Tupac Shakur’s Godmother Assata Shakur Is First Woman on FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorists List

Activist Assata Olugbala Shakur (real name Joanne Deborah Chesimard) became the first woman to be placed on the FBI's Most Wanted Terrorists list.

Shakur, a former member of the Black Liberation Army, was convicted of first-degree murder stemming from the 1973 shooting of N.J. State trooper Werner Foerster during a traffic stop. She has long denied her involvement in the murder and claims that she is being framed by the FBI's COINTELPRO program. Shakur later escaped prison in 1979, and ended up in Cuba with political asylum by 1984.

Aaron Ford, of the FBI's Newark, N.J. division, stated that the 61-year-old activist may be living in Cuba and presumes she has connections to other international terrorist organizations.

"She is a domestic terrorist who murdered a law enforcement officer execution style," he said. "And while we can't right the wrongs of the past, we can and will continue to pursue justice no matter how long it takes."

Shakur's longtime attorney, Lennox Hinds, as well as political activist Angela Davis have denounced the FBI adding the exiled activist to the terrorist list.

Assata Shakur, who is the godmother and aunt of the late Tupac Shakur, has been recognized as a "political prisoner," and praised for her activism by rappers like Common and Chuck D of Public Enemy.

The state of New Jersey and the FBI have upped the reward for her capture to $2 million.

Listen to Common's Track 'A Song for Assata'