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TopFlash

Assata Shakur Revolutionary symbol of the Black Resistance

New York, late 1960s. The city was buzzing with racial tensions and protest movements. At the heart of this effervescence, a young woman, JoAnne Deborah Byron, born on July 16, 1947 in Jamaica, Queens, New York, would embark on a journey that would propel her to the forefront of the media scene, then into the shadows of clandestinity. Her story, that of Assata Olugbala Shakur, would be marked by activism and violence, controversial trials, a spectacular escape and a life of exile in Cuba, transforming her life into a veritable detective story where the quest for justice clashes with the forces of the state. Assata Shakur, whose real name is JoAnne Chesimard, adopted the name Assata, meaning“ she who struggles” and“ the grateful”, to identify herself fully with revolutionary struggles. Her life became a symbol of resistance and the quest for justice, often described as a woman who refused to bow to oppression.

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