Assata Shakur (born Joanne Deborah Byron Chesimard)
On May 2, 1973, Shakur, at the time a member of Black Liberation Army and no longer a member of the Black Panther Party, was stopped on the New Jersey State Turnpike by State Troopers James Harper and Werner Foerster, along with two Black Panthers: Zayd Shakur and Sundiata Acoli, for driving with a broken taillight. According to police records, Assata opened fire on the troopers, and a gunfight ensued, during which Zayd Shakur and Trooper Foerster were killed, Assata Shakur and Trooper Harper injured. Assata is said to have taken the service weapon of the then wounded Trooper Foerster, and shot him twice in the head.
The three then got back into their car and escaped. Eight miles away, Sundiata abandoned the car holding the wounded Assata and the dead Zayd to flee into the woods, and was captured after a manhunt the following day.
Over the next two-and-a-half years Assata Shakur was incarcerated while tried in six different criminal trials. Shakur alleges that she was beaten and tortured during her incarceration in a number of different federal and state prisons. The charges ranged from kidnapping to assault and battery to bank robbery. Shakur was found guilty of the murder of both Foerster and her companion Zayd Shakur, for her involvement at the gun battle, despite physical evidence that she could not have fired a weapon during the incident (Felony murder). In 1979 she escaped a maximum-security prison in Hunterdon County and lived as a fugitive until 1984 when she fled to Cuba where she was granted political asylum.
At this time I'd like to say a few words especially to my sisters: SISTERS. BLACK PEOPLE WILL NEVER BE FREE UNLESS BLACK WOMEN PARTICIPATE
IN EVERY ASPECT OF OUR STRUGGLE, ON EVERY LEVEL OF OUR STRUGGLE.I think that Black women, more than anybody on the face of the earth, recognize the urgency of our situation. Because it is We who come face to face daily with the institutions of our oppression. And because it is We who have borne the major responsibility of raising our children. And it is We who have to deal with the welfare systems that do not care about the welfare of our children. And it is We who have to deal with the school systems that do not educate our children. It is We who have to deal with the racist teachers who teach our children to hate themselves. It is We who have seen the terrible effects of racism on our children.
Excerpt from Assata Shakur.org
On May 2, 1973, Shakur, at the time a member of Black Liberation Army and no longer a member of the Black Panther Party, was stopped on the New Jersey State Turnpike by State Troopers James Harper and Werner Foerster, along with two Black Panthers: Zayd Shakur and Sundiata Acoli, for driving with a broken taillight. According to police records, Assata opened fire on the troopers, and a gunfight ensued, during which Zayd Shakur and Trooper Foerster were killed, Assata Shakur and Trooper Harper injured. Assata is said to have taken the service weapon of the then wounded Trooper Foerster, and shot him twice in the head.
The three then got back into their car and escaped. Eight miles away, Sundiata abandoned the car holding the wounded Assata and the dead Zayd to flee into the woods, and was captured after a manhunt the following day.
Over the next two-and-a-half years Assata Shakur was incarcerated while tried in six different criminal trials. Shakur alleges that she was beaten and tortured during her incarceration in a number of different federal and state prisons. The charges ranged from kidnapping to assault and battery to bank robbery. Shakur was found guilty of the murder of both Foerster and her companion Zayd Shakur, for her involvement at the gun battle, despite physical evidence that she could not have fired a weapon during the incident (Felony murder). In 1979 she escaped a maximum-security prison in Hunterdon County and lived as a fugitive until 1984 when she fled to Cuba where she was granted political asylum.
At this time I'd like to say a few words especially to my sisters: SISTERS. BLACK PEOPLE WILL NEVER BE FREE UNLESS BLACK WOMEN PARTICIPATE
IN EVERY ASPECT OF OUR STRUGGLE, ON EVERY LEVEL OF OUR STRUGGLE.I think that Black women, more than anybody on the face of the earth, recognize the urgency of our situation. Because it is We who come face to face daily with the institutions of our oppression. And because it is We who have borne the major responsibility of raising our children. And it is We who have to deal with the welfare systems that do not care about the welfare of our children. And it is We who have to deal with the school systems that do not educate our children. It is We who have to deal with the racist teachers who teach our children to hate themselves. It is We who have seen the terrible effects of racism on our children.
Excerpt from Assata Shakur.org
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