Assata Shakur
American activist who was a member of the Black Panther Party and Black Liberation Army
Biography
Assata Shakur was born in New York City in 1947 and worked as a political activist, resistance fighter, editor, poet, and writer. She was a member of the Black Panther Party and later the Black Liberation Army. In 1977, she was convicted of the first-degree murder of New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster during a 1973 shootout on the New Jersey Turnpike. She escaped from prison in 1979 and became a fugitive sought by the FBI; a one-million-dollar reward was offered for information leading to her capture, with an additional one-million-dollar reward from the New Jersey attorney general. She remained a fugitive for 45 years until her death in 2025.
Occupation
Assata Shakur is recorded as a political activist, a resistance fighter, a editing staff, a poet and a writer, born in New York (1947–2025).
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Assata Shakur was born in New York City, New York in 1947. Explore other notable figures from New York, historic sites connected to this era, and the full colonial and statehood history of the state using the links below.
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