Mutulu Shakur, Black liberation activist and rapper Tupac Shakur’s stepfather has died at 72 after battling cancer.
After 36 years of incarceration, Shakur was finally granted parole in December 2022, primarily due to his deteriorating health after facing numerous rejections from the board. His release came at a time when he had been diagnosed with terminal bone marrow cancer, with doctors predicting he had only six months left to live.
The New Afrikan People’s Organization and the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement released a statement announcing Shakur’s death on July 7.
“Mutulu’s life was transformative to the many people he organized, healed, mentored and inspired. Dr. Mutulu Shakur taught us that “people struggle for liberation because they love [the] people,” the statement says.
Shakur’s prison sentence stemmed from a 1988 conviction for conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, as well as bank robbery, armed bank robbery and murder. He was found guilty of leading an armed revolutionary group responsible for a series of robberies in New York and Connecticut, as well as assisting JoAnne Chesimard, also known as Assata Shakur, in her escape from a New Jersey prison in 1979, The Associated Press reports.
Born Jeral Wayne Williams on Aug. 8, 1950, Shakur gained recognition for his work in holistic health care for Black communities in the Bronx. He informally studied acupuncture and collaborated with the Black Panthers and the Young Lords and was one of the founders of the Lincoln Detox, a drug detoxification clinic in South Bronx that offered holistic drug rehabilitation.
Supporters of Shukar believe he was targeted by the government to suppress his activism, and he was a “political prisoner” driven by his efforts towards Black liberation and his involvement with revolutionary Black nationalist organizations in the 1960s.
“Dr. Mutulu Shakur taught us that ‘people struggle for liberation because they love [the] people.’ He will always be remembered for his continued commitment to an independent and socialist New Afrika and for his battle cry, Straight Ahead!” the statement from the Black liberation organizations says.
In his most recent years in prison, Shakur experienced significant weight loss due to his illnesses and treatments, contracted COVID-19 twice, and relied on IV feeding tubes intermittently in the months leading up to his release, according to his attorney, Brad Thomson.
In May 2022, doctors from the Federal Bureau of Prisons informed Shakur that his cancer treatment was no longer effective and gave him less than six months to live.
After his release, his life reportedly took a positive turn as he reunited with his family.
“I think being free does a lot for the spirit,” remarked his son Mopreme Shakur in an interview with NBC News in January. “He gained like nine pounds in the first 10 days he was home.”
