Residence Cuba Education Columbia University Name Nehanda Abiodun | Height 5'8" to 5'10" Nationality American | |
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Full Name Cheri Laverne Dalton Born Uses June 29, 1950 and April 28, 1952 as dates of birth United States Other names Nehanda Abiodun, Nahanda Abiodun, Nahanda Obafemi, Nahanda Obatemi, Cheri Cotton, Betty Carter, Betty W. Carter, Elizabeth Carter, Laverne Dalton, Laverne Cheri Dalton, and "Flame" Occupation Unemployed rap music activist
Armed bank robber Known for Status as an American fugitive living in Cuba | ||
Cheri Laverne Dalton (born 1950 in New York City), also known as Nehanda Isoke Abiodun, is a black American rap music activist and fugitive from justice, currently living in Cuba. Dalton is wanted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for Violation of RICO Statute; Interference with Interstate Commerce by Robbery; Obstruction of Justice; Armed Bank Robbery; Bank Robbery Killings; and Aiding and Abetting.
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The United States government also charged Dalton in connection with convicted murderer Assata Shakur's escape from prison, along with Susan Rosenberg.
Dalton 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
Born Cheri Dalton in New York City in 1950, she began her activist work as a child. At the age of ten, she was a tenant organizer. Dalton graduated from Columbia University in New York in 1972.
Career
In 1978, Dalton began using the alias "Nehanda Abiodun." She has also used the aliases Nahanda Abiodun, Nahanda Obafemi, Nahanda Obatemi, Cheri Cotton, Betty Carter, Betty W. Carter, Elizabeth Carter, Laverne Dalton, Laverne Cheri Dalton, and "Flame".
She later worked with the National Black Human Rights Coalition, and later to help heal drug addicts at the Black Acupuncture Association of North America with Mutulu Shakur.
Legal issues
She was later sued for malpractice, and a warrant was put out for her arrest.
Dalton is among those linked by U.S. authorities to Assata Shakur's 1979 escape from prison. She is also wanted for a string of robberies, including the robbing of a Brink's truck in New York in 1983.
Life on the run
She has lived in Havana, Cuba since about 1990. She is a rap music activist there. She has given advice about African-American history, poetry, and world politics to up-and-coming Cuban hip-hop artists such as Yosmel Sarrias and Maigel Entenza Jaramillo of Anónimo Consejo.
She states "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”.