Afeni Shakur
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Afeni Shakur Davis (born Alice Faye Williams; January 10, 1947 – May 2, 2016) was an American political activist and member of the Black Panther Party.<ref name="billboard.com">Template:Cite news</ref> Shakur was the mother of rapper Tupac Shakur and the executor of his estate. She founded the Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation and was the CEO of Amaru Entertainment, Inc., a record and film production company she founded.
Early life
Afeni Shakur was born Alice Williams on January 10, 1947, in Lumberton, North Carolina.<ref name="billboard.com" /> She had an older sister, Gloria "Glo" Jean.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn At the age of eleven in 1958, Williams and her sister moved to the South Bronx with their mother, a factory worker.Template:Sfn<ref name=":6">Template:Cite news</ref>
Williams attended Benjamin Franklin Junior High School in the Bronx, where she demonstrated above average reading ability and her grades qualified her for honors.<ref name=":6"/> She wrote for the school newspaper, The Franklin Flash, and in the ninth grade, won a journalism award for which she received congratulations from Mayor Robert F. Wagner.<ref name=":6" /> In 1962, Williams passed the qualifying examinations for the Bronx High School of Science and High School of Performing Arts in Manhattan.Template:Sfn<ref name=":6"/> She chose the latter because she felt performers and actors were free spirited.Template:Sfn However, Williams could not afford the school supplies and she felt like an outcast at the school, so she dropped out after one term.<ref name=":6"/> She began drifting and became a member of a Bronx street gang called the Disciples.<ref name=":6"/>
She briefly worked a postal job, becoming one of the first woman mail carriers in New York.<ref name=":6"/>
Activism
After hearing Bobby Seale speak, Williams joined the Black Panther Party when they opened an office in Harlem in 1968.<ref name=":6"/> There she met Lumumba Shakur, a Sunni Muslim, whom she married in November 1968.<ref name=":6"/> Following their marriage, she changed her name to Afeni Shakur.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="vibe">Template:Cite news</ref> She became a section leader of the Harlem chapter and a mentor to new members such as Jamal Joseph.<ref name="vibe" /><ref name=":1" />
The Panther 21
Template:Main In April 1969, she and twenty other Black Panthers were arrested and charged with several counts of conspiracy to bomb police stations and other public places in New York.<ref name="billboard.com"/> Bail was set at $100,000 (Template:Inflation) for each of the 21 suspects. The Black Panthers decided to raise bail money for Joseph and Shakur first, so those two could work on raising bail for the remaining 19 members.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3">Template:Cite news</ref> The pre-trial started in February 1970 and the actual trial commenced on September 8, 1970.<ref name=":4">Cribb, Arielle G. Stories Of Gender And Injustices In The Cases Of Afeni Shakur, Angela Davis And Assata Shakur. Arielle Garden Cribb. Aug. 2009. https://ecommons.cornell.edu/bitstream/handle/1813/13786/Cribb%2c%20Arielle.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y</ref> Charges brought against her and the other members of the Black Panther Party were attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, conspiracy to bomb buildings, and conspiracy.<ref name=":4" /> Shakur represented herself at trial, interviewing several witnesses and arguing in court.<ref name=":1" /> In her autobiography, Shakur wrote, "I was young. I was arrogant. And I was brilliant in court... because I thought this was the last time I could speak. The last time before they locked me up forever... I was writing my own obituary."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Her statements and questioning of the government infiltrators during the trial are credited with helping to expose the FBI's corruption and help save the Panther 21.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
One of the people Shakur cross-examined was Ralph White, a "suspect" who had, in fact, infiltrated the Black Panthers while working as an undercover policeman.<ref name="nyt_1971">Template:Cite web</ref> Shakur had repeatedly denounced White as a cop because he was "a hothead ... too arrogant for a Panther."Template:Sfn White testified it was retaliation for refusing to hire her to work in the Harlem Panther office.<ref name="nyt_1971" />Template:Clarify Shakur got White to admit under oath that he and two other agents had organized most of the unlawful activities. "She asked him if he'd ever seen her carry a gun or kill anyone or bomb anything and he answered no, no, no. Then she asked if he'd seen her doing Panther organizing in a school and a hospital and on the streets and he answered, yes, yes, yes."<ref name=":11">Template:Cite news</ref>
She and the others in the "Panther 21" were acquitted in May 1971 after an eight-month trial.<ref name=":3" /> Altogether, Afeni Shakur spent two years in the New York Women's House of Detention before being acquitted.<ref name=":4" /> While in the House of Detention, Shakur says, she "began relating to the gay sisters in jail beginning to understand their oppression, their anger and the strength in them and in all gay people."<ref name=":14">Template:Cite web</ref> After being released, she participated in a workshop organized by the Gay Liberation Front at the Revolutionary People's Constitutional Convention in 1970, and she continued to advocate against homophobia in the Black Panthers.<ref name=":14" />
Bedford Hills Correctional Facility
As a paralegal, Shakur often worked in New York's only women's prison at the time, the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility.
