“I ain’t guilty cause even though I sell rocks, it feels good putting money in your mailbox” Eventually, she was released and gave birth to her son a month later. Despite being pregnant with Tupac at the time she managed to represent herself in court, acting as her own defence lawyer in an eight-month trial. In 1969, she and 20 others were put in jail, suspected of being connected to a New York bombing. The two of them were well respected in the Black Panther Party and Shakur would frequently raise bail money for other Panthers to continue the cause. Billy Garland, his father, had also been a member. It is thought that her involvement with the Black Panther Party made it more difficult to seek employment. Her difficulty securing a job landed her on welfare, making it almost impossible to properly provide for her family. She had raised Tupac all by herself as his father was absent. A poor single mother on welfare, tell me how you did it” “I finally understand, for a woman it ain't easy trying to raise a man. Meanwhile, Shakur’s personal troubles continued to get the better of her and she remained in poverty. Tupac subsequently moved in with friends and began writing poetry and rap lyrics which would eventually lead him to superstardom. 17 years old kicked out on the street”ĭuring Tupac’s teenage years, Shakur faced many personal struggles that drove the two of them apart for years. “When I was young me and my mama had beef. It's up there as one of the most tear-jerking hip hop tracks committed to record and by reading back through some of the interviews she did over the years, we’ve managed to unpack all the best references to Shakur’s life in the 1995 song to show just how much she overcame: Nothing is more autobiographical than the lyrics in ‘Dear Mama’, a testament to her determination but also a documentation of her struggle to raise her children. However, Shakur overcame many personal battles throughout her life before she solidified herself as a role model for impoverished black mothers in America. She set up the Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation and the Tupac Amaru Shakur Center which provide arts programs for the young, teamed up with Biggie’s mother to squash the East coast/West coast beef, and also executively produced the Oscar-nominated documentary Tupac: Resurrection. Having fought for the civil rights and defeated her own personal demons, it's no wonder that Shakur was such inspiration to her son – her entrepreneurial endeavours, philanthropy and fierce defending of Tupac's legacy after his death are well documented. It became a favourite amongst his fans and won him critical acclaim. Long before Kanye West’s mother-loving track “ Hey Mamma”, Tupac proclaimed his love for his own mother by dedicating 'Dear Mama' to her in 1995. Afeni Shakur, the mother of hip hop legend Tupac Shakur, died at the age of 69 on May 2.
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