“Any community seriously concerned with its own freedom has to be concerned about other people’s freedom as well.”

Assata Shakur

Assata Shakur seemed like a complicated figure when I first learned about her. The main thing people mentioned was her conviction for the murder of a state trooper and subsequent escape from a New Jersey prison, eventually being granted political asylum in Cuba.

Except upon further investigation it’s just not that cut and dry. Seven trials took place for her indictments on bank robberies, attempted murders, kidnappings, and shootouts. Shakur was acquitted in three cases. Lack of evidence or witness credibility caused three other cases to be dropped.

Assata Shakur’s sole conviction was for the murder of Trooper Werner Foerster but that case had a number of issues. Early reports didn’t mention Foerster’s presence at the scene. Shakur’s fingerprints were not on any weapons and she had negative gunpowder residue tests on her hands. Additionally, medical diagnosis determined Shakur would have been unable to fire her gun after being shot by Foerster and independent experts stated her injuries could only have happened if her arms were raised while being shot. Assata Shakur was convicted by an all-white jury, several of whom had ties to law enforcement.

There’s a great deal to this woman pivotal to the Black Liberation movement. You can read more about her life in this article by Charlotte Dikamona.

Linda hosts One-Liner Wednesday.