Tupac’s Grandmother Dies In Cuba Decades After Escaping Prison, Fleeing US

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Assata Shakur, the grandmother of hip hop legend Tupac Shakur, has passed away.

Shakur died in Cuba, where she’s lived since escaping from a US prison in 1979.

Though best known these days for raising Tupac’s mother, Afeni Shakur, Assata first gained fame for her involvement in the struggle for civil rights.

She was 78 years old.

Assata Shakur’s dramatic life comes to an end in Cuba

A former member of the Black Panther Party and the Black Liberation Army, Shakur became a prominent figure in the civil rights movement in the 1960s.

Raised between New York and North Carolina, she was active in movements that sought racial justice, community empowerment, and opposition to systemic racism and police brutality.

Her life took a dramatic turn in 1973, when a car she was riding in was pulled over for a faulty taillight on the New Jersey Turnpike.

The traffic stop resulted in a shootout that left a state trooper and a Black Liberation Army member dead.

Shakur was wounded, arrested, and convicted of murder in 1977.

In 1979, Shakur managed to escape. She sought political asylum in Cuba, and lived there for the remainder of her life.

The FBI placed her on its Most Wanted Terrorists list in 2013, and the US government sought her extradition until the very end of her days.

While living in Cuba, Shakur penned her influential book Assata: An Autobiography.

Many who are paying tribute today have shared the ways in which they were influenced by the text.

“Beyond her political battles, Assata Shakur’s autobiography became a cornerstone text for generations of activists, offering insight into the experiences of Black women within liberation movements and the broader fight against systemic racism,” reads one such tribute.

“Her passing marks the end of an era, but her story will continue to spark dialogue about justice, freedom, and the ongoing pursuit of equality.”

Despite the distance between them, Assata was an influential figure in the life of Tupac, who was tragically gunned down in 1996.