Mutulu Shakur - Personal Life

Personal Life

Shakur was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1950. His mother was legally blind.

Shakur was a strong supporter of Malcolm X as well as several other Civil Rights leaders at the time. As he grew older, he moved to Harlem in New York City in the 1970s. Shakur later joined the Republic Of New Afrika and the BLA (Black Liberation Army) as well. He was involved with several bank robberies and other criminal activities.

Shakur is the stepfather of late rapper Tupac Shakur, and father of rapper Mopreme Shakur. Shakur was interviewed in the Oscar-nominated documentary Tupac: Resurrection, in which he described how he wrote a "Thug Life Handbook" with Tupac, expressing an anti-drug and anti-violence message.

In 1970, Shakur started working with the Lincoln Detox (detoxification) Community (addiction treatment) Program, which offered drug treatment to addicts using acupuncture. Shakur became certified and licensed to practice acupuncture in the State of California in 1976. Eventually he became the program’s assistant director and remained associated with the program until 1978. He went on to help found and direct the Black Acupuncture Advisory Association of North America (BAAANA) and the Harlem Institute of Acupuncture.

Mutulu founded a New York-based organization named Dare 2 Struggle, and released a compilation CD under the same name. As Shakur explains it, the CD was created in order to motivate, inspire, and challenge black people to struggle against their obstacles. He also recorded a radio PSA for Deejay Ra's "Hip-Hop Literacy" campaign, encouraging reading of books about Tupac.

Shakur has four children, including two daughters (Sekiywa and Nzingha) and two sons (Mopreme, Chinua).

In 2006, he released a 10-year anniversary tribute album for Tupac Shakur called A 2Pac Tribute: Dare 2 Struggle, featuring artists such as Mopreme Shakur, Outlawz, and Imaan Faith. It was released through music industry veteran Morey Alexander's First Kut Records and Canadian activist Deejay Ra's Lyrical Knockout Entertainment.