The recent passing of Black Panther and Black Liberation Army leader Assata Shakur unleashed more than a sense of loss. It sparked a sense of pride in her defiance, a sense of gratitude for the movements and organizations that sustained her and a flowering of hope that the freedom she fought for could one day be real for the rest of us.

The collective grief is still fresh following Assata’s passing in Havana, Cuba, on September 25. News of her death arrived amid a national conversation in the U.S. about violence and grief that had centered around the murder of far right activist Charlie Kirk , the ongoing genocide in Gaza, and the onslaught of a news cycle that delivers a steady stream of bad news daily about health care, education, the environment, and draconian immigration policies.

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