Chronology Of Tupac Amaru Shakur

[DJ RBG]

1968: Tupac's mother, Afeni Shakur, joins the New York Black Panther party at age 22.

April 1969: Afenis is arrested and charged with conspiracy to bomb several public areas in new York City. While out on bail, Afeni courts two men: Legs, a local hood, and Billy, a member of the party.

February 1971: Afeni, pregnant with Tupac, has her bail revoked; she's sent to the Women's House of Detention in Greenwich Village.

June 16, 1971: Shortly after his mom is acquitted on bombing charges, Tupac Amaru Shakur is born in New York. Tupac Amaru are Inca Words meaning "shining serpent." Shakur is Arabic for Thankful to God.

1975-1983: Tupac's family shuttles between the Bronx and Harlem, at times living in shelters.

1983: Legs comes to live with the Shakur family; Tupac "claims" him as his father. Legs introduces Afeni to Crack.

September 1983: Afeni enrolls 12-year-old Tupac in the 127th Street Ensemble, a Harlem theater group. In his first performance, Tupac plays Travis in a Raisin the Sun.

June 1986: Shakur's family moves to Baltimore;. As MC New York Tupac writes his first rap.

September 1986: Tupac enrolls at the Baltimore School for the Arts, where he studies ballet and acting.

June 1988: Tupac and his family move to Marine City, California "Leaving that school affected me so much," he said later. "I see that as the point where I got off track." Shortly after, Tupac moves in with a neighbor and begins selling drugs.

August: 1988: Mutulu Shakur, Tupac's stepfather, is sentenced to sixty years in prison for his involvement in a 1981 armored-car robbery.

1990: Tupac joins Digital Underground as a rodie/dancer/rapper. While on tour, he learns that his mother is using crack.

January 3, 1991: Tupac makes his recording debut on DU's. This is an E.P. Release.

November 12, 1991: 2Pacaplypse Now is released. Shorty thereafter, Tupac files a $10 million lawsuit against the Oakland police for alleged brutality following an arrest for jaywalking.

January 17, 1992: Tupac makes his big-screen debut in Ernest Dickerson's Juice, earning praise for his portrayal of Bishop. He is perhaps best remembered for the line "I am crazy, and I don't give a fuck!"

April 11, 1992: Ronald Ray Howard, 19, shoots a Texas trooper. Howard's attorney claims 2Pacalypse Now, which was in his client's tape deck, incited him to kill.

August 22, 1992: Tupac has an altercation with old acquaintances in Marine City. A 6 year old bystander is shot in the head. Tupac's half brother, Maurice Harding is arrested but released due to lack of evidence.

September 22, 1992: Tupac is denounced by Vice President Dan Quayle, who says 2Pacalypse Now "has no place in our society."

February 1, 1993: Strictly 4 My NIGGAZ is released and eventually goes platinum.

March 13, 1993: Tupac has a fight with a limo driver in Hollywood who accuses him of using drugs in the car. Tupac's arrested but the charges are dropped.

April 5, 1993: Tupac is arrested in Lansing Michigan, for taking a swing at a local rapper with a baseball bat during a concert. He's sentenced to 10 days in jail.

July 23, 1993: John Singleton's Poetic Justice, starring Tupac and Janet Jackson, is released. Before filming began, Jackson demanded Shakur take an HIV test before she would do any kissing scenes.

October 31, 1993: Tupac is arrested for allegedly shooting two off-duty Atlanta police officers who he says were harassing a black motorist. Charges are eventually dropped.

November 18, 1993: A 19 year old woman, whom Tupac picked up 4 days earlier in a New York nightclub, is allegedly sodomized and sexually abused by the rapper and 3 of his friends.

December 1993: John Singleton is forced by Columbia Pictures to drop the rapper from the cast of his upcoming film, Higher Learning.

March 10, 1994: Tupac is sentenced to fifteen days in a Los Angeles jail for punching out director Allen Hughes. (Hughes and his brother, Albert, had dropped Tupac from Menace II Society.)

March 23, 1994, Tupac stars as Birdie, a troubled drug dealer, in Above the Rim. The soundtrack album, featuring the song "Pour out a little Liquor," recorded by Tupac's group, Thug Life, sells 2 million copies.

