AFENI SHAKUR: EVOLUTION OF A REVOLUTIONARY by Jasmine Guy. Afeni Shakur, the mother of deceased hip-hop icon Tupac Shakur, emerges as a significant cultural emblem in her own right in this absorbing oral history.
Long before Shakur was famous for being the mother of slain rapper Tupac Shakur, she was a high-ranking member of the Black Panther Party and one of the "New York 21" charged by the state with subversive activities. Guy, actress and longtime friend of Tupac and his family, offers a penetrating look at the life of a woman who has struggled with anger and pride, drug addiction, radical politics, and the personal demons of having failed her children in their youth. In interviews over a seven-year period, Guy slowly unpeels the layers that have covered the inner life of Shakur: growing up with a poor self-image, combative spirit, and personal vulnerability that was attracted to the radical politics of the Black Panthers, and a young womanhood filled with drug addiction, domestic violence, imprisonment, and failed relationships. Shakur is brutally honest about her personal shortcomings, the internal politics of the Black Panthers that contributed to their unraveling, her long recovery, and the renewed strength and conviction she brings to managing the entertainment legacy left by her son.
Jasmine Guy began her career as a dancer for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center. She moved to acting and televison with the starring role of Whitley Gilbert on the hit series A Different World. During the run of A Different World, she released her self-titled debut album in 1990, which spawned three Billboard Top 100 hits. She has had roles in several television shows, movies and Broadway plays. This is her first book.
July
2009
