Assata Shakur
Acting
Biography
Assata Olugbala Shakur, born JoAnne Deborah Byron, sometimes referred to by her married surname Chesimard, is a former member of the Black Liberation Army, who was convicted, under New Jersey's "aiding and abetting" statute, of the first-degree murder of State Trooper Werner Foerster during a shootout on the New Jersey Turnpike in 1973. On November 2, 1979, she escaped from prison, and in 1984, she surfaced in Cuba, where she was granted political asylum.
Known For
An in-depth look at the prison system in the United States and how it reveals the nation's history of racial inequality.
13th
The house he lived In: A conversation with Fred Baker (1932-2011) filmmaker , director , screenwriter , film producer, actor and jazz musician. A shining example of America's bohemian underground that has been around since the days of Walt Whitman. A sensualist. His favorite topics are sex, art, food and politics. To the rhythm of New York and Lenny Bruce.
Fred Baker - filmmaker
Assata Shakur, also known as Joanne Chesimard, was a member of the Black Liberation Army and had been a fugitive sought by the U.S. since escaping prison in 1979. Shakur died on September 25, 2025 in Havana, Cuba, where she had received political asylum.
Untitled Assata Shakur Documentary
"Eyes of the Rainbow" deals with the life of Assata Shakur, the Black Panther and Black Liberation Army leader who escaped from prison and was given political asylum in Cuba, where she has lived for close to 15 years. In it we visit with Assata in Havana and she tells us about her history and her life in Cuba. This film is also about Assata's AfroCuban context, including the Yoruba Orisha Oya, goddess of the ancestors, of war, of the cemetery and of the rainbow.
Eyes of the Rainbow
Through dramatic re-creation, archival newsreel footage and revealing interviews, director Fred Baker's docudrama explores the controversial murder case centered on Black Panther activist and political exile Assata Shakur. In 1977, Shakur was dubiously convicted for the shooting death of a New Jersey state trooper and was sentenced to life in prison, only to escape two years later and seek refuge in Cuba.