Afeni Shakur: Evolution of a Revolutionary.Afeni Shakur: Evolution of a Revolutionary by Jasmine Guy Atria Atria The heart has four chambers. The right and left atria are at the top of the heart and receive returning blood from the veins. The right and left ventricles are at the bottom of the heart and act as the body's main pumps. Books, February 2004 $25.00, ISBN ISBN abbr. International Standard Book Number ISBN International Standard Book Number ISBN n abbr (= International Standard Book Number) → ISBN m 0-743-47053-2 Some biography subjects are smart, rich, powerful or lucky. They inspire. Not Afeni Shakur; mother of Tupac, the rap star and actor fatally shot in 1996. This biography arouses no envy, although one must acknowledge Shakur's resilience. Born in Lumberton, North Carolina North Carolina, state in the SE United States. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean (E), South Carolina and Georgia (S), Tennessee (W), and Virginia (N). Facts and Figures Area, 52,586 sq mi (136,198 sq km). Pop. , as Alice Faye Williams, she came to New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. when she was 11 and studied at Bronx High School of Science The Bronx High School of Science (commonly called Bronx Science, Bronx Sci, or just Science, and officially known as H.S. 445) is a specialized New York City public high school. . The book traces her attraction to the Black Panther Party Black Panther Party (for Self-Defense) U.S. African American revolutionary party founded in 1966 by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale (b. 1936) in Oakland, Calif. Its original purpose was to protect African Americans from acts of police brutality. and her life in it. The party "took my rage and channeled it. They educated my mind and gave me direction," she told Guy. New York law enforcement's anti-Panther crusade climaxed on April 2, 1969, with the arrest of party members, including Shakur, and subsequent indictment of 21. On trial, Shakur acted as her own attorney, questioning witnesses and presenting a dosing argument. She was ultimately acquitted. The author, Guy, an actress who met Shakur in 1994, unaccountably places herself prominently in this skimpy, 209 page, biography. Consequently, there are large and small gaps in Shakur's story. Large: her relationship with Mutulu Shakur, her daughter's father. Small: Shakur's birthdate (January 10, 1947), which is found in the 1971 story of 16 New York Black Panthers, Look for Me in the Whirlwind: The Collective Biography of the New York 21. (Random House). In that book the Panthers recorded their life stories. Several pages in the Guy work read like slightly reworked versions of Shakur narrations in Look for Me. However, nothing diminishes Afeni Shakur's personal triumph. --Reviewed by C. Gerald Fraser C. Gerald Fraser is a writer in New York City. |
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