The Mind of an Angry, Black Woman: Rest in Peace Assata Shakur

Black women matter. Black women in history have always been seen as “other,” or the other. She can’t be both a woman and Black. With that, she is placed at the bottom of the oppressed. As a woman, she’s expected to learn her home before her mind, find her husband before her heart, and have children—completely hindering her childhood to give new life what she couldn’t have.

She does it all with what she has and what she works her ass for. All in silence. Determination. And audacity. Never did she ask for a handout or for understanding; she just asked that you open your eyes to her pain. See through her eyes—her anger and her agency.

Black women throughout time have always been, and continue to be, seen as less and treated far worse. We tend to be the first at the scene and the last to leave. As Black women, we are born leaders—born women and born Black. Throughout history, we are seen as both the most influenced and the strongest. The phrase “strong Black woman” is normally associated with activism. In our perspective, these women come in many different shades of brown and vast personalities.

Strong Black women. Women who care. Women who expanded what it means to be a Black woman in the revolution—addressing issues such as education, health care, and the development of youth. Black women are natural nurturers. While challenging racism and sexism, they never lost sight of the passion that was the end goal: Black liberation and freedom for all.

Assata Shakur, born JoAnne Deborah Byron on July 16, 1947, is one of the greatest political activists in history. A revolutionary and member of the Black Panther Party and the Black Liberation Army, the late Assata Shakur is who I would correctly define as a beautiful, Black, “angry” woman.

On May 2, 1973, Shakur—then a prominent member of the BLA—was involved in a horrific shootout with New Jersey State Police, which resulted in the death of State Trooper Werner Foerster and fellow member Zayd Malik Shakur. In 1977, Shakur was imprisoned. A normal day in May turned into the start of a never-ending journey with no destination for a long time—chaos filled with death, fear, and imprisonment.

In 1979, Shakur escaped prison and fled to Cuba under political asylum. Through her autobiography, she goes in depth about what she went through. She stresses her time in the BLA as well as her early experiences being incarcerated—the treatment cruel and unforgettable. This Black woman spent much of her young life in prison, unaware that this particular crime would be permanently linked to her. Her fight for freedom turned into a fight for survival for over 50 years, as she was hunted for the rest of her life.

She became the first Black woman ever placed on the FBI’s Most Wanted list, with a $2 million bounty announced in 2013. In her autobiography, Assata Shakur explains how it is our duty to fight for our freedom, no matter what.

“No movement can survive unless it is constantly growing and changing with the times. If it isn't growing, if it's stagnant and without the support of the people, no movement for liberation can exist, no matter how correct its analysis of the situation is. That's why political work and organizing are so important. Unless you are addressing the issues people are concerned about and contributing positive direction, they'll never support you. The first thing the enemy tries to do is isolate revolutionaries from the masses of people, making us horrible and hideous monsters so that our people will hate us.”

Leading through her struggles in life, and now in death, we celebrate this strong Black woman for her fight against injustice. That is why we say her name:

Assata Shakur.

Breonna Taylor.

Sandra Bland.

Tanisha Anderson.

Korryn Gaines.

Michelle Cusseaux.

Kayla Moore.

Rekia Boyd.

And to the many more beautiful, “angry” Black women whose lives were ruined by racism.