(Gray News) - Assata Shakur, a Black liberation activist wanted by the FBI since she escaped a U.S. prison in 1979, has died in Cuba.

Shakur, who was born Joanne Deborah Chesimard, died Thursday in Havana from “health conditions and advanced age,” according to Cuba’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Associated Press reported her daughter, Kakuya Shakur, also confirmed her death.

She was 78 years old.

Shakur was a member of the Black Panther Party and the Black Liberation Army, as well as the godmother and step-aunt of Tupac Shakur.

FILE — Assata Shakur, born Joanne Chesimard, a member of the Black Panther Party and Black Liberation Army, leaves Middlesex County courthouse, in New Brunswick, N.J., April 25, 1977. (AP Photo, File)

In 2013, the FBI made her the first woman on its lis

See Full Page