Editing Tupac Shakur (section)

==Early life==
[[File:Eastharlem01.jpg|thumb|left|[[East Harlem]], the neighborhood of New York City where Shakur was born|alt=A bird's-eye view of New York City, looking north from 96th Street, along Second Avenue, towards East Harlem. The intersection in view is 97th Street.]]

Tupac Amaru Shakur was born on June 16, 1971, in [[East Harlem]], Manhattan, New York City to [[Afeni Shakur]] and [[Billy Garland (activist)|Billy Garland]].<ref>{{cite book|first=Norman|last=Abjorensen|date=2017|title=Historical Dictionary of Popular Music|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6ZyrDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA455|location=Lanham, Maryland|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|page=455|isbn=978-1-5381-0214-5}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Jeremy|last=Prestholdt|date=2019|title=Icons of Dissent: The Global Resonance of Che, Marley, Tupac and Bin Laden|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mXKfDwAAQBAJ&pg=103|location=Oxford|publisher=Oxford University Press|page=103|isbn=978-0-1906-3214-4}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Jim|last=Cullen|date=2017|title=Democratic Empire: The United States Since 1945|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jI4jDAAAQBAJ&pg=245|location=Chichester, West Sussex|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|page=245|isbn=978-1-119-02735-5}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|editor-last1=Hoye|editor-first1=Jacob|editor-last2=Ali|editor-first2=Karolyn|editor-link2=Karolyn Ali|date=2003|title=Tupac: Resurrection 1971–1996|url=https://archive.org/details/tupacresurrectio00shak/page/9/mode/1up|location=New York|publisher=Atria Books|page=9|isbn=0-7434-7434-1}}</ref> While born Lesane Parish Crooks, at age one he was renamed Tupac Amaru Shakur.<ref name="Walker">{{cite web |title=Tupac Shakur and Tupac Amaru |url=http://charlesfwalker.com/tupac-shakur-tupac-amaru/ |last=Walker |first=Charles F. |date=February 26, 2014 |access-date=June 30, 2019 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140227015606/http://charlesfwalker.com/tupac-shakur-tupac-amaru/ |archive-date=February 27, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|first=Cathy|last=Scott |url=http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/1996/oct/02/22-year-old-arrested-in-tupac-shakur-killing/#axzz2TfQ6LDHS |title=22-year-old arrested in Tupac Shakur killing|newspaper=[[Las Vegas Sun]]|date=October 2, 1996|access-date=September 13, 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921053735/http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/1996/oct/02/22-year-old-arrested-in-tupac-shakur-killing/ |archive-date=September 21, 2013}}</ref><ref name="cathyscott1">{{cite web|title=Tupac Coroner's Report|url=http://www.cathyscott.com/artcls/Tupac%20Coroners%20Report.html |publisher=[[Cathy Scott]]|access-date=July 24, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723212104/http://www.cathyscott.com/artcls/Tupac%20Coroners%20Report.html|archive-date=July 23, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|first=Debra D.|last=Bass |url=http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/1997/sep/04/book-chronicling-shakur-murder-set-to-hit-stores/#axzz2TfQ6LDHS |title=Book chronicling Shakur murder set to hit stores|newspaper=[[Las Vegas Sun]] |access-date=September 13, 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006084722/http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/1997/sep/04/book-chronicling-shakur-murder-set-to-hit-stores/ |archive-date=October 6, 2014|date=September 4, 1997}}</ref> He was named after [[Túpac Amaru II]], a descendant of the last [[Inca Empire|Incan]] ruler, who was executed in Peru in 1781 after his [[Rebellion of Túpac Amaru II|revolt]] against [[Spanish Empire|Spanish rule]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Colonial and Neocolonial Latin America (1750–1900) | first = Sarah | last = Cline |url=http://www.history.ucsb.edu/faculty/marcuse/classes/2c/Col&NeoColonLatAmSCline034.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100705072901/http://www.history.ucsb.edu/faculty/marcuse/classes/2c/Col%26NeoColonLatAmSCline034.pdf|archive-date=July 5, 2010|access-date=October 14, 2010}}</ref> Shakur's mother [[Afeni Shakur]] explained, "I wanted him to have the name of revolutionary, indigenous people in the world. I wanted him to know he was part of a world culture and not just from a neighborhood."<ref name="Walker" /> Tupac's surname came from Lumumba Shakur, a Sunni Muslim, whom his mother married in November 1968. Their marriage fell apart when it was discovered that Lumumba was not Tupac's biological father.<ref>{{Cite web |last=McBride |first=Earnest |date=January 31, 2023 |title=Dr. Mutulu Shakur given special honors after prison release |url=https://jacksonadvocateonline.com/dr-mutulu-shakur-given-special-honors-after-prison-release/ |access-date=February 25, 2024 |website=Jackson Advocate |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Kreps |first=Daniel |date=May 3, 2016 |title=Afeni Shakur, Activist and Tupac Shakur's Mother, Dead at 69 |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/afeni-shakur-mother-of-tupac-shakur-and-activist-dead-at-69-64694/ |access-date=February 25, 2024 |magazine=Rolling Stone |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Johnson |first=Rudy |date=July 19, 1970 |title=Joan Bird and Afeni Shakur, Self-Styled Soldiers in the Panther 'Class Struggle' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1970/07/19/archives/joan-bird-and-afeni-shakur-selfstyledsoldiers-in-the-panther-class.html |access-date=February 25, 2024 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

