The cult of Black and white cinematic symbolism (Part 11)...Tupac Shakur, Assata Shakur, the Black Panthers and Luke's cage...

Tupac Amaru Shakur was born Lesane Parish Crooks in the East Harlem section of Manhattan, New York City on June 16^th, 1971. His mother Afeni, and biological father Billy Garland, changed his name in 1972 to Tupac Amaru II, which paid homage to the 18th-century Peruvian revolutionary who led an indigenous (Black) uprising against Spanish oppressors.

Now, I think we all know of Afeni Shakur's illustrious legacy as a member of the Black Panther Party, but what's lesser known is Tupac's biological father Billy, and his step-dad, Mutulu, were also leaders and active members of that cadre as well. Moreover, Afeni, while pregnant with Tupac in prison, acted as a legal attorney in a court trial that get herself and 20 other members of the Black Panthers acquitted of charges that would've resulted in decades-long jail sentences.

At the age of 12, Tupac enrolled in Harlem's 127^th street Repertory Ensemble, and was cast as Travis Younger in the Ensemble's production of 'A Raisin in the Sun'. It was during this performance at New York's Apollo Theater where Tupac would later admit to being bitten by the acting 'bug'.

In 1986, Tupac's family moved to Baltimore, Maryland. There, Tupac would attend Paul Dunbar Lawrence High School until his sophmore year. Afterwards, he'd transfer to the Baltimore School for the Arts. And it was there
that he'd start and build a life-long friendship with a young Jada Pinkett.

We all need to keep in mind, that when Tupac was 13, someone asked him what he wanted to be and he replied, “A revolutionary”. Meaning, the seeds that Afeni, Billy and Mutulu had planted in him were taking root, and they'd dictate the course of his life, and ultimately lead to his early death.

In 1988, Tupac's family moved to Marin County, California, located five miles north of San Francisco. Once enrolled in Tamalpais High School, he was active in their drama department and performed in several of their productions. He also began attending the poetry classes of a teacher named Lisa Steinberg, who organized a concert featuring one of Shakur's musical groups called 'Strictly Dope'. And it was at this performance where the manager Atron Gregory signed him to be a roadie and back-up dancer for the group, 'Digital Underground'.

Needless to say, once Tupac found his voice on the Digital Underground record, 'Same song', it wasn't long before those around him saw he was more than just a back-up dancer. The cream of his genius began rising to the top of the group, until he landed his own record deal with the label Interscope. And in 1991, he released his solo debut album '2Pacalypse Now'.

And even though this album didn't generate any Top 10 hits, it displayed Pac's penchant for politically-tinged lyrics, and the songs 'Trapped' and 'Brenda's got a baby' showcased his socially-conscious bent early on.

Later in his career, the songs 'Keep ya' head up', 'Dear Mama' and 'So Many Tears' would show the world where Pac's heart really was.

Assata Shakur was born Joanne Debra Byron in Flushing, Queens, New York City on July 16^th, 1947.

She lived for three years with her mother, her aunt Evelyn, and retired grandparents Lula and Frank Hill. In 1950, Assata's parents divorced and her grandparents moved to Wilmington, North Carolina, where she spent the majority of her childhood with her younger siblings, Mutulu and Beverly.

Assata's teenage years were riddled with the twin difficulties of her disliking for the american education system and her being shuttled from household to household. Eventually, her aunt Evelyn, who lived in Manhattan, New York City, took her in. And these years shaped her post-adolescence and introduced her to the stability she so often craved. Additionally, her aunt inspired her mental curiosities with trips to museums, libraries and trips to other cultural events.

After quitting high school, Assata got her equivalency diploma and enrolled in the Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC). While there, she took part in many protests, sit-ins and political activities which put her in touch with members of the Black Panther Party in the mid-1960's. In 1967, she married fellow BMCC student-activist Louis Chesimard, and took his last name. Three years later, they divorced. And this ultimately happened due to their coming from unstable and abusive households, where they never learned how to form solid relationships.

At 23, Assata graduated from BMCC and officially joined the Black Panther Party. She eventually became a leading member of the Harlem, New York branch and coordinated a school breakfast program for students in need.

