The Peculiar Truth about Tupac Shakur’s Mother
Published in
3 min readAug 6, 2024
- Spring 1971: A young African American woman was on trial in New York for alleged crimes. She had pleaded not guilty, refused counsel, and represented herself in court… all while she was pregnant with her first child, future rap star Tupac Shakur.
- 1947: Alice Williams was born in rural North Carolina. Throughout her childhood, she watched her father abuse her mother. Then her mom escaped with the family to Brooklyn. Despite excelling in high school, Alice grew up angry and street tough in New York City.
- 1968: At age 21, two men changed her life. The first was Bobby Seale, the leader of the Black Panther Party. Seeing him speak in public energized her to join the cause.
- The second man was a Muslim named Lumumba Shakur, a Black Panther in Harlem. They were wed shortly after meeting.
- However, Shakur was married. Alice didn’t object and moved in with him and his first wife.
- She converted to Islam and was given a new name: Afeni Shakur.
- She then devoted herself to the Black Panthers. The US government considered them violent extremists and worked to bring the group down by any and all means.
- A new Black Panther member made Afeni wary. She wondered whether he was an undercover cop. Lumumba dismissed her suspicions.
