Lolita Lebron in mural by Susan Greene

Assata speaking about the importance of justice, self determination & the role of black women in struggle (1 MB mp3)
From Freedom Archives audio archives
Photo: Scott Braley

Assata Shakur

Assata Shakur is an African-American woman, a social justice activist, a poet, an artist, a mother and a grandmother. She has lived in Cuba since the early 1980s. During the 1960s and 1970s, she found herself a victim of both racial profiling and political targeting. Like many activists of the day she was a target of the FBI's Counter Intelligence Program (COINTELPRO). She was sentenced to life + 33 years in prison for the killing of New Jersey police officer.

In 1979, after nearly six years behind bars, she escaped from Clinton Correctional Facility for Women in New Jersey and some time later emerged in Cuba where she applied for and received political asylum.

Since being in Cuba, she has continued her college education, published an autobiography, and has written on global issues facing women, youth, and people of color.

Assata Shakur photo

Photo credit: Jean Weisinger

More: About Assata