Mind you, J. Edgar Hoover (FBI leader) had openly declared that the most dangerous initiative of the Black Panther Party was the 'free breakfast program'. Now, with the Black Panther's assortment of firearms and manpower, you may ask, why would sexually conflicted J. Edgar be so concerned about a breakfast program? That's an important question, I'll answer later.

Assata left the Black Panthers saying they weren't knowledgeable enough about Black revolutionary history. She declared that members of the Black Panthers were reading the 'Red Book', but didn't know who Harriet Tubman and Nat Turner were. After leaving the Panthers, she joined the Black Liberation Army (BLA) which was described by american periodicals as a 'radical and violent organization of Black activists'. Alternatively, the BLA described itself as an organization dedicated to 'the fight for independence and self-determination for Afrikan peoples in the united states'.

Between 1971 and 1973, Assata was targeted by the american government's 'Counterintelligence Program' on Black revolutionaries, and charged with several bogus crimes, most of which she would later be acquitted of in american courts.

The culmination of these trumped-up charges came to a head in May of 1973, when Assata was pulled over in a car by New Jersey State Troopers. One of the troopers later said Assata and her car-mates, which included BLA member Zyed Shakur, were pulled over for slightly exceeding the speed-limit (wink, wink). Long story short, a shoot out ensued when cops pulled guns on Assata and Zyed, and this resulted in the state trooper Werner Foerster and Zyed Shakur being killed. Assata was also wounded in the encounter, but survived.

In 1977, she was convicted of the first-degree murder of Werner Foerster resulting in Assata getting a life sentence.

On November 2, 1979, three BLA members posing as prison visitors, drew pistols and took two corrections officers hostage. They then proceeded to break Assata out of jail by seizing a prison van. Once they were outside of the federal prison, they switched vehicles and let the corrections officers go free. The C.O.'s were unharmed.

After escaping prison, it's believed that Assata lived as a fugitive in the u.s. until she fled to Cuba, where she's remained ever since.

Now, let's fast forward to 2017...

On the 16^th of this month, the Tupac 'biopic', 'All Eyez on Me' was released in american theaters. Mind you, Pac's birthday is on June 16^th.

To top this off, the american presi-dunce, I mean president, Donald Trump, said he would not lift sanctions off Cuba, until Assata Shakur was returned to america.

Now, the logical question in anyone's mind should be, why the hell would Trump care about Assata's return to america some 40 years later? Does he even really know who Assata Shakur is?

And here's the answer—No, he doesn't really know about Assata, but what he does know is, the entire Shakur family represents the revolutionary spark that could possibly rally Black people to unite. And like I said in my post about Tariq Nasheed, any organization (or icon in this case), that has even the slightest chance of uniting Black folks, must be destabilized, dismantled and destroyed. Period.

The reason that pansy J. Edgar Hoover was so adamant about Assata and the Black Panther's 'free breakfast program' being so dangerous is, he knew they could condition hundreds of young Black men and women with revolutionary mind-sets in that situation. See, once the youth sat down to the Panther's breakfast, they would partake in sing-a-longs that told them, 'Black is beautiful' and 'Free Huey', which served to indoctrinate them into the Party's ideologies. And Hoover knew that out of one of those young minds, would come the 'Black Messiah' that he and his organization were dreading.

And my generation's last best hope for a Black messiah did come out of those free breakfast programs—and that messiah's name was Tupac Shakur.

Understand, on the down-low, Tupac was the national chairman of a group called 'NAPO', which stood for the 'New Afrikan Panthers Organization'. And this cadre was dedicated to replicating what the Black Panthers had done without making the same mistakes they'd made. Mind you, Tupac took on this title right out of high school. So all through his career he carried those manifestos and mission-statements with him. And when Pac became head of NAPO, they were already active in 8 american cities.

Now, as for the east coast/west coast rap war that the movie All Eyez on Me, will tell us was wholly responsible for Pac's death, I'll say, I'm willing to bet money that what won't be shown is how prisoners in jail told Pac that Notorious B.I.G. had him set up to be shot. And how those prisoners turned out to be FBI agents. And this was proven in the Nick Broomfield documentary, 'Biggie and Tupac'.

Also, in the 1970's, FBI infiltrators had east coast factions of the Black Panthers battling west coast factions of the Party. To the point where they termed these battles, the 'East Coast versus West Coast Panther War'. Google it sometimes.

