BOSSIP can confirm that Assata Shakur, the revolutionary whose name has become a rallying cry for freedom fighters across generations, has passed away at 78. Source: Newsday LLC / Getty Born JoAnne Deborah Byron (later Joanne Chesimard) on July 16, 1947, in Queens, N.Y., the godmother and step-aunt of Tupac Shakur transformed herself into one of the most influential figures of the Black Liberation Movement. She was a member of the Black Panther Party before joining the Black Liberation Army, where she fought fiercely against white supremacy, capitalism, and state violence.