Assata Shakur - MAIN PAGE

UPDATE: We have reason to suspect that Assata has heard about this page and is pleased to be included in the Social Justice Wiki! SUPPORT THE HANDS OFF ASSATA CAMPAIGN!!! - As of today, the US Interest Section in Cuba is distributing flyers with Assata's photo, address, and phone number! This offense against privacy and Cuba's internationally recognized soveriegnty is putting Assata in GRAVE DANGER!

Assata Shakur changed the face of the black revolutionary. She along with other female activists intellectuals like Angela Davis not only popularized the afro; they also brought black women to the forefront of the black liberation movement. In her "Message to My Sistas", Assata proclaimed "BLACK PEOPLE WILL NEVER BE FREE UNLESS BLACK WOMEN PARTICIPATE IN EVERY ASPECT OF OUR STRUGGLE, ON EVERY LEVEL OF OUR STRUGGLE."

Assata took militant stances against racism, the U.S. prison system, capitalism, and inequalities in education that earned her a place on the FBI COINTELPRO watchlist and subjected her to constant police harassment. Her devastating struggle and resolve to persevere have motivated musicians, politicians, and activists alike.

"To label this woman a terrorist, is to bleed all meaning from the word. For, during her life as an activist, during her wounding and her arrest, and during her travails as an accused in courtrooms that were more lynching posts than halls of justice, she was terrorized by a system that wanted to punish her for daring to rebel." -Political Prisoner, Mumia Abu-Jamal

"She looked like she had soul. Later…I would discover that not only did she have soul, she also had immeasurable heart, courage and love." -Rapper and Actor, Mos Def

"They wanted to portray her as a terrorist, something that was an injustice, a brutality, an infamous lie"

-President of Cuba, Fidel Castro

"The meaning of this new million-dollar bounty is to encourage and finance what amounts to a kidnapping, one that could end with Assata’s death. Our memories are haunted by stories of fiercely independent Blacks whose dignity and pursuit of freedom won the hatred of enraged White men who sometimes murdered them, riding publicly in lynch mobs that no law restrained." -Law Professor, Kathleen Cleaver

Assata's miraculous story and connection to Hip- Hop icon Tupac Shakur (she was his aunt and godmother) have secured her a place in America's conscious Hip Hop culture and rap music. Well known artists like Common and Paris have put her story to music in their songs "Assata's Song" and "A Song for Assata" respectively.

Assata's political struggle has also inspired a clothing line. For "Hands Off Assata" Gear that supports the Hands Off Assata Campaign go to http://www.cafepress.com/assatashakur

Created By: Zainab Abdul-Rahim, rachel bolden-kramer, Damani Taylor, Natznet, Mike GW,

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