There’s a high chance you know the name Tupac Shakur. If you don’t, you are definitely from another planet. He’s the master behind “California Love,” the song that still dominates every summer playlist.
It’s less likely, but entirely possible, that you recognize the name Afeni Shakur. That’s his mother — the subject of his famous song “Dear Mama” that still gets radio spins, especially on the second Sunday in May.
But have you ever heard of the name Assata Shakur? What percentage of Las Positas College’s 8,000-plus students would you think recognizes it?
I’d be shocked if it’s higher than 10%.
Assata Shakur is arguably the most important of the three, and not because she was 2Pac’s godmother. Assata was a revolutionary icon, a former member of the Black Liberation Army and Black Panther Party. She died Sept. 25 in Cuba at 78. Exiled for decades, she remained a powerful symbol of Black resistance, liberation and the government’s relentless attempts to silence revolutionaries.
It’s frustrating to engage in conversations and realize how little the average American knows about our history. The history of America taught to us has been severely whitewashed. The true stories require effort and curiosity to uncover.
Luckily, not all Americans are oblivious to the legacy Shakur has left behind. For example,
“Fresh Prince of Bel Air” actress Tatyana Ali took to X, expressing her solidarity with the late freedom fighter.
“On a plane, crying in my hoodie because I read that Assata Shakur has passed on. Her writing changed my trajectory and helped me turn my anger and pain to a deep spiritual loving. Keep our sister close to you Lord and rest her soul.”
One of Assata Shakur’s many contributions to the Civil Rights Movement includes leading the Black Panther Party in Harlem, where she coordinated the Free Breakfast for Children program.
Her activism began as a college student in the 1960s at Borough of Manhattan Community College and then the City College of New York. This is where she began involving herself in Civil Rights protests and sit-ins. Throughout her life, she challenged racial oppression, police brutality and economic inequality within Black communities.
“No one is going to give you the education you need to overthrow them,” she famously said. “Nobody is going to teach you your true history, teach you your true heroes, if they know that that knowledge will help set you free.”
While it may make some people uncomfortable to confront the past, the erasure of revolutionaries is not the solution. Learning about Shakur and others like her is key to not only understanding the present, but to ensure we do not regress.
Despite the many contributions of people like Assata Shakur to the Civil Rights Movement, however, the United States continues to erase their legacies. The Trump Administration is no exception. In March, President Trump signed an executive order titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.” The order was passed to erase America’s racist past in order to deny its racist present.
In August, Trump accused the National Museum of African American History and Culture of being “divisive,” claiming that there’s too much focus on “how bad slavery was.” While Trump has not commented on Shakur’s passing, he once demanded Cuba to return her to the United States.
We’ve entered an era of ignorance amplified by the willful unenlightenment of President Trump and his MAGA minions. Their agenda goes beyond ignoring history — they deny it, hide it and revise it. At times, having historical awareness feels less like a strength and more like a liability. Knowing too much makes you the outsider in some social settings.
It’s not just the radicals with a rap sheet that are erased from our history. Most Americans don’t even know who Claudette Colvin is. She was a young 15-year-old Black girl who refused to give up her seat on the bus — nine months before Rosa Parks did. Everyone knows Parks. They should know Colvin as well.
Misinformation spreads like wild fire, and real history is often dismissed as opinion. Sometimes, sharing what you know or asking deeper questions about race and justice is met with discomfort rather than curiosity. There are moments when even recognizing the impact of the Civil Rights Movement and Black revolutionaries feels unwelcome, as if being knowledgeable and educated makes the average person uneasy.
As the daughter of immigrants, it’s infuriating to see how rarely people in my own community — especially other Bangladeshis — acknowledge that the rights allowing our families to come here and thrive are directly connected to the successes of Black activism.
Many Asian immigrants and Asian-Americans have been brainwashed to believe the “model minority myth:” The belief that Asian-Americans are more successful than other ethnic groups because of their hard work and “inherently law-abiding natures.” There is this notion that Asians have somehow worked their way out of racism.
Bangladeshis are no exception. The propaganda has seeped into their psyches as well. Anti-Black racism is rooted in all communities of color, including South Asians. So much so that they are ignorant about the fact that Black leaders and abolitionists have sacrificed their lives for the rights of Asian immigrants.
Frederick Douglass condemned the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. Civil Rights leaders influenced former President Lyndon Johnson’s decision to sign the “Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965.” The legislation abolished race-based immigration quota system and replaced it with a less discriminatory policy.
Without the Civil Rights Movement, my family and fellow South Asians would not have been able to immigrate to the U.S. They would not be able to pursue the opportunities this country has to offer. Because of the Black struggle, my father was able to provide me and my brothers a secure upbringing where we are free to pursue our dreams.
There’s often gratitude for what America has given us, but not the Black Americans who sacrificed their lives to make those opportunities possible — not just for themselves, but for all people of color. In Trump’s America, recognizing that truth makes you appear radical. Or worse, ungrateful.
Americans have every right to know about their country’s history. The good, the bad and the ugly. Assata Shakur and revolutionaries like her are the reason we enjoy the freedoms we have today. Without their sacrifice, marginalized groups — namely immigrants and people of color — would not have the rights they enjoy in the present.
With Trump in office again, the state of revisionist history will worsen. He has made it his mission to target every single marginalized group in the U.S. We no longer have the Department of Education thanks to Trump. The state of education for younger generations has been catastrophic and, under Trump’s rule, I have a feeling that that will continue to trend downwards.
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Top photo: Assata Shakur’s death highlighted how little Gen Z and Millennial students know about the Civil Rights Movement. That’s exactly how this Administration prefers it as accurate history is discouraged, writes columnist Sabrina Hossain.
Sabrina Hossain is the Opinions Editor for The Express. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter @WritersBlock678.
