Assata Shakur Becomes 1st Woman Added To FBI Most Wanted Terrorist List

Forty years since her implication in a 1973 murder of a New Jersey state trooper, freedom fighter Assata Shakur (real name Joanne Chesimard) has gained new notoriety as the first woman ever added to the FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorist List.

Shakur has been living in Cuba in exile following her 1979 escape from a New Jersey prison thanks to the Black Liberation Army. During that time she has granted few interviews and wrote a book detailing her struggles with the government and her life in exile, liking herself to a “20th century freed slave”. The United States Justice Department announced a doubling of reward for her capture to $2 million. Rapper Common spoke on the revolutionary in his song “A Song For Assata” and dream hampton spotlighted her in her film Black August: A Hip-Hop Benefit Concert or simply known as Black August.

[via CBS News]