Assata Shakur’s life and legacy are being brought to the screen through a new documentary and scripted series from filmmakers Giselle and Stephen Bailey, just weeks after the activist and former Black Liberation Army member died in exile in Cuba at age 78.
The sibling duo, known for HBO’s Seen & Heard: The History of Black Television, received full authorization from Shakur’s daughter, Kakuya Shakur, to tell the story of one of the most polarizing figures in American history.
The Baileys’ work includes Netflix’s Ladies First: A Story of Women in Hip-Hop and HBO’s The Legend of the Underground.
Civil rights icon Angela Davis has signed on as executive producer for the projects under the Baileys’ Indigo Films banner.
“Assata’s story is important to all Americans as it reveals the powers that divide us and our capacity to heal,” the Baileys said in a statement to Variety.
The documentary has already secured backing from Sundance, Firelight Media, the Concordia Fellowship and Chicken & Egg Films. Netflix’s creative equity fund helped provide a key research and development grant.
Civil rights attorney Lennox Hinds, who represented Assata Shakur for decades, granted the filmmakers exclusive access to legal archives and personal materials.
Born JoAnne Chesimard, Shakur was convicted in 1977 for the killing of New Jersey state trooper Werner Foerster during a traffic stop in 1973. She escaped prison in 1979 and fled to Cuba, where she was granted asylum and lived until her death on September 25 in Havana.
Shakur’s influence on Hip-Hop culture stretches far beyond her political activism. Her godson Tupac Shakur became one of the most iconic voices in rap.
Chuck D famously shouted her out in Public Enemy’s 1987 track “Rebel Without A Pause” with the line “supporter of Chesimard!” and Common paid tribute in his 2000 track “A Song for Assata,” which drew criticism when he was invited to perform at the White House in 2011.
“Hip-Hop culture inherently speaks truth to power and tries to act against power,” Rosa Clemente, a longtime grassroots organizer and Hip-Hop activist, told The Grio.com. “Assata Shakur, through her life and her freedom, not only speaks against power, she escaped from the most powerful military empire in the world.”
In a 2000 interview, Assata Shakur reflected on Hip-Hop’s potential to raise awareness, saying, “Hip-Hop can be a very powerful weapon to help expand young people’s political and social consciousness. But just as with any weapon, if you don’t know how to use it, if you don’t know where to point it, or what you’re using it for, you can end up shooting yourself in the foot or killing your sisters or brothers.”
Shakur remained a controversial figure throughout her life, with the FBI placing her on its Most Wanted Terrorist list in 2013. Despite the political firestorm surrounding her, she became a symbol of resistance and self-determination for generations of activists and artists.