The Ancestors of Tupac Shakur (1971-1996)

 

by Christopher Challender Child
 
 

The following material on the immediate ancestry of Tupac Shakur should not be considered either exhaustive or definitive, but rather as a first draft.  
 
The information was largely derived from Look for me in the Whirlwhind: the Collective Autobiography of the New York 21 (1971), by (among others) Kuwasi Balagoon, Lumumba Shakur, Afeni Shakur, Clark Squire, and Jamal Joseph; and from Afeni Shakur, Evolution of a Revolutionary, (2004) by Jasimine Guy.  
 
The primary contribution of the undersigned is that of HTML-izing Mr. Child's work.

 
 

William Addams Reitwiesner

 

wargs@wargs.com

 
 

Ancestry of Tupac Shakur
1 Tupac Amaru Shakur, b. Brooklyn, New York, 16 June 1971, d. Las Vegas, Nevada 13 Sept. 1996  
m. Clinton Correctional Facility, Dannemora, New York, May 1995 (annulled 1996)  
Keisha Morris, b. ... .
PARENTS
2 William Garland, a Black Panther in the 1970's, in the early 21st Century a trucker in New Jersey  
non-marital liaison
3 Alice Faye Williams, changed named 1968 to Afeni Shakur, b. Lumberton, North Carolina, 10 Jan. 1947  
m. (1) New York City Sept. 1968 (an Islamic polygamous union, divorced 1971), Lumumba Abdul Shakur, b. Atlantic City, N.J. 9 Jan. 1943 as Anthony Coston, leader of Black Panthers in Harlem, killed New Orleans, Louisiana May 1985  
m. (2) 1975 (divorced 1982), Dr. Mutulu Shakur, b. Baltimore, Maryland 1953 as Jeral Wayne Williams, doctor of acupuncture, leader of the Black Liberation Army, incarcerated since 1988 (website: http://www.mutulushakur.com).  
 
Afeni and Mutulu Shakur had one daughter:  
 
       Sekyiwa Shakur, b. ca. 1977, who has two children, Malik Greenidge and Nzingha Skakur.
GRANDPARENTS
6 Walter Williams, Jr., of Norfolk, Virginia.  
m.
7 Rosa Belle ---, of Lumberton, N.C.
GREAT-GRANDPARENTS
12 Rev. Walter Williams  
m.
13 Lena ---
14 ----  
m.
15 ----, b. Lumberton, North Carolina, 1899
GREAT-GREAT-GRANDPARENTS
30 --- Powers (white)  
m.
31 Millie Ann --- (black)
GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GRANDPARENTS
GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GRANDPARENTS
GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GRANDPARENTS
GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GRANDPARENTS
7/GREAT-GRANDPARENTS
8/GREAT-GRANDPARENTS
 
 
 
 
EXTRACTS from the U.S. FEDERAL DECENNIAL CENSUS
 
 

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NOTES
 
 
 
 
 
 
The name Shakur (Arabic for "thankful to God") was first taken as a surname by the father of Lumumba Shakur, Mr. Coston, after joining the Nation of Islam in the 1960's. The name was then taken by several close of friends of Lumumba Shakur, including his wife Afeni (who had been given her first name Afeni by a Yoruba priestess), Afeni's later husband Mutulu, Lumumba's brother Zayd Malik Shakur (born James F. Coston) and Zayd's close friend Assata Shakur (born JoAnne Deborah (Byron) Chesimard). Zayd Shakur, Assata Shakur, and Sundiata Accoli (born Clark Edward Squire, another of the New York 21) were involved in a shootout with state troopers in New Brunswick, New Jersey in 1973 that left Zayd and an officer Werner Foerster dead. Sundiata and Assata were both convicted and given life sentences, Assata Shakur later escaped to Havana, Cuba, where she is currently (2005) a professor and has been granted political asylum by Fidel Castro. She wrote her autobiography Assata in 1987. Mutulu Shakur's charges included helping in the escape of Assata Shakur.  
 
 
 
1 -- Several Internet sources claim that Tupac's original name at birth was Lesane Parish Crooks and had been changed to Tupac Amaru Shakur shortly after his birth in 1971. The source and accuracy of this statement is not clear. This is not claimed in Afeni Shakur's biography.  
 
 
 
3 -- Afeni Shakur's one biological sister Gloria Williams m. Tommy Cox  
 
 
 
 
 
FURTHER NOTES
 
 
 
 
 
 
Lumumba Shakur and Afeni Shakur were both defendants in the "New York 21" trial of New York based Panthers on a variety of charges, of which all were acquitted.  
 
 
 
Members of the New York 21 that authored Look for me in the Whirlwhind:  
 
 
 
Look for me in the Whirlwhind incorrectly states Kuwasi Balagoon's birthname was Walter Johnson. This is the birthname of Baba Odinga. Kuwasi's birthname was Donald Weems.  
 
 
 
James F. Coston aka Zayd Malik Shakur, b. June 6, 1940, d. 2 May 1973 New Brunswick, New Jersey (SSDI)  
 
 
 
Anthony Coston aka Lumumba Abdul Shakur, b. 9 Jan. 1943 Atlantic City, N.J., d. May 1985, New Orleans, Lousiana  
 
 
 
Assata Shakur - JoAnne Deborah (Byron) Chesimard, b. ca. 1948  
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
The Complete New York 21
 
 
 
 
 
 
Those arrested on the morning of April 2 were: Source: Kempton, Briar Patch, pp. 10-2.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
SOURCES CONSULTED AND CITED
 
 
See above.  
 
 
 
William Addams Reitwiesner
 
wargs@wargs.com