Assata Shakur , a political activist and the godmother of pioneering rapper Tupac Shakur , died Sept. 25. She was 78.

Her death was confirmed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Cuba, where she had been living in exile 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 turnpike four years prior.

Shakur died in Havana, Cuba , "due to health conditions and advanced age," the ministry said. She was a close friend of slain rapper Tupac 's mother, Afeni Shakur, a fellow activist and member of the Black Panther Party.

A New York City native, Shakur first joined the Black Panther Party after graduating college, contributing to the group's political activism and commu

See Full Page