Afeni Shakur (born January 22, 1947) is an American music businessperson, philanthropist, former radical political activist and ex-Black Panther. She became famous in the 1990s as the mother of late American rapper and icon Tupac Amaru Shakur.

Biography

Early life

Shakur was born Alice Faye Williams in Lumberton, North Carolina to Rosa Belle and Walter Williams, Jr.^[1] She was named after Alice Faye, the actress.^[2]

Involvement with the Black Panther Party

Shakur was a member of the Black Panther party.

In 1971, while pregnant with her son Tupac by Billy Garland (who was a Black Panther), Afeni Shakur was arrested for withholding information that could have led to the arrest of leading members of "Panther 21". While in prison, Afeni Shakur reportedly obtained a court order to have three boiled eggs per day because the food within the jail was unfit for an expecting mother.^[3]

She defended herself in court during a bomb conspiracy trial and was acquitted of 156 counts against her and other members of the Black Panther Party. No evidence was found to support the charges. After her son was born, she married Mutulu Shakur (who later became her son's stepfather). Afeni and Mutulu had a daughter they named Sekyiwa Shakur, half-sister of Tupac.

Her strength was often cited by Tupac as a primary inspiration and Tupac was quoted as saying, "My mama used to tell me if you can't find something to live for, you best find something to die for" on his 1993 studio album Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z..

Involvement in the music industry and philanthropy

Since her son's death, Afeni Shakur sold millions of albums. Afeni is credited for her ability to sell Tupac's work. A year after Tupac's death, in 1997, with the money made from Tupac's posthumous albums, Afeni founded the Georgia-based Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation, which provides art programs for young people, and Amaru Entertainment, the holding company for all Tupac's unreleased material. She has also since launched a fashion clothing line, Makaveli Branded; all proceeds go to his charity, the Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation.

Injunction against Death Row Records

Shakur was reportedly in Federal Court on July 20, 2007 to file an injunction to prevent Death Row Records from selling any unreleased material from 2Pac after the company failed to prove that the unreleased songs were not part of its bankruptcy settlement. The courts are going to decide over the next month if they will allow Death Row Records to release an album with 2Pac?s unreleased tracks to pay off its major debts.

External links

• Audio interview with Afeni Shakur

References

1. ↑ Ancestry of Tupac Shakur
2. ↑ Afeni Shakur: Evolution of a Revolutionary, Afeni's memoirs, by Jasmine Guy
3. ↑

---

Source: Wikipedia | The above article is available under the GNU FDL. | Edit this article