Assata Shakur, a Black American liberation activist who was given political asylum in Cuba, has died at the age of 78 after decades in exile, her family and Cuban officials said.

Shakur, who was born Joanne Deborah Chesimard, died on Thursday “due to health conditions and advanced age”, the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Friday.

Her daughter, Kakuya Shakur, also confirmed her death in a Facebook post. “Words cannot describe the depth of loss that I am feeling at this time,” she wrote.

The former Black Liberation Army (BLA) member, who was a symbol of resistance for many activists, escaped a United States prison in 1979, where she had been serving a life sentence for killing a police officer.

Shakur was found guilty in 1977 of first-degree murder, four years af

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