Assata Shakur: podcast appearances and interviews

Assata Olugbala Shakur, born JoAnne Deborah Byron on July 16, 1947, was an American political activist, revolutionary, and fugitive associated with the Black Liberation Army. She was involved with the Black Panther Party before becoming a member of the BLA. Shakur was convicted in 1977 of first degree murder for her role in a 1973 shootout on the New Jersey Turnpike, in which a New Jersey State Trooper was killed. She maintained that she did not fire the shots that resulted in the trooper's death, asserting that her right arm had been injured during the confrontation. Shakur was sentenced to life plus additional years. While serving her sentence at the Clinton Correctional Facility for Women in New Jersey, she escaped in 1979 with assistance from BLA members and the May 19th Communist Organization. She was granted political asylum in Cuba in 1984, where she resided until her death. Shakur was wanted by the FBI with a reward of one million dollars for her capture and was placed on the FBI Most Wanted Terrorists list in 2013 under the name Joanne Deborah Chesimard, making her the first woman to be listed. She remained a fugitive for 45 years before passing away on September 25, 2025, at the age of 78, according to the Cuban Foreign Ministry. Shakur's life was marked by her activism, her controversial legal history, and her enduring status as a fugitive.