Afeni Shakur Davis, a former Black Panther Party activist and mother to Tupac Shakur, has died.
The Marin County sheriff’s office say they responded to a report of a “possible cardiac arrest” on Monday night, arriving at her home and transferring her to hospital where she died at 10.30pm.
An examination to determine the exact cause is under way and more details will be provided once further information has been gathered.
"Remember to keep yourself alive, there is nothing more important than that" – Afeni Shakur #RIPAfeniShakur pic.twitter.com/kGImb7sMf5
— BlackHistoryStudies (@BlkHistStudies) May 3, 2016
Afeni was born Alice Faye Williams but changed her name after moving to New York and joining the Black Panthers.
She is best-known as the mum of Tupac and the inspiration for his track Dear Mama, but she’ll also be remembered as a philanthropist, political activist and businesswoman.
Following her son’s 1996 death, Afeni took control of his estate, which reportedly earns $900,000 (£615,000) a year. Afeni founded the Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation a year later, a programme determined to offer young people opportunities through the arts – whether that be dance, drama, or writing.
More recently, she co-produced Holler If Ya Hear Me, a musical featuring Tupac’s works, and served as an executive producer on All Eyez On Me, a film about her son scheduled for release later this year.
Through her words she offered a lot of wisdom, and we’ll leave you with this from 2011: “My personal message for Tupac fans would be for them to live brightly, strongly – out loud. To sing, to write, to dance, to play, to create music, to create plays, to create poetry, just to create. To live.
“I want his fans to live giving us everything that they have because I sincerely believe those young people and other people who want freedom and justice in the world, that they will be able to give us that – but only if we encourage them to be wrong sometimes, if we encourage them to make mistakes sometimes.”
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