Shakur had an older stepbrother, [[Mopreme Shakur|Mopreme "Komani" Shakur]], and a half-sister, Sekyiwa Shakur, two years his junior.<ref>{{cite web|title=Exclusive: Mopreme Shakur Talks Tupac; Rapper's B-Day Celebrated|url=http://allhiphop.com/stories/news/archive/2010/06/15/22267493.aspx|publisher=[[AllHipHop]]|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100618021222/http://www.allhiphop.com/stories/news/archive/2010/06/15/22267493.aspx|archive-date=June 18, 2010|access-date=July 28, 2010}}</ref>

===Panther heritage===
Shakur's parents, Afeni Shakur—born Alice Faye Williams (January 10, 1947 – May 2, 2016), in North Carolina—and his biological father, William "Billy" Garland (born March 14, 1949), had been active [[Black Panther Party]] members in New York in the late 1960s and early 1970s.<ref>{{cite web|title=Rare Interview With Tupac's Biological Father |url=http://mycolumbuspower.com/2916523/rare-interview-with-tupacs-biological-father-video/ |date=December 30, 2013 |publisher=Power 107.5 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160807221354/http://mycolumbuspower.com/2916523/rare-interview-with-tupacs-biological-father-video/ |archive-date=August 7, 2016}}</ref> A month before Shakur's birth, his mother was tried in New York City as part of the [[Panther 21]] criminal trial. She was acquitted of over 150 charges.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Scott|first=Cathy|title=The Killing of Tupac Shakur|title-link=The Killing of Tupac Shakur|publisher=Huntington Press|year=2002|isbn=978-0929712208|location=Las Vegas, Nevada}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Afeni Shakur|url=http://www.2paclegacy.com/images/assets/bio_afeni_shakur/afeni_shakur_biography.pdf |publisher=2Pac Legacy |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080409074113/http://www.2paclegacy.com/images/assets/bio_afeni_shakur/afeni_shakur_biography.pdf |archive-date=April 9, 2008 |access-date=April 23, 2008}}</ref>