Shakur played a large role in the case Crooks v. Warne involving Bedford inmate, Carol Crooks. Shakur and Crooks met while they were both incarcerated at the Women's House of Detention, and are suspected to have taken on a romantic relationship with one another that ended with Shakur's release from prison. Following the events of what would come to be known as the August Rebellion, Shakur helped connect Crooks to prisoner' rights attorney, Steven Latimer.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The case was ruled in Crooks' favor and won incarcerated women the right to due process prior to their being sent to segregated prison, or solitary confinement.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
While working with the South Bronx Legal Services in 1973, Shakur helped organize a day of solidarity for families and friends of the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Later life and death
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After Shakur was acquitted, she did not return to the Black Panther Party. On June 16, 1971, she gave birth to her son, Lesane Parish Crooks, who was later renamed Tupac Amaru Shakur.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":2">Afeni Shakur, mother of rapper Tupac, dies at 69, RichmondFreePress.com; accessed May 15, 2016.</ref> Shakur's marriage fell apart when it was discovered that Lumumba was not the biological father of her son. His biological father was Billy Garland.<ref name=":3" />
In 1975, Shakur married Mutulu Shakur and had their daughter, Sekyiwa. They divorced in 1982. Shakur worked as a paralegal with Bronx Legal Services and was a union member of the Legal Services Staff Association for a decade before leaving the state and descending into a crack cocaine addiction in the early 1980s.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":10">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=":11" />
Shakur moved her son and daughter to Baltimore, Maryland in 1984.<ref name=":5">Template:Cite web</ref> She relocated to a family friend's home in Marin County, California to manage her drug use.<ref name=":5" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 1989, her son left home because of her. The two later reconciled.<ref name=":8">Template:Cite web</ref> She overcame her addiction after she moved back to New York in 1991 and started Narcotics Anonymous meetings.<ref name=":12">Template:Cite web</ref> Nine months into her recovery program, Tupac sent her $5,000 even though their relationship was strained.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Although Tupac struggled in his relationship with his mother, he paid tribute to her in his song "Dear Mama".<ref name=":8" /> In the song, he reflects on his childhood, acknowledges Afeni's troubles with addiction, and expresses his love for her: "And even as a crack fiend mama, you always was a black queen mama, I finally understand for a woman it ain't easy tryin' to raise a man, 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."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
After Tupac was murdered in Las Vegas on September 13, 1996, she had him cremated the next day.Template:Sfn His close friends, actresses Jada Pinkett and Jasmine Guy, provided emotional support for Shakur and advised her to hire lawyers to sort out Tupac's assets.Template:Sfn
In 2004, Shakur released her biography, Afeni Shakur: Evolution of a Revolutionary.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In her biography, which was written by Jasmine Guy, Shakur reflected on 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.Template:Sfn 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.<ref name=":4" />
Shakur traveled across the U.S., making guest appearances and delivering lectures. On February 6, 2009, she gave the keynote address for Vanderbilt University's Commemoration for Black History Month.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> She shared with people her experiences and ways in which to overcome loss.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>
Shakur later married Gust Davis.<ref name=":10" />
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.<ref name=":5" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":7">Template:Cite web</ref> Her body was cremated.<ref name=":9">Template:Cite web</ref>
Estate of Tupac Shakur
Following her son's death, Tupac's biological father Billy Garland attempted to inherit half of his estate, which Shakur opposed because Garland was an "absentee father who contributed little to Tupac's upbringing."<ref name=":13">Template:Cite news</ref> A judge denied his claim.<ref name=":13"/>
Exactly one year after Tupac's death, with revenue from his albums released posthumously, Shakur founded the Georgia-based Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation to provide art programs for young people and the Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for the Arts in Stone Mountain, Georgia.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
In 1997, she founded Amaru Entertainment, a holding company for all of Tupac's unreleased material.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She also launched a fashion clothing line, Makaveli Branded in 2003.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
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 Tupac after the company failed to prove that the unreleased songs were not part of its bankruptcy settlement.<ref>Moscow-Pullman Daily News (July 26, 2007) "Tupac's mother tries to stop Death Row sale of unreleased tracks"; retrieved May 17, 2010.</ref>
In 2013, Shakur sued Entertainment One claiming they failed to pay Tupac's estate royalties worth seven figures for 2007’s Beginnings: The Lost Tapes. The estate also sued for the ownership of the master recordings for all of Tupac’s unreleased music. A court ruled Entertainment One must pay over six figures for royalties from Shakur's posthumous releases and all the unreleased recordings would go back to the estate. Death Row Records initially owned the rights to his music, which was purchased by Entertainment One in 2006.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On September 29, 2018, the Shakur Estate won the case against Entertainment One.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 2014, Shakur helped create the Broadway musical Holler If Ya Hear Me, which featured Tupac's music.<ref name=":5" />
Shakur was not involved in the production of All Eyez on Me, a film based on Tupac's life, stating she felt betrayed by her lawyer, who made the deal with the production company Morgan Creek against her wishes. When she learned of the deal, she fired her lawyer, hired new ones, and fought against the contract and production company. She went to court several times, spending millions of dollars, which she stated led to her selling the Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for the Arts, eventually settling for an undisclosed amount of money.<ref name=":7" />
Shakur set up a trust to control all of Tupac's music rights which assigned music executive Tom Whalley as the executor of his estate following her death in 2016.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>