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Assata Shakur, the grandmother of hip hop legend Tupac Shakur, has handed away.
Shakur died in Cuba, the place she’s lived since escaping from a US jail in 1979.
Although greatest identified nowadays for elevating Tupac’s mom, Afeni Shakur, Assata first gained fame for her involvement within the battle for civil rights.
She was 78 years outdated.
Assata Shakur’s dramatic life involves an finish in Cuba
A former member of the Black Panther Occasion and the Black Liberation Military, Shakur grew to become a distinguished determine within the civil rights motion within the Sixties.
Raised between New York and North Carolina, she was lively in actions that sought racial justice, group empowerment, and opposition to systemic racism and police brutality.
Her life took a dramatic flip in 1973, when a automobile she was driving in was pulled over for a defective taillight on the New Jersey Turnpike.
The site visitors cease resulted in a shootout that left a state trooper and a Black Liberation Military member lifeless.
Shakur was wounded, arrested, and convicted of homicide in 1977.
In 1979, Shakur managed to flee. She sought political asylum in Cuba, and lived there for the rest of her life.
The FBI positioned her on its Most Wished Terrorists record in 2013, and the US authorities sought her extradition till the very finish of her days.
Whereas dwelling in Cuba, Shakur penned her influential ebook Assata: An Autobiography.
Many who’re paying tribute immediately have shared the methods during which they have been influenced by the textual content.
“Past her political battles, Assata Shakur’s autobiography grew to become a cornerstone textual content for generations of activists, providing perception into the experiences of Black girls inside liberation actions and the broader battle in opposition to systemic racism,” reads one such tribute.
“Her passing marks the tip of an period, however her story will proceed to spark dialogue about justice, freedom, and the continued pursuit of equality.”
Regardless of the gap between them, Assata was an influential determine within the lifetime of Tupac, who was tragically gunned down in 1996.