Other family members who were involved in the [[Black Panther Party|Black Panthers]]' [[Black Liberation Army]] were convicted of serious crimes and imprisoned, including Shakur's stepfather, [[Mutulu Shakur]], who spent four years as one of the [[FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, 1980s|FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives]]. Mutulu Shakur was apprehended in 1986 and subsequently convicted for a 1981 [[Brinks robbery (1981)|robbery of a Brinks armored truck]], during which police officers and a guard were killed.<ref name="labyrinth">{{Cite book|first=Randall|last=Sullivan|title=LAbyrinth: A Detective Investigates the Murders of Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G., the Implication of Death Row Records' Suge Knight, and the Origins of the Los Angeles Police Scandal |publisher=[[Grove Press]] |location=New York City |date=January 3, 2003 |isbn=0-8021-3971-X}}</ref>

Shakur's [[Godparent|godfather]], [[Geronimo Pratt|Elmer "Geronimo" Pratt]], a high-ranking Black Panther, was wrongly convicted of murdering a schoolteacher during a 1968 robbery. After he spent 27 years in prison, his conviction was overturned due to the prosecution's having concealed evidence that proved his innocence.<ref>{{cite web|title=Geronimo Pratt: Black Panther leader who spent 27 years in jail for a crime he did not commit|website=The Independent|date=October 23, 2011|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/geronimo-pratt-black-panther-leader-who-spent-27-years-in-jail-for-a-crime-he-did-not-commit-2297384.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Martin |first1=Douglas |title=Elmer G. Pratt, Jailed Panther Leader, Dies at 63 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/04/us/04 |access-date=January 16, 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=June 3, 2011}}</ref>

Shakur's godmother, [[Assata Shakur]], is a former member of the [[Black Liberation Army]] who was convicted in 1977 of the [[first-degree murder]] of a [[New Jersey State Police|New Jersey State Trooper]]. Since 2013, she has been in the [[FBI Most Wanted Terrorists]] list after she escaped [[Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women|prison]] in 1979.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Aging Fugitive Joanne Chesimard Is First Woman on Most Wanted Terrorists List |language=English |date=May 2, 2013 |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/joanne-chesimard-woman-fbi-wanted-terrorists-list/story?id=19092683 |access-date=March 11, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240118052014/https://abcnews.go.com/US/joanne-chesimard-woman-fbi-wanted-terrorists-list/story?id=19092683 |archive-date=January 18, 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Shakur |first=Assata |date=1987 |title=An Autobiography of Assata Shakur |others=Lennox S. Hinds (foreword) |publisher=Lawrence Hill Books |isbn=0-88208-221-3}}</ref>

===Education===
[[File:Tupac Shakur 1988 Yearbook.jpg|thumb|Shakur's [[Baltimore School for the Arts]] yearbook photo, 1988]]

In the 1980s, Shakur's mother found it difficult to find work and struggled with drug addiction.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Alemoru |first=Kemi |date=May 4, 2016 |title=The colourful life of Tupac's mother Afeni Shakur |url=https://www.dazeddigital.com/music/article/30996/1/the-colourful-life-of-tupac-s-mother-afeni-shakur |access-date=December 19, 2021 |website=Dazed |language=en}}</ref> In 1984, his family moved from New York City to [[Baltimore]], Maryland.<ref name="Lewis-2016">{{Cite web|last=Lewis|first=John|date=September 6, 2016|title=Tupac Was Here|url=https://www.baltimoremagazine.com/section/artsentertainment/legendary-rapper-tupac-shakur-spent-his-formative-years-in-baltimore/|access-date=December 19, 2021|website=Baltimore Magazine|language=en-US}}</ref> Beginning in 1984 when Shakur was 13, he lived in the [[Pen Lucy, Baltimore|Pen Lucy]] neighborhood with his mother and younger sister at 3955 Greenmount Ave.<ref>{{Cite web |last=McMillian |first=Cameron |date=2022-11-18 |title=Tupac Shakur's teenage home in Baltimore up for sale |url=https://www.wmar2news.com/news/local-news/tupac-shakurs-teenage-home-in-baltimore-is-up-for-sale |access-date=2024-04-13 |website=WMAR 2 News Baltimore |language=en}}</ref> The home was a two-story [[rowhouse]] that had been subdivided into two separate rental units; the Shakur family lived on the first floor.<ref name=":10">{{Cite news |last=Macias |first=TJ |date=November 20, 2022 |title=Tupac Shakur's childhood home lists for $179K. Look at 'a piece of Baltimore history' |url=https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article268928282.html |access-date=April 12, 2024 |work=Miami Herald}}</ref> After his death, the block was renamed Tupac Shakur Way.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2022-11-21 |title=Tupac Shakur's Baltimore childhood home listed for sale |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/baltimore/news/tupac-shakurs-baltimore-childhood-home-listed-for-sale/ |access-date=2024-04-13 |website=CBS News |language=en-US}}</ref>

