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Nehanda Abiodun

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Nehanda Abiodun
Born
Cheri Laverne Dalton

June 29, 1950
Harlem, New York City, United States
DiedJanuary 30, 2019 (aged 68)
Cuba
NationalityAmerican
Other namesNehanda Abiodun, Nahanda Abiodun, Nahanda Obafemi, Nahanda Obatemi, Cheri Cotton, Betty Carter, Betty W. Carter, Elizabeth Carter, Laverne Dalton, Laverne Cheri Dalton, and "Flame"
Occupationrap music activist
Known forStatus as an American fugitive living in Cuba
Height5 ft 8-10 in (173-178 cm)
Criminal statusFugitive, fled the country
AllegianceThe Republic of New Afrika
Criminal chargeArmed Bank Robbery
Bank Robbery Killings
Violation of RICO Statute
Interference with Interstate Commerce by Robbery
Obstruction of Justice
Aiding and Abetting
Reward amount
The FBI offered a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to the arrest of Cheri Laverne Dalton
Wanted sinceNovember 17, 1982
Time at large
Over 36 years
Details
Location(s)Nanuet, New York

Nehanda Isoke Abiodun (born Cheri Laverne Dalton; 29 June 1950 – 30 January 2019) was an African American hip hop activist, black revolutionary, and fugitive who was living in Cuba.[1][2] Abiodun was wanted by the FBI in connection of the 1981 robbery of a Brink's truck that resulted in the killing of a Brink's guard and two New York police officers.[3][4] The United States federal government also charged Abiodun in connection with Assata Shakur's escape from prison, along with Susan Rosenberg.[5]

Abiodun was active in the New African independence struggle in the U.S. and considered herself a citizen of the Republic of New Afrika.

Early life and education

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Born Cheri Dalton in New York City in 1950,[1] she began her activist work with her parents as a child. At the age of ten, she was a tenant organizer. Dalton graduated from Columbia University in New York in 1972.[6][7]

Career

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After leaving Columbia, Abiodun worked in a methadone clinic in Harlem and then at the Lincoln Detox Center, an experimental rehabilitation facility in the South Bronx.[1] She later worked with the National Black Human Rights Coalition, and later to help heal drug addicts at the Lincoln Detox Center Black Acupuncture Association of North America with Mutulu Shakur.[8]

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Dalton was among those linked by U.S. authorities to Assata Shakur's 1979 escape from prison. She was also wanted for a string of robberies, including the robbing of a Brink's armored car in New York in 1981.[3]

Life on the run

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In 1978, Abiodun stopped using Dalton as her name.[7] She also went by, at various times, Cheri Cotton, Betty Carter, Betty W. Carter, Elizabeth Carter, Laverne Dalton, Laverne Cheri Dalton, and "Flame".[3]

She lived in Havana, Cuba since about 1990. She was a rap music activist there.[2] She gave advice about African-American history, poetry, and world politics[9] to up-and-coming Cuban hip-hop artists such as Yosmel Sarrias and Maigel Entenza Jaramillo of Anónimo Consejo.

She stated[when?] "rap music is...the voice of protest...[with which] we can educate and organize around the world. It puts a whole different light on the word globalization...Wherever you go...in the world, from New Zealand to Timbuktu, there are rappers. Wherever you go! And once you step out of the U.S., a large part of that global community of hip hoppers are progressive. Seriously, because most of it comes from the indigenous people of that particular place".[8]

Abiodun died at her home in Havana on January 30, 2019 after a period of declining health.[10]

Despite this, the FBI's website still lists Abiodun as a fugitive.[11]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Slotnik, Daniel E. (8 February 2019). "Nehanda Abiodun, 68, Black Revolutionary Who Fled to Cuba, Dies". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2019-02-09. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
  2. ^ a b Marc Lacey (December 15, 2006). "Cuba's Rap Vanguard Reaches Beyond the Party Line". The New York Times. Retrieved April 18, 2015. One of those working behind the scenes to aid Cuba's rappers is Cheri Dalton, an American who goes by the name Nehanda Abiodun. She is a black militant who was wanted by the F.B.I. in connection with a string of robberies, including a 1981 holdup of an armored car near Nyack, N.Y. Now living in exile in Cuba, she has formed a Havana chapter of Black August, a grass-roots group that promotes hip-hop culture.
  3. ^ a b c "CHERI LAVERNE DALTON". Federal Bureau of Investigation. United States Government, Department of Justice. Archived from the original on 2018-06-24. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
  4. ^ ODMP Memorial Officers Brown and O'Grady
  5. ^ James Feron (September 21, 1982). "TURMOIL CONTINUES AT BRINK'S HEARING". The New York Times. Retrieved April 18, 2015. Two women, identified as Cheri Dalton and Susan Rosenberg, were added as defendants in the new Federal indictment. Arrest warrants were issued for Miss Dalton, also known as Nahanda, and Miss Rosenberg, also known as Elizabeth.
  6. ^ Sharp, Rob. "Rap on the run". New Statesman America. New Statesman Media. Archived from the original on 2016-06-17. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
  7. ^ a b Sokol, Brett (7 September 2000). "Exiled in Havana". Miami New Times. Voice Media Group. Archived from the original on 2016-10-13. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
  8. ^ a b "Nehanda Abiodun 1950-2019". AfroCubaWeb. 9 February 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-02-09. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
  9. ^ Wunderlich, Annelise (2006). "Cuban Hip Hop: Making Space for New Voices of Dissent". In Basu, Dipannita; Lemelle, Sidney J. (eds.). The Vinyl Ain't Final: Hip Hop and the Globalization of Black Popular Culture. Ann Arbor, MI: Pluto. pp. 167–179. doi:10.2307/j.ctt18mbd22. ISBN 978-0745319407. JSTOR j.ctt18mbd22.
  10. ^ Smith, Harrison (2019-02-13). "Nehanda Abiodun, black nationalist and 'godmother' of Cuban hip-hop, dies at 68". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2024-04-02.
  11. ^ https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/dt/cheri-laverne-dalton
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