The funeral of Afeni Shakur has been an ongoing topic of debate for many years. Some people say that she had a traditional burial ceremony, while others are convinced that her body was cremated. Did Afeni Shakur have a funeral?
The answer is no, Afeni Shakur did not have a funeral. She died on May 2nd and was cremated by her son Tupac’s side. Her ashes were scattered in Marin County, California.
“That’s my mom and she deserves to be buried next to her son,” said Mopreme Shakur. “I took care of burial arrangements.” His sister Sekyiwa added.
“We’re just waiting for the day when we can bury Afeni with Tupac.” Afeni’s body was claimed by the family on May 18th and cremated over a week later.
Related: How Afeni Shakur Died?
So Afeni Shakur did not have a funeral. Her ashes were scattered in California by her son Tupac’s side. But later, they decided to hold a private memorial for her later though to celebrate Afeni Shakur’s life.
The memorial services will be private but the family has established a scholarship fund to help students pursue higher education goals at City College of San Francisco – Afeni Shakur Scholarship Fund.”
“In lieu of flowers or other gifts, please consider donating funds that would allow others to continue their pursuit of opportunity,” said one of the page managers about the scholarship fund.”
Afeni Shakur as a Political activist
Afeni Shakur, in addition to being an activist for the Black Panthers and was also a political activist. She wanted racial equality and justice with regard to police brutality against black people. Shakur showed her intensity when she said “I don’t care if it takes us ten thousand years!”
She lived through segregation but didn’t want that same experience for her son or any other child. Being a single parent of two children made it more difficult for Afeni.
Because at times there were not enough resources available to help them have what they needed like good food or clothes.
When Afeni first found out about the FBI spying on Tupac, she became enraged–especially since he had just been released from prison. She was furious with the people who had put her son in jail for no good reason.
Afeni wanted to make sure that other mothers didn’t have to go through what she did. So, she founded and worked on the Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation which gave support to families of incarcerated individuals.
The foundation helped provide a sense of community among single parents as well as giving them access to programs focused on nutrition, health education, and parenting skills training.
They also provided many different resources such as free legal advice, clothing donations, job placement services for women ex-offenders, and more. Afeni could use all things when raising Tupac alone during his teenage years while he continued his music career.
The Panther 21
As a member of the Black Panther Party, Afeni was one of the 21 members arrested for conspiring to start an armed revolution against the United States Government. She refused to testify before a grand jury which led her to jail and then release on bail.
She stayed in Los Angeles until Tupac’s death in 1996 when she returned to New York with their daughter Sekyiwa.
The Panthers were falsely accused of bombing police stations and assassination attempts on prominent politicians such as Robert Kennedy (1968). The group never committed any violent actions but they found themselves at odds with FBI Director J Edgar Hoover who had them listed as America’s number one public enemy.
Shakur went through a miserable three years in jail and sacrifice her life for her son Tupac.
She is looking down from above smiling because now she knows people are going to get an education and have a better life than what she did.”