While living in Baltimore, Shakur attended eighth grade at Roland Park Middle School, then ninth grade at [[Paul Laurence Dunbar High School (Maryland)|Paul Laurence Dunbar High School]].<ref name="Lewis-2016" /> He transferred to the [[Baltimore School for the Arts]] in the tenth grade, where he studied acting, poetry, [[jazz]], and ballet.<ref name="King">{{cite news |last=King |first=Jamilah |date=November 15, 2012 |title=Art and Activism in Charm City: Five Baltimore Collectives That Are Facing Race |url=https://colorlines.com/article/art-and-activism-charm-city-five-baltimore-collectives-are-facing-race/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130512024439/http://colorlines.com/archives/2012/11/baltimore_arts_and_culture.html |archive-date=May 12, 2013 |access-date=April 11, 2013 |newspaper=Colorlines |publisher=ARC}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Case |first=Wesley |date=March 31, 2017 |title=Tupac Shakur in Baltimore: Friends, teachers remember the birth of an artist |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/food-drink/bal-tupac-shakur-baltimore-school-for-arts-hall-of-fame-induction-story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190901235954/https://www.baltimoresun.com/food-drink/bal-tupac-shakur-baltimore-school-for-arts-hall-of-fame-induction-story.html |archive-date=September 1, 2019 |newspaper=[[The Baltimore Sun]]}}</ref> He performed in [[Shakespeare's plays|Shakespeare plays]]—the themes of which he identified in patterns of gang warfare<ref name="not-a-ganster">{{Cite news|last=Philips|first=Chuck|date=October 25, 1995|title=Tupac Shakur: 'I am not a gangster'|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|url=https://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-tupac-qa-story.html|access-date=September 26, 2020|archive-date=September 16, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200916234535/https://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-tupac-qa-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref>—and as the Mouse King in ''[[The Nutcracker]]'' ballet.<ref name="labyrinth" />