September 7, 1994: Two Milwaukee teens murder a police officer and cite Tupac's "Souljah's Story" as their inspiration.

November, 30 1994: While on trial for sex and weapons charges, Tupac is shot five times and robbed of $40,000 worth of jewelry in the lobby of a Times Square recording studio. Tupac checks himself out of the hospital less than three hours after surgery. The case remains unsolved.

December 1, 1994: Tupac is acquitted of sodomy and weapons charges but is found guilty of sexual abuse.

February 14, 1995: Tupac is sentenced to up to four and a half years in a maximum security prison, convicted of touching her bum. He immediately begins serving his time in New York's Rikers Island penitentiary.

April 1, 1995: While he's incarcerated, Tupac's third album, Me Against the World, debuts at no. 1 on Billboard's pop chart. Fueled by the single "Dear Mama," the album goes double platinum in 7 months.

April 1995: In a vibe interview from jail, Tupac renounces "Thug Life" persona and commits himself to positive works. He also implicates Biggie Smalls, Puffy Combs, Andre Harrell, and his close friend Stretch, and others in the recording studio ambush.

August 1995: Biggie, Puffy and Harrell tell Vibe, they had no connection to Tupac's shooting.

October 1995: Death Row Records CEO Suge Knight posts $1.4 million bond to release Tupac, who immediately flies to LA, signs with Death Row and begins recording All Eyez on Me.

November 30, 1995: Exactly on year after Tupac's shooting, Randy "Stretch" Walker is murdered execution-style in Queens.

February 1996: In Vibe Tupac suggests he's been sleeping with Biggie's wife, Faith Evans. She denies the stories.

February 13, 1996: Tupac's Death Row Debut, All Eyez on Me, rap's first double CD, is released.

March 29, 1996: Words are exchanged and a gun is pulled when Death Row and Bad Boy employees face off after the Soul Train awards in Los Angeles.

April 25, 1996: All Eyez on Me goes quintuple platinum.

May 1996: Tupac and Snoop Doggy Dogg release "2 of Amerikaz most Wanted." In the video, caricatures of Biggie and Puffy and punished for setting up Tupac.

June 4, 1996: Death Row releases Tupac's "Hit 'Em Up," a brutal diatribe against Biggie, Bad Boy, Mobb Deep, and others.

September 4, 1996: Tupac returns to New York for the MTV music awards and gets into a scuffle.

September 7, 1996: After leaving the Mike Tyson-Bruce Seldon fight in Las Vegas in Suge Knight's car, Shakur is shot four times in the chest by an assailant in a white Cadillac. Knight, who has connections with the Bloods, escapes with a minor injury. Shakur is rushed to University Medical Center, where he undergoes surgery, including the removal of his right lung.

September 11, 1996: A Compton man who police say is associated with the LA Crips is shot to death while sitting in his car, the first in a series of gang releated murders. Police begin investigating possible connections to Tupac's shooting.

Friday, September 13 1996: After six days in critical condition, Tupac Shakur is pronounced dead at 4:03pm. He was only 25.

Tupac Amaru Shakur

DOB: June 16, 1971 - Brooklyn, NY
DOD: September 13, 1996 - Las Vegas, NV
Height: 5'10
Weight: 168lbs
Mother: Afeni Shakur
Father: William Garland
Step Father: Jeral Wayne Williams AKA Mutula Shakur
Half Sister: Sekyiwa Shakur
Half Brother: Maurice Harding (Mopreme of Thug Life)
Godfather: Elmer "Geronimo" Pratt
Aunt: Assata Shakur (Joanne Chesimard)
Music Groups: One Nation Emcees, Two From The Crew, Strictly Dope, Digital Underground, Thug Life, Outlaw Immortalz/Outlawz
Aliases: MC New York, 2Pac, Makaveli
Marital Status: Divorced (Keisha Morris) & Engaged (Kidida Jones)

BIOGRAPHY
Tupac Shakur was born Lesane Parish Crooks in Brooklyn, New York in 1971. While still a small child, his mother changed his name to Tupac Amaru after an Inca Indian revolutionary, "Tupac Amaru", meaning "Shining Serpent". "Shakur" means "Thankful To God" in Arabic.
From childhood, everyone called him the "Black Prince." For misbehaving, he had to read an entire edition of The New York Times. When he was two, his sister, Sekyiwa, was born. This child's father, Mutulu, was a Black Panther who, a few months before her birth, had been sentenced to sixty years for a fatal armored car robbery.