And speaking of Black Panthers, the movie trailer for Marvel's 'Black Panther' was released this month as well. And while all the special effects of the trailer looked exceptionally well done, we still see Black folks (in the most advanced country on earth, 'Wakanda') holding spears, wearing plates in their lips and grass skirts on their hips.

And while I'm on this subject, let me tell you what I though about another movie adapted from a comic book series, 'Luke Cage'.

I'll confess that one of the reasons I got a subscription to 'Netflix' is because so many people were talking about the Luke Cage series. So when I first sat down to watch the premiere episode of this show, I thought, I'm in for a real treat.

What I saw a few minutes into the first episode was Mike Colter, who plays Cage, working a menial job sweeping up hair at a barbershop, even though he knows he possesses super powers. After that, I saw Alfre Woodard playing this crooked politician who works with this local gangster to garner funds for her campaigns. And in one scene, Alfre is attending some community organizational event where she's endorsing the 'new' Harlem Renaissance, i.e. the gentrification of Harlem (meaning they're kicking the Black folks out). And then she boasts about opening some affordable public housing complex called the 'Crispus Attucks complex'. Mind you, Crispus is renowned for being the first person to die in the 'american revolution'. So, what the show is really saying is this complex, and the new Harlem Renaissance, is suppose to kill off, or get rid of the Black residents there.

But what really made me wanna' punch my TV screen was the moment at the end when Cage decides to be a crime-fighter. Cause the first people he decides to save are a fair-skinned asian couple. And after he saves their lives, the asian man says to Cage, “You cause more trouble, now they are gonna' come back.”

Essentially, this korean guy (or whatever kinda' fair-skinned asian he was), told Cage, thanks for saving us, but you're still a negro.

So, I've said all that to say this, these films are engineered to make us feel one way—inferior to whites.

More specifically, they're saying even though you come from the most advanced country on earth (Wakanda), and even though you have super-natural powers (Cage), and even though your parents brought you up with the virtues of helping your people (Pac), you're still nothing but a bunch of dumb savages who are predisposed to hurting and hating each other.

And that's why I canceled my subscription to Netflix and I've sworn off superheros movies.

But if I ever do wanna' see some brother with super-natural powers get his scrap on...I'll just watch 'Blade' one mo' time.

Later...

MontUHURU Mimia

Afeni Shakur (January 22,1947-May 2,2016)

Afeni Shakur was born Alice Faye Williams in Lumberton, North Carolina on January 22nd, 1947.

At the age of eleven, Afeni’s family moved to the Bronx in New York City. Years later, Afeni attended the Performing Arts High School in Manhattan, New York popularized in the movie ‘Fame’ behind her wanting to pursue a career in acting.

In her late teens, Afeni met up with a young Muslim brotha named Shaheed who introduced her to the teachings of Malcolm X and the Nation of Islam. Afeni took these lessons to heart because they introduced her to the concept of African/Black physical beauty and counter-acted all of the conditioning she’d gotten that told her she couldn’t think of herself as beautiful.

*Side note: Any Black man or woman reading this who’s also read my post: ‘Why do so many gay men have model looks?’, should realize the above fact about Afeni is why I opened that post with an explanation of what I meant when I used the term ‘model looks’. Now I remember when I was in high school, this young sista said to me: “Man, God didn’t give us nothing, he gave us big lips and nappy hair.” And I didn’t say anything to counter that cause I felt the same way.

Now, a woman’s physical attractiveness means something a little different to her than it does to a man. Cause a man can be considered unattractive by european standards, but society tells him he can compensate for that by making a lot of money. Whereas, a woman is told that in most cases, ALL the social currency she has is directly connected to her level of physical attractiveness. So can you imagine the pain that both the young sista I was talking about and Afeni were in? Can you imagine being told that women who look like you are considered the least attractive in the world? All I can say is, now that white women are injecting silicone into their lips and butts to look more like Black women, I hope wherever that sista is, she feels differently about herself today.

Moving on…

At the age of 19, while working in the post office, Afeni began hearing about the Black Panther Party. Shortly afterwards, she attended the Black Power Conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1968. People who knew her say this was the event that changed her life more than any other. It was then that Afeni decided to dedicate herself to the struggle for Black liberation. And it was shortly afterwards that Alice Faye Williams was given the first name ‘Afeni’ by a brotha who built a Yoruba village in South Carolina. And the name ‘Afeni’ means ‘dear one’ or ‘lover of the people’.

