Assata Shakur, a veteran of the Black Panther Party and Black Liberation Army, has been living in Cuba under political asylum since her escape from a New Jersey state prison in 1979.   (Courtesy photo)

Washington, October 13 (RHC)-- An international coalition of grassroots organizers and elected officials have launched a campaign demanding that the U.S. government lifts its embargo on Cuba and takes Assata Shakur off the FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorist Watch List.  

Shakur, 76, a veteran of Black Panther Party and Black Liberation Army, escaped from a New Jersey state prison in 1979 —  two years after she was convicted and sentenced to life for the murder of a New Jersey state trooper.  That conviction has been heavily contested among Black nationalists and Pan-Africanists. 

Since her escape, Shakur has been living in Cuba under political asylum. In 2013, the FBI under President Barack Obama placed Shakur on its Most Wanted Terrorist Watch List. Shakur, the first woman ever to make the list, has a $1 million federal bounty on her as well as a $1 million bounty issued by the Office of the Attorney General of New Jersey.  

On Wednesday, Oct. 11, more than 50 elected youths, elected officials, musicians, educators and grassroots organizers gathered virtually to launch what’s been dubbed as The Appeal for Assata & Cuba. For more than an hour, they lionized Shakur as an enduring symbol of African liberation while denouncing the U.S. government’s designation of Shakur as a terrorist. 

Several speakers also laid out plans for a long-term, multifaceted campaign that involves educators, artists and elected officials. Prince George’s County At-Large Council member Calvin Hawkins, who counted among those most vocal about The Appeal for Assata & Cuba, expressed plans to call on other elected officials to support this cause.

“I’m standing with the Black liberation movement and Black liberators as an elected council member in Prince George’s County,” Hawkins said. 

“I will work with elected officials to [to help them understand] that we can’t be comfortable in our elected position and forget about those who struggled and gave the ultimate sacrifice [for us] to sit in these elected offices,” Hawkins continued. “It will take us in elected offices to tell our government that enough is enough. I stand prepared to assist in any way.” 

* published by The Washington Informer