At the Baltimore School for the Arts, Shakur befriended actress [[Jada Pinkett Smith|Jada Pinkett]], who became the subject of some of his poems ("Jada" and "The Tears in Cupid's Eyes").<ref>{{Cite book |last=Shakur |first=Tupac |url=https://archive.org/details/rosethatgrewfrom00shak |title=The rose that grew from concrete |date=1999 |publisher=Pocket Books |isbn=978-0-671-02844-2 |location=New York}}</ref> With his friend Dana "Mouse" Smith as a [[Beatboxing|beatbox]], he won competitions for the school's best rapper.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bastfield|first=Darrin Keith|title=Back in the Day: My Life and Times with Tupac Shakur|publisher=Da Capo Press|year=2002|isbn=978-0-345-44775-3|page = 5 }}</ref> Known for his humor, he was popular with all crowds of students.<ref>Bastfield 2002, p. 3.</ref> He listened to a diverse range of music that included [[Kate Bush]], [[Culture Club]], [[Sinéad O'Connor]], and [[U2]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Golus |first=Carrie |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VndZuYv9u4kC&q=tupac+kate+bush&pg=PA26 |title=Tupac Shakur |date=December 28, 2006 |isbn=9780822566090 |publisher=Lerner Publications |access-date=March 29, 2012 |archive-date=December 8, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201208044704/https://books.google.com/books?id=VndZuYv9u4kC&q=tupac+kate+bush&pg=PA26 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Upon connecting with the Baltimore [[Young Communist League USA]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Happy birthday to our brother and comrade, #TupacShakur! This is his Young Communist League membership card from when he lived in Baltimore, Maryland. #RestInPower #SolidarityForever |url=https://twitter.com/communistsusa/status/1140414143943589888 |date=June 17, 2019 |website=Twitter |publisher=Communist Party USA |access-date=June 17, 2019 |archive-date=May 11, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200511025903/https://twitter.com/communistsusa/status/1140414143943589888 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Van Nguyen |first=Dean |date=May 18, 2021 |title=The Hip-Hop Road to Socialism |url=https://jacobin.com/2021/05/socialist-hip-hop-tupac-biggie-jay-z-killer-mike-paris-coup-noname-immortal-technique-marxman-hasel |access-date=March 15, 2023 |website=jacobin.com |language=en-US |quote=Tupac himself appears to have been a member of the Young Communist League at one point, too.}}</ref> Shakur dated Mary Baldridge, who was the daughter of the director of the local chapter of the [[Communist Party USA]].<ref>Bastfield 2002, pp. 67–68.</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Sandy |first1=Candace |title=How Long Will They Mourn Me? |last2=Marie Daniels |first2=Dawn |publisher=Random House Publishing Group |year=2010 |isbn=9780307757449 |pages=10 |quote=Tupac's leadership abilities emerged with his involvement with the Young People's Communist League, where he worked with his then girlfriend, Mary Baldridge, whose father was the head of the Baltimore Communist Party}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=McQuillar |first1=Tayannah Lee |title=Tupac Shakur: The Life and Times of an American Icon |last2=Johnson |first2=Fred L. |publisher=Hachette Books |year=2010 |isbn=9780786745937 |quote=Tupac and his white girlfriend Mary Baldridge, a student in the high school's dance department.}}</ref>

In 1988, Shakur moved to [[Marin City, California]], an impoverished community in the San Francisco Bay Area.<ref name="Brown-2016">{{cite web | first = Preezy | last = Brown | url = https://www.vibe.com/2016/11/tupac-2pacalypse-now-anniversary | title = How '2Pacalypse Now' Marked The Birth Of A Rap Revolutionary | date = November 12, 2016 | work = [[Vibe (magazine)|Vibe]] | access-date = March 22, 2018 | archive-date = March 23, 2018 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180323031237/https://www.vibe.com/2016/11/tupac-2pacalypse-now-anniversary/ | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Ruskin |first=Zack |date=2019-08-23 |title=Tupac Shakur's Life in Marin |url=https://marinmagazine.com/people/tupac-shakurs-life-in-marin/ |access-date=2024-10-08 |website=Marin Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref> In nearby [[Mill Valley, California|Mill Valley]], he attended [[Tamalpais High School]],<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Marriott |first1=Michel |last2=Brooke |first2=James |last3=LeDuff |first3=Charlie |last4=Lorch |first4=Donatella |date=September 16, 1996 |title=Shots Silence Angry Voice Sharpened by the Streets |pages=A–1 |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/09/16/us/shots-silence-angry-voice-sharpened-by-the-streets.html|url-status=live |access-date=August 21, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090825100514/http://www.nytimes.com/1996/09/16/us/shots-silence-angry-voice-sharpened-by-the-streets.html |archive-date=August 25, 2009}}</ref> where he performed in several theater productions.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Robinson |first=Staci |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oc8MEQAAQBAJ&dq=Tupac++Tamalpais+High+School+theater&pg=PA129 |title=Tupac Shakur: The Authorized Biography |date=2024-10-22 |publisher=Random House |isbn=978-1-5247-6105-9 |language=en}}</ref> Shakur did not graduate from high school, but later earned his [[General Educational Development|GED]].<ref name="nyt-obit" />