Amanda Seales Claims Barack Obama Raised The Bounty On Assata Shakur To $2 Million While In Office

Entertainer Amanda Seales sparked widespread attention on September 27 during an Instagram Live when she reflected on the death of exiled activist Assata Shakur and criticized the U.S. government’s treatment of her.

“Assata Shakur left us. Yesterday, she left us,” Seales said, framing Shakur’s passing and decades-long exile as part of a broader pattern of state pressure on Black radical figures.

During the broadcast, Seales claimed that “when he was in office, Barack Obama raised the bounty on her head to $2 million,” a statement that simplifies a complex law-enforcement process into presidential action.

In reality, the FBI added Joanne “Assata” Chesimard to its Most Wanted Terrorists list in May 2013, and the total reward for information leading to her capture was $2 million — $1 million from the FBI and $1 million from New Jersey authorities.

Amanda Seales On Barack Obama & Assata Shakur

Seales used the 2013 listing to pivot from grief to a broader critique of political power and activism. “If black communities implemented more concepts of black radicalism, we would be better off,” she said.

Seales argued that organized, identity-based empowerment has historically faced systemic pushback. Her remarks echo documented examples of government surveillance and disruption of Black movements, including COINTELPRO, which targeted Black political organizations in the 1960s and 1970s.

Seales also questioned why contemporary progressive leaders have not adopted similarly disruptive strategies, highlighting the obstacles Black organizers face in navigating political power. Her commentary — candid and at times profane — framed the 2013 bounty not just as a law-enforcement action but as a symbol of political hostility toward Black dissent.

Interpreted one way, Seales’s comments serve as a provocation, connecting a specific law-enforcement action to a historical pattern of state suppression of Black activism. Interpreted another way, her phrasing conflates institutional decisions with presidential intent.

Either reading underscores the contentious legacy of Assata Shakur and fuels ongoing debate about state power, exile, and the limits of political dissent.