Assata Taught Me – Play Preview (to 6 June)

The Gate Theatre in Notting Hill will play host to the most anticipated première of Assata Taught Me; a play by Kalungi Ssebandeke. This story tells of an imagined friendship between Assata Shakur a former Black Panther and FBI most wanted woman together with her pupil Fanuco in Cuba. Fanuco wants to live the American dream, so, he is taking English lesson from Assata Shakur who is a convicted felon.

How soon will he find out that his mentor is on the most wanted list of the FBI? How soon will he realize that there is a 2 million Dollars bounty on the head of his mentor? Watch out for this stage play From May 4th – May 27th of 2017 to find out more chilling details.

The real Asatta Shakur was born as Joanne Deborah Byron in Jamaica, Queens, New York City, on July 16, 1947, and spent most of her childhood in Wilmington, North Carolina with her grandmother after the divorce of her parents. She attended a segregated school in New York where she was one of the few black students in her class before she dropped out; not without noticing the struggle of the blacks in her history classes. However, with the aid of her aunt, she got her GED and attended Borough of Manhattan Community College where she got involved in political activities, protest, and sit-ins which got her arrested a couple of times.

Assata Shakur married Louis Chesimard, a fellow student activist in college but later got divorced due to gender role-related issues. After her graduation, she joined the Black Panther party; becoming a leading member. She severally found herself on the wrong side of the law which saw her charged for robberies, felonious assault, reckless endangerment, and possession of deadly weapons amongst many others. After series of trials, retrials, and long legal battles, she was convicted and sentenced to 26-33 years imprisonment but later escaped and sought political asylum in Cuba, where she’s still currently residing.

There has been an upsurge in interest in this Black Panther and Cuban exile from such groups as the supporters of  Eric Garner (#WeCantBreath)  and the US and UK versions of Black Lives Matter movement as a response to the overt and outrageous increases in police brutality.

What: Assata Taught Me When: 4-6 June 2017
Where: Gate Theatre, W11 3HQ 7.30pm Click here for details