Afeni Shakur

Afeni Shakur was born Alice Faye Williams on January 10, 1947, in Lumberton, North Carolina,[2] the daughter of Rosa Belle, a home maker, and Walter Williams Jr., a trucker. She had a sister, Gloria Jean.[4] She had a troubled beginning and grew up resenting her father and men in general because he was abusive and she thought her mother was weak because she did not stand up against her father.[5] When she, her mother, and her sister left her father in 1958, they moved to the Bronx where she had difficulty in adapting to the educational setting even though her teachers thought the High School for Performing Arts was fit for her.[5] She attended Bronx High School of Science. She became interested in street life and called herself a street fighter and a member of the Disciple Debs in Harlem.[5]

In 1968, at the age of 21, she changed her name to Afeni Shakur; Afeni is a Yoruba word for "lover of people," and Shakur is Arabic for "thankful".[6] She lived in Harlem, New York, and she joined the Black Panther Party.[5][7] She wrote the Black Panther Party newsletter Panther Post.[5] She led a successful campaign that led the FBI to believe the party was fading.[5] She became a section leader of the Harlem chapter[8] and a mentor to new members, including Jamal Joseph, Cleo Silvers and Dhoruba Bin-Wahad.[7] She also worked with Billy Garland (Tupac's biological father) and Geronimo Pratt (who became Tupac's baptismal sponsor).[9]

After Afeni Shakur was acquitted of her charges, she did not return to the Black Panther Party. In 1975, she married Mutulu Shakur and had their daughter, Sekyiwa. They got divorced in 1982. She and her children moved to Baltimore, Maryland in 1984. She raised her children through welfare because she could not keep a job.[13] She relocated to Marin County in California to manage her drug use.[13] In 1989, her son left home because of her. The two later reconciled.[14] She overcame her addiction after she moved back to New York in 1991 and started Narcotics Anonymous meetings.[15]

In 2004, Afeni Shakur married Gust Davis Jr. In that same year, her biography, Afeni Shakur: Evolution of a Revolutionary was released.[5] In her biography, Afeni Shakur reflected in her childhood experiences and her upbringing as well as her involvement in the Black Panther Party. In the book, she stated that the party educated and directed her to channel her anger.[1] This gave her hope which she mentioned she had never experienced.[1] She spoke about how she met men who did not abuse black women in the party. It was through the party that she met Lumumba Shakur, agreed to be his second wife and converted to Islam.[5] She described her experiences in jail and how together with other inmates, they organized a bail fund to get some of the women out of jail.[5]

Although Tupac struggled in his relationship with his mother, he paid tribute to her in his song "Dear Mama".[14] In the song, he reflects on his childhood, acknowledges Afeni's troubles with addiction, and expresses his love for her:

"You always was committed, A poor single mother on welfare, tell me how you did it. There's no way I can pay you back, But the plan is to show you that I understand: you are appreciated."[16]

Her revolutionary ideas were reflected in Tupac's music.[17] Before Tupac died, he arranged for her to receive $16,000 monthly and purchased a home for her in Stone Mountain, Georgia. She was the co-executor of Tupac's estate.[13]

Exactly one year after her son's death, with revenue from his albums released posthumously, Afeni Shakur founded the Georgia-based Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation to provide art programs for young people and Amaru Entertainment, a holding company for all of Tupac's unreleased material. She was a comfort to many grieving mothers after the death of her son Tupac and traveled across America giving speeches at events. The foundation was sold shortly before her death.[18] She also launched a fashion clothing line, Makaveli Branded. Afeni Shakur was not involved in the production of All Eyez on Me, a film based on Tupac's life, as she was betrayed by her lawyer, who made the deal with the production company Morgan Creek against her will. When she learned of the deal, she fired her lawyer, hired new ones, and tried to undo the deal; she went to court several times, spending millions of dollars (this being the main reason she had to sell the Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for the Arts), and eventually settled for an undisclosed amount of money after it became clear she would never get the rights to the movie back.[17]

Shakur died at a hospital in Greenbrae, California at around 10:28 p.m. on May 2, 2016, after going into cardiac arrest at her home earlier in the evening; she was 69.[22][13][23][17] Her body was cremated.[24]

• Assata Shakur
• Mopreme Shakur

• Afeni Shakur at IMDb