Assata Shakur was a political activist and Godmother to legendary rapper Tupac Shakur. She unfortunately passed away at age 78 on Sept 25, 2025.

The ministry of foreign affairs in Cuba confirmed her death. She had been living in exile in Cuba since escaping a New Jersey prison.

Shakur whose legal name is Joanne Deborah Byron, was convicted in 1977 of killing a state trooper in a shootout on the New Jersey in 1973.

Shakur died in Havana, Cuba “due to health conditions and advanced age,” the ministry said.

She was close friends with Afeni Shakur, a fellow activist, member of the Black Panther Party and mother of Tupac Shakur.

In 1977, Shakur was convicted on several counts, including first-degree murder, assault and battery of a police officer.

She was sentenced to life in prison but escaped in November of 1979, living underground before being granted political asylum in Cuba in 1984.

Since 2013 she had been on the FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorist list – The first woman ever to be added to the list.

In the years since, she has become a potent political symbol, representing for some a valiant soldier in the war against an oppressive and racist police state.

Shakurs 1988 memoir, “Assata: An Autobiography,” has had an enduring influence on the Black power movement.