be the father. [138] The jury also asked Appleby to repeat the definitions of "intent" and "reasonable doubt". [177], On February 20, 1979,[178] after the Maximum Security Unit at Alderson was closed,[176] Shakur was transferred to the Clinton Correctional Facility for Women in New Jersey. [216], The United States Congress passed a non-binding resolution in September 1998, asking Cuba for the return of Shakur as well as 90 fugitives believed by Congress to be residing in Cuba; House Concurrent Resolution 254 passed 3710 in the House and by unanimous consent in the Senate. [62] Shakur again attempted to remove the trial to federal court. Revolution, the Black Liberation Army, escape from prison and seeking political refuge in Cuba- Assata Shakur writes about her life. [185] Mutulu Shakur, Silvia Baraldini, Sekou Odinga, and Marilyn Buck were charged with assisting in her escape; Ronald Boyd Hill was also held on charges related to the escape. James, Joy, and Sharpley-Whiting, T. Denean (2000). [96] Judge Arnold Bauman denied the application, but directed another lawyer, Howard Jacobs, to defend Shakur while Williams remained the attorney of record. In July 1973, after being indicted by a grand jury, Shakur pleaded not guilty in Federal Court in Brooklyn to an indictment related to a $7,700 robbery of the Bankers Trust Company bank in Queens on August 31, 1971. 1973) (per curiam). [164], On November 22, 1977, Shakur pleaded not guilty to an attempted armed robbery indictment stemming from the 1971 incident at the Statler Hilton Hotel. [94] This trial resulted in a hung jury and then a mistrial, when the jury reported to Gagliardi that they were hopelessly deadlocked for the fourth time. Sex: Female Race: Black Citizenship: American Scars . [234] In 2008, a Bucknell University professor included Shakur in a course on "African-American heroes"along with figures such as Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, John Henry, Malcolm X, and Angela Davis. [133], Shakur was identified as a political prisoner as early as October 8, 1973, by Angela Davis,[180] and in an April 3, 1977, The New York Times advertisement purchased by the Easter Coalition for Human Rights. On May 2 1973, Black Panther activist Assata Shakur (fsn) Joanne Deborah Chesimard, was pulled over by the New Jersey State Police, shot twice and then charged with murder of a police officer. The Panthers were beloved . Judge Lee P. Gagliardi denied a postponement, and the Second Circuit denied Shakur's petition for mandamus. She fought for human rights in the 1960s and 1970s. When a witness identified Shakur and Andrew Jackson from Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) photographs, a 13-state alarm was issued three days after the attack. [123] Before the passage of the Resolution, Franks stated: "This escaped murderer now lives a comfortable life in Cuba and has launched a public relations campaign in which she attempts to portray herself as an innocent victim rather than a cold-blooded murderer. Black Liberation Army Member, Assata Shakur, Tried on Murder and Assault Charges New Jersey v. Chesimard, 555 F.2d 63 (3d Cir. Assata Olugbala Shakur (born JoAnne Deborah Byron; July 16, 1947; [a]) is an American political activist who was a member of the Black Liberation Army (BLA). [117] The text of Shakur's opening statement in the trial is reproduced in her autobiography. [181] An international panel of seven jurists were invited by Hinds to tour a number of U.S. prisons, and concluded in a report filed with the United Nations Commission on Human Rights that the conditions of her solitary confinement were "totally unbefitting any prisoner". She's an activist, member of the Black Liberation Army, and escaped convicted murderer with a $2 million bounty currently on her head. [241], In 2015, Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza writes: "When I use Assata's powerful demand in my organizing work, I always begin by sharing where it comes from, sharing about Assata's significance to the Black Liberation Movement, what its political purpose and message is, and why it's important in our context. Assata Shakur was a member of the Black Liberation Army (BLA) which operated as an underground militant revolutionary organization in the U.S. throughout the 1970s. In 1979, she escaped from prison and made her way to Cuba, where she was granted political asylum and continues to live today. [62] Shakur, in her autobiography, and Williams, in Inadmissible Evidence, both claim that it was difficult to find expert witnesses for the trial, because of the expense