Assata Olugbala Shakur (1947-2025)

Daughter. Sister. Mother. Comrade. Revolutionary. Migrant. Asylum Seeker. Ancestor. 

On Thursday, September 25, Assata Olugbala Shakur – member of the Black Panther Party, the Black Liberation Army, and a global symbol of Black resistance – passed away in Cuba at the age of 78.

Assata lived as a free woman. She died as a free woman. And in doing so, she showed generations of us what freedom looks like when we refuse to bow.

A Revolutionary Life
Born in 1947 in Queens, Assta became a leader in the Black Liberation Movement of the 1960s and 1970s. She was targeted, vilified, and criminalized for her unyielding commitment to Black freedom. Subjected to racist trials, torture, and solitary confinement, Assata endured what so many Black migrants and asylum seekers endure today: state-sanctioned persecution designed to silence dissent. 

On November 2, 1979, Assata liberated herself from prison. In 1984, Cuba granted her political asylum, recognizing that her life was in danger. She would live in exile for nearly 50 years, separated from family and homeland, yet rooted in dignity and community.

Migration, Asylum, and Black Freedom
Assata’s life reminds us that migration is a human right. She was forced into exile because the United States refused her justice. Cuba’s decision to grant her asylum was not charity – it was recognition that state violence and political persecution are real, and that all people deserve sanctuary when their lives are threatened. 

Yet today, Black migrants continue to face the same structural violence. Although they represent only 7% of non-citizens in the U.S., Black migrants make up 20% of deportation cases, often targeted with trumped-up “criminal” charges. In ICE detention, Black immigrants are six times more likely to be locked in solitary confinement – a practice condemned internationally as torture. 

Assata’s survival as a migrant and asylum seeker is a revolutionary example of how governments should function: by honoring human dignity, providing safety, and protecting freedom. 

Legacy

Assata’s influence extended far beyond her exile. Her autobiography is a cornerstone of political education. Her words – “It is our duty to fight for our freedom. It is our duty to win. We must love each other and support each other. We have nothing to lose but our chains.” – are scripture for movements around the world. She has been celebrated in music, art, and in the living traditions of Black radical thought. 

We honor Assata not only as a revolutionary, but as a migrant whose story reminds us that the fight for Black liberation and the fight for migrant justice are inseparable. 

Assata Olugbala Shakur lived free, died free, and left us all freer than we were. 

Rest in power. Rest in freedom. Rest in victory.