“We must recognise that anger only agitates and incites. It cannot squelch or satisfy the hunger for injustice.”
Afeni Shakur
Introduction
History is littered with examples of social and political injustice and no more so than within the black community. I love writing about those who seek to bring about change and are prepared to fight with every tooth and nail to achieve their goals. Without the strife of such courageous souls, much of what is wrong in society would be a much more bitter pill to swallow. Their battles with injustice should always be praised and recognised, remembered and cherished because the establishment must never take away the essential rights of a human being.
One such inspirational woman whose story caught my attention is that of the mother of the music artist Tupac Shakur, Afeni Shakur. A headstrong woman who hailed from the Bronx and knew exactly what it was like to struggle. The youngest daughter of a single, working mother, this black lady was denied a life direction and purpose in her childhood. When Afeni wanted to do something, she put her heart and soul into the task at hand. A courage that caused some not to welcome her tenacity.
Injustice
Born Alice Faye Williams in Lumberton, North Carolina in 1947, Afeni joined the Black Panther Party in the Spring of 1968. Her involvement escalated when she married the section leader of the Harlem Panthers, Lumumba Shakur, quickly becoming a team leader and a pivotal figure. recruiting and training new members, helping launch the Party’s free breakfast for schoolchildren program, and helping tenants organize rent strikes against exploitative landlords.
Yet this far-reaching movement was about to receive a seismic shockwave when on April 2, 1969, officers from the New York City Police Department’s Bureau of Special Services and Investigations conducted a predawn raid on the homes of multiple members of the Black Panther Party. 21 Panthers—most of them from the Harlem chapter—were indicted on conspiracy to shoot police officers and bomb police stations, railroad tracks, Manhattan department stores, and the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx. The defendants became known as Panther 21 and among the arrested was Afeni Shakur.
The trial was the longest and the most expensive in New York. It became clear that the authorities were hellbent on destroying The Panthers through various tactics. Yet these tactics would massively backfire on them in the interim. Although Afeni was held at the Women’s House of Detention in Manhattan for 10 months, she was later freed on bail on January 30, 1970. The $100,000 bail bond raised by female supporters in the labour movement and members of Presbyterian and Episcopal churches, who’d raised $66,000 in cash and used church assets as collateral on the remainder.
Fighting Back
Despite all the odds and advice, Afeni decided to represent herself in court. A brave decision for any person but especially for a black female in this era. Her bail period had emboldened and uplifted her. With fear of never seeing her husband again, she took the rash move of having an affair with another man and getting pregnant. The father was Billy Garland from New Jersey, another Black Panther. A married man with three children.She kept the pregnancy to herself and decided to keep the child because she thought she was carrying a king. She believed her child was destined for greatness.
Clearing your Name
In the trial, it became apparent how appalling the conditions were in the women’s detention centre. The boiler was broken, there was no hot water nor toilet paper. Afeni and others refused intrusive examinations and were punished by being put in solitary confinement. The court ordered that she be given an egg and a glass of milk a day to support her unborn child. Yet wasn’t done, her closing speech was rousing and she spoke to the judge as if she was bearing a prince. Subsequently all of the accused were acquitted of the 156 counts.
The King
One month after this sensational victory, Afeni gave birth to her son. She named him Parish Lesane Crooks, but one year later he was rechristened with a new name: Tupac Amaru Shakur. A baby who grew up to be one of the greatest and most influential rappers. A black artist who sold 75 million records worldwide with songs like “All Eyez on Me”, “Changes” and “California Love.” A rapper who was tragically shot and killed in a driveby shooting in Las Vegas in 1996. A death that is still shrouded in mystery and robbed his mother of a child at only the age of 25. Afeni died in 2016 at the age of 69 after going into cardiac arrest. A champion of civil rights and the founder of the Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation and the former CEO and founder of Amaru Entertainment, a record and film production company.