and because most forensic and ballistic specialists declined on the grounds of a conflict of interest when approached because they routinely performed such work for law enforcement officials. [195] In July 1980, FBI director William H. Webster said that the search for Shakur had been frustrated by residents' refusal to cooperate, and a New York Times editorial opined that the department's commitment to "enforce the law with vigorbut also with sensitivity for civil rights and civil liberties" had been "clouded" by an "apparently crude sweep" through a Harlem building in search of Shakur. [3], Born in Flushing, Queens, she grew up in New York City and Wilmington, North Carolina. [138], At the post-trial press conference, Kunstler blamed the verdict on racism, stating that "the white element was there to destroy her". Pace, Eric (December 27, 1971). [193] In New York, three days after her escape, more than 5,000 demonstrators organized by the National Black Human Rights Coalition carried signs with the same slogan. "[12], On December 21, 1971, Shakur was named by the New York City Police Department as one of four suspects in a hand grenade attack that destroyed a police car and injured two officers in Maspeth, Queens. [18] But she soon left the party, disliking the macho behavior of the men and believing that the BPP members and leaders lacked knowledge and understanding of United States black history. [26] Shakur is alleged to have said that she was glad that she had been shot; afterward, she was no longer afraid to be shot again. "[116], Shakur was indicted on May 30, 1974, on the charge of having robbed a Brooklyn bar and kidnapping bartender James E. Freeman for ransom. "[44][78] It gives an account of her life beginning with her youth in the South and New York. [27], Following an August 23, 1971, bank robbery in Queens, Shakur was sought for questioning. [227], A documentary film about Shakur, Eyes of the Rainbow, written and directed by Cuban filmmaker Gloria Rolando, appeared in 1997. [124] Shortly after deliberation began, the jury asked to see all the photographic exhibits taken from the surveillance footage. 1978). The two men were charged with the murder of Officer Scarangella and attempted murder of Officer Rainey. At that time, eight men who came to be known as the San Francisco 8 were accused of killing Sgt. [78][134][137] Of these attorneys, Kunstler, Ball, Cohen, Myers, Stern and Williams appeared in court for the turnpike trial. [217][218] The Resolution was due in no small part to the lobbying efforts of Governor Whitman and New Jersey Representative Bob Franks. Shakur, Assata (1987, New edition November 1, 1999). My name is Assata . [122] Andrew Jackson and two others indicted for the same robbery pleaded guilty; Jackson was sentenced to five years in prison and five years' probation; another was shot and killed in a gunfight in Florida on December 31, 1971, and the last remained at large at the time of Shakur's acquittal. Quick Reference. After graduation, she began using the name Assata Shakur, and briefly joined the Black Panther Party. "Jury Deliberations Begin in Murder Trial of Squire". Assata Olugbala Shakur is a political activist, author, fugitive and aunt of hip-hop artist, Tupac Shakur. Gupte, Pranay (July 21, 1973), "Joanne Chesimard Pleads Not Guilty in Holdup Here". Assata Shakur is Tupac Shakur's godmother Assata Shakur was the de facto leader of the Black Liberation Army in the early 1970s. Following her parents' divorce in 1950, she moved with her mother and maternal grandparents to Wilmington, North Carolina. [58][60] Recordings of Trooper Harper calling the dispatcher were played at the trials of both Acoli and Assata Shakur. [108][109][110], Shakur and four others (including Fred Hilton, Avon White, and Andrew Jackson) were indicted in the State Supreme Court in the Bronx on December 31, 1973, on charges of attempting to shoot and kill two policemenMichael O'Reilly and Roy Polliana, who were wounded but had since returned to dutyin an ambush in St. Albans, Queens on January 28, 1973. When asked by a reporter why, if that were the case, it took the jury 24 hours to reach a verdict, Kunstler replied, "That was just a pretense." [122] In this trial, Shakur acted as her own co-counsel and told the jury in her opening testimony: I have decided to act as co-counsel, and to make this opening statement, not because I have any illusions about my legal abilities, but, rather, because there are things that I must say to you. . I felt like an African woman".[24]. 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