Afeni Shakur: Evolution of a Revolutionary [Paperback]

Jasmine Guy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2005

Before becoming one of the most well-known members of the Black Power movement, Alice Faye Williams was not unlike any other poor, African American girl growing up in the impoverished South. But when her family moved to New York during the radical sixties, she became intoxicated by the promise of social change. By the time she turned twenty-one, Alice had a new name -- Afeni Shakur, derived from the Yoruba term for "lover of people" -- and a new vision for the future. The rest is history.

In 1969, Afeni was arrested along with other members of the Black Panther party on 189 felony charges that included 30 counts of conspiracy. Though she was eventually acquitted of the charges, Afeni spent eleven months in jail before being released. Once on bail, she became pregnant with a son: Tupac Amaru Shakur, a rap megastar until his tragic death in 1996.

In this searing work, renowned actress and Afeni's trusted friend Jasmine Guy reveals the evolution of a woman through a series of intimate conversations on themes such as love, death, race, drugs, politics, music, and of course her son. Filled with startling revelations and heartbreaking truths, Afeni's memoir is a powerful testament to the human spirit and the perseverance of the African American people.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Afeni Shakur (nee Alice Faye), the mother of deceased hip-hop star Tupac Shakur, emerges as a significant cultural emblem in her own right in this absorbing oral history. Daughter of a violent broken home, Shakur's rage at her inner demons and at white racism impelled her into a leadership position with the Black Panthers, where she navigated the treacherous currents of revolutionary and sexual politics in the Black Power movement. After government and internal dissension brought down the Panthers ("the party was ripping itself apart," she says), she followed a downward spiral of bad relationships, crack addiction and familial breakup, ending with 12-step redemption and a final come-back at the helm of Tupac's posthumous entertainment empire. The book is somewhat marred by the obtrusive presence of interlocutor and amanuensis Guy, an actress and friend-of-Tupac who optioned the rights to Afreni's story and too often mentions its possibilities as an uplifting biopic. At times, she is clumsy about eliciting a coherent narrative from Shakur, dilutes Shakur's often lacerating self-reproaches with Oprah-esque talk of self-esteem issues, and clutters the story with too much banter and bonding between her and her subject. Still, Shakur's distinctive voice comes through loud and clear, by turns truculent, ruminative and elegiac, and painfully aware of her many failures to live up to her own flinty moralism. The result is a complex portrait of a woman in whom the political and the personal collided with unusual force.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

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. Vanessa Bush
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Atria Books (February 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743470540
• ISBN-13: 978-0743470544
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #868,397 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thanks for the Memories, October 7, 2004

By 

Theresa B. Lee (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Afeni Shakur: Evolution Of A Revolutionary (Hardcover)

Being a contemporary of Afeni and also a graduate graduate of a historically black college and university, this book hit home so many times, while bringing fond memories in the process. I have, in many instances while reading the same page of the book, both laughed and cried. I also have A son who was Afeni's son's contemporary and can only imagine the hurt she feels over the loss of her only. I am impressed with the writing and delivery of this book. My big sunday hat goes off to Jasmine Guy who has so eloquently personified the saying "you can't tell a book by looking at its cover." I didn't think I could truly enjoy any writing besides those of J. California Cooper (read them all and waiting for the next one), but found myself equally engaged in this one. I am glad that, after attending a Hugh Masekela booksigning, I came away with his signed CD and Jasmine and Afeni's book. Thanks for the memories and the black history refresher.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent!, February 6, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Afeni Shakur: Evolution Of A Revolutionary (Hardcover)

I was totally immersed in the conversations between Afeni and Jasmine. I felt as though I were right in the room with them, hearing the stories first hand. It would be very wrong to assume that Ms. Guy is only an actress. She writes with such eloquence and candor that one must also call her 'author.'

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Before you read, heed these words....., February 28, 2005

By 

N. Sneed "conscious daughter" (California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Afeni Shakur: Evolution Of A Revolutionary (Hardcover)

If your are turning to this book as an account on the life of Tupac Shakur you are dead wrong from the beginning. This book is about Afeni. From the beginning you are told that the book is based solely off the conversations that Jasmine Guy had with Afeni, conversations that are between friends. Everyone has a different account of their own life, this book is life as Afeni sees it and how she wants to tell it. How truthful is it, I'm not going to dig deep into that because I read this book to find out more about HER and about HER mindset and about how SHE sees things. This isnt a history lesson which demands the burden of proof and fact in order for it to be called history. Read this book if you want to know about AFENI the woman. If not then I suggest you pass on it.