Afeni joined the Harlem, New York City chapter of the Black Panther Party. And within months, she fell in love with and married its chapter leader Lumumba Shakur.

In 1969, the CIA and FBI coordinated efforts to neutralize the Black Panther Party nationwide. As a result, 21 members of New York’s Black Panthers were arrested on bogus conspiracy charges, and two of those 21 members happened to be Afeni and Lumumba.

While imprisoned, Panther members decided that monies should be made available to bail out Afeni first, being that she was the most capable of acting as a criminal defense attorney for the rest of the 21 Panthers. This was before the american government revoked Afeni’s bail. New York City’s Panther 21 trial was well publicized and written about in many books. There, Afeni’s criminal defense efforts freed herself and 20 of her other Panther comrades. And Afeni was pregnant with her son Tupac, at the time.

Now, a couple of days ago, I heard about Afeni’s passing. And from the research I gathered, she made her transition on May 2^nd of this year. And when I read a Washington Post article about this I was immediately pissed off for two reasons: One, that rag of a periodical focused more on Tupac’s life than it did his mother’s, which in my opinion, does Afeni a terrible disservice. And believe me, I have no qualms about reading up on the late Tupac Shakur, cause I too agree he was not only one of the world’s greatest emcee’s but he was also my generation’s last best hope for a real Black leader. I’m just saying that everyone reading this should know how Afeni’s life was just as full as her late son’s.

Two, the inbreds at the Washington Post focused on Afeni’s drug use nearly as much as they concentrated on Tupac’s life. Now, in the interest of time, anyone wanting to know about the origins of the 80’s crack cocaine epidemic should get a book called ‘Dark Alliance’ by Gary Webb. In it, Gary details how the CIA worked with the South American Contras, who the CIA created by the way, to funnel cocaine into California. This same alliance later turned the cocaine into crack which they flooded Black neighborhoods with, and this is the same drug Afeni got addicted to. But the plot gets even thicker in Afeni’s case. Meaning, due to her affiliations with the Black Panthers, the FBI made sure Afeni was unable to keep a job in New York. It was at this time that a man named ‘Legs’ McNeil came into Afeni’s life. Turns out McNeil wasn’t only a drug dealer, but he was an undercover agent tasked with getting Afeni hooked on this drug.

Now, Afeni passed in the midst of a contentious divorce battle surrounding her son’s estate. Her net worth had been valued at 50 million dollars and her son’s estate is said to reap $1 million dollars annually. She filed for divorce from her husband, a minister named Gust Davis, but didn’t have a prenuptial agreement. Davis requested alimony payments that would amount to about half of Tupac’s estate, and at the time of Afeni’s death the divorce was unresolved.

So I’m hoping Afeni made out a will before she passed, if not, the courts will decide who gets the proceeds of Tupac’s estate. Hopefully they will go to Tupac’s sister Sekyiwa, but even then, the courts could order her to make payments to Gust based on the fact that he was legally married to Afeni.

I’ll just say for the record that I believe both Prince and Afeni were murdered. And isn’t it funny how they both presided over music catalogs worth millions and possibly billions of dollars without a will?

You’re probably saying, damn bruh…can’t people just die no more, does everything have to be a conspiracy?

Now, behind my making this statement, I know the onus is on me to bring proof of this to anyone reading this Blog, and that’s what I’ll do in my upcoming posts. But before I can provide anyone with any more information, I must do some more research, and that’s what I’ll be mired in over the course of the next few months, so stay tuned.

Until then, I’m documenting the passing of these great icons, and will conclude this post by saying: To the QUEEN AFENI SHAKUR, FOR A LIFE WELL LIVED AND A BATTLE WELL FOUGHT, I SAY REST IN PEACE AND POWER AS YOU TAKE YOUR RIGHTFUL PLACE WITH THE ANCESTRAL ELITE!

AND TELL YOUR SON WE MISS HIM AS MUCH AS WE’LL MISS YOU IN THE YEARS TO COME!

Later…

MontUHURU Mimia