and the clock is TICKing LOUDly…

Guess by now, we ‘ve all heard that Fidel Castro,81, has resigned as the President of Cuba and passing on the torch to his brother,Raul Castro,76. Whether or not you agree or disagree with the ideals and principals of Fidel Castro, is not my point nor is it my source of anxiety.  What sends me in a state of unease is the uncertainty of one Joanne Chesimard, better known as Assata Shakur.

As a Black Panther, then known as the Black Liberation Army (BLA)  in the 1970’s, Assata along with a few other party members were tried and convicted for the murder of a New Jersey Turnpike trooper.  Although there were conflicting stories and various instances to prove that this was a setup made to imprison and silence the party, she was tried by all white jury and convicted in 1977, sentenced to life in prison. Before breaking out in 1979, she gave birth to her daughter Kakuyu.       Assata Shakur has been living in Cuba from 1986 to present, under the rule of Fidel Castro and under the watchful eyes of US law enforcement agencies such as the F.B.I., C.I.A amongst others…There have not been any shortages of the NJ law enforcement agencies offering bounties on Assata’s head, such as in this ‘05 flyer : 

Having Fidel step down gives the US Government and their authorities the chance they’ve been waiting for for the past twenty some odd years…And  frankly, that’s quite a scary thought.  After-all, what other country would shield Assata from the “long arm” of  the US bullies.

RUN ASSATA RUN is all that came to mind when I heard of Fidel’s departure.

At this point, we’ll just have to wait and see what regime changes will do for the safety of Assata. Let’s bow our heads and say a silent one.

T.