Assata Shakur, Assata: An Autobiography (Conn.: Liberation/Zed, 1987).
On May 2, 2013 the FBI included Assata Shakur on the list of the world's most wanted terrorists. She is the only woman included on that list as of the date of this essay.
Events in New Jersey that gave rise to criminal convictions for armed robbery and murder against Ms. Shakur are several decades-old and characterized by "irregularities" that have led international legal authorities and American scholars to dismiss the Garden State proceedings, rightly, as "offensive to due process of law and human rights."
This "offensiveness" is true of most legal proceedings in America's Soprano State. ("Law and Ethics in the Soprano State" then "America's Holocaust" and "So Black and So Blue in Prison.")
Hence, the issue arises of what exactly motivates this FBI action, at this time, and how fair-minded persons will view these media events.
It is somewhat unusual for the FBI to hold a press conference to announce not the arrest of a culprit, but merely the inclusion of someone on a "most wanted" list.
First, the impetus for this gesture by the FBI -- which has yet to respond to my communication -- comes from Mr. Chiesa's office in Trenton, and/or forces within the Garden State police, that are also behind much of the cybercrime and censorship I struggle against. ("What is it like to be tortured?" and "How censorship works in America.")
Along with many others, evidently, I am deemed to be a "collateral victim" of New Jersey's "get tough" policies -- as are many patrons of the New York Public Library -- policies that are designed to bring philosophy or cultural theory and other sinister forces under control. Members of my family, presumably, may also be targeted, even if they disagree with my opinions.
There are also Republican Congresspersons, Ms. Ros-Leghtinen for example, who may wish to embarass Mr. Obama among the president's Leftist supporters by implying that this decision to include Ms. Shakur as a terrorist comes from the White House.
I doubt that Ms. Shakur's case is Mr. Obama's priority during a week when America's Chief Executive renewed his commitment to the effort to close Guantanamo prison.
Clearly, some politicians are unhappy about the president's Guantanamo decision and need a distraction from the inmates' current hunger strike, preferably a "distraction" or media event that will hurt Mr. Obama among Leftists and African-Americans.
Second, the politics of this move is intended to further separate the U.S. and Cuba in order to make cooperation between the two countries on genuine human rights issues or security matters unlikely and an end to the embargo more unlikely.
Besides, anti-Cuban propaganda -- financed by U.S. taxpayers --- remains a matter of continuing urgency and income for some people in Miami and New Jersey. ("Cubanazos Pose a Threat to National Security" and "Cubanoids Protest Against Peace" then "American Hypocrisy and Luis Posada Carriles.")
Normalization of relations between the U.S. and Cuba would result in the loss of a lucrative source of revenue for many Right-wing Cuban-American interest groups currently receiving from $70-100 MILLION per year, often in covert funds (according to media reports), drawn from intelligence agency assets or military sources. As usual in American politics, much of this is about MONEY.
The inclusion of Ms. Shakur on the so-called "list of wanted terrorists" -- Ms. Shakur has not experienced a single legal problem during her years in Cuba where she has built a new life, which would be unusual for a true "sociopath" -- is a distraction that included an African-American FBI agent as window dressing for public relations purposes. Mr. McGill? ("New Jersey's Office of Attorney Ethics" and "New Jersey's 'Ethical' Legal System.")
The goal of the press conference, clearly, is to detract attention from coverage of the hunger strike and brutal forced-feeding of detainees at Guantanamo which has received the condemnation of the world. Ms. Shakur may be transported to Guantanamo, if captured, in a further insult of the Cuban and international authorities.
By raising the reward for Ms. Shakur's capture or death to $2 MILLION, Miami's lone gunmen may be encouraged to try to kill or capture Ms. Shakur in Havana, Cuba.
This "Wild West" scenario would create a public danger in that island nation. This would not be acceptable to people in Cuba. Ms. Shakur has received political asylum and will be protected by Cuban security services.
Finally, the refusal of permission to MARIELA CASTRO, of the Cuban Interests Mission in New York, to attend a conference on gay and lesbian rights in Pennsylvania is part of the same effort (directed by Cuban-American politicians like Menendez, Rubio, Ros-Leghtinen) to foster hostilities between the U.S. and Cuba in order to strengthen their position with conservative Cuban-American voters and contributors. ("Is Senator Menendez 'For' Human Rights?")
Lack of cooperation between the two governments on bilateral security matters will make future terrorism more and not less likely. Ms. Shakur is viewed, again correctly, by most of the world as a torture victim and political dissident. ("Larry Peterson Cleared by DNA" and "Terry Tuchin, Diana Lisa Riccioli, and New Jersey's Agency of Torture.")
It is obvious that Ms. Shakur is far from an international terrorist or source of concern for U.S. law enforcement. It is also clear that Mr. Obama was not the force behind this listing by the FBI and may even be a political target of the action. Will there be a call to list Mr. Obama as an "enemy combatant"? ("Is Lindsey Graham an Enemy Combatant?" and "Mr. Boehner's Disgrace.")
I am only one more tortured dissident writing at the NYPL AFTER the destruction of my home computer. Any reprisals should be aimed exclusively at me, not against my family members. ("Foucault, Rose, Davis and the Meanings of Prison" and "Justice For Mumia Abu-Jamal.")
" ... it was the racism in Middlesex County, fueled by biased, inflammatory publicity in the local press before and throughout the trial, fanned by the documented government lawlessness, that made it possible for the white jury to convict Assata on the uncorroborated, contradictory, and generally incredible testimony of Trooper Harper, the only witness to the events on the Turnpike. ..." (Assata, p. xi.)