With Mutulu away, the family experienced hard times. No matter where they moved, the Bronx, Harlem, homeless shelters, Tupac was distressed. "I remember crying all the time. My major thing growing up was I couldn't fit in. Because I was from everywhere. I didn't have no buddies that I grew up with."

By the age of twelve, Tupac had discovered his loves for acting, writing love songs, and poetry. As a young teen, his family moved to Baltimore , Maryland, where he attended The Baltimore School for the Performing Arts studying acting and ballet. At this school, Tupac left a lasting impression on his teachers and was showing tremendous potential. Unfortunately, Tupac was unable to continue his training. He moved to Oakland, California with the rest of his family. That's when Tupac began to, as he called it, "Hang with the wrong crowd."

At age fifteen, he fell into rap; he started writing lyrics, walking with a swagger, and milking his background in New York for all it was worth. People in small towns feared the Big Apple's reputation; he called himself MC New York and made people think he was a tough guy.

By the time he was twenty, Tupac had been arrested eight times, even serving eight months in prison after being convicted of sexual abuse. In addition, he was the subject of two wrongful-death lawsuits, one involving a six-year-old boy who was killed after getting caught in gang-war crossfire between Shakur's gang and a rival group.

Not held back by his lack of formal education, Tupac joined the Rap group Digital Underground as a dancer. Not long before the group achieved award winning success, Tupac released his own album "2Pacalypse Now", which was also a success. The hit single "Brenda's Got A Baby" launched Tupac's career like a rocket. His stunning talent also got him a role in the motion picture, "Juice". Tupac eventually released a second album "Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z.," which was an even bigger success and introduced Tupac's music onto the pop charts.

In November of 1994, he was shot five times during a robbery in which thieves made off with $40,000 worth of his jewelry. Shakur miraculously recovered from his injuries to produce his most impressive artistic accomplishments, including 1995's "Me Against The World"

The highlight of Tupac's acting career came when he appeared in "Poetic Justice" besides Janet Jackson. The role made Tupac a household name and showed the world that music may not be Tupac's #1 attribute. In the midst of a role in the movie "Above the Rim" and a Platinum album "Me Against The World," Tupac's rising career was snagged. He was brought up on sexual assault charges by a woman he met at a nightclub. Hours before Tupac would be found guilty, Tupac was robbed at gun point by men whose intent and purpose is still uncertain. Tupac was eventually released at over $1 million in bail. After his release, Tupac answered his critics by releasing his best album, "All Eyez On Me." "All Eyez On Me" has currently sold over 6 million copies, which is revolutionary for a double CD, especially in Hip Hop music. Tupac also had co-starring roles in three other films, "Gridlock'd", "Bullet", and "Gang Related."

On September 7th, 1996, Tupac Shakur was shot by unknown gunmen. 6 days later on September 13, 1996, Tupac Amaru Shakur died from fatal gunshot wounds in a Las Vegas hospital. He was only 25 years old. Much of what happened on this night remains a mystery to this very day.

Following his passing, Shakur's label released an album, "The Don Killuminati: 7th Day Theory", under the pseudonym "Makaveli." The cover depicted Shakur nailed to a cross under a crown of thorns, with a map of the country's major gang areas superimposed on it. In January of 1997, Gramercy pictures released Gridlock'd, a film in which Shakur played the role of a drug addict to mostly good reviews. His final film, Gang Related, was released in 1997, and Death Row is said to have several unreleased recordings in the vaults for potential future release.

Family:

AFENI SHAKUR
Mother of Tupac, she was in prison while pregnant with Tupac. Afeni was a member of the Black Panthers. She was in prison for a plot to bomb banks and department stores. Family moved from the east coast to the west. Tupac found out Afeni was taking drugs while on tour with Digital Underground in 1990. Afeni won the rights to all of Tupac's unreleased songs. She released the double album "R U Still Down? (Remember Me)" in 1997. She has recently released Tupac's "Greatest Hits," a Tupac poetry book, "Still I Rise," "The Rose That Grew From Concrete Vol. 1," "Until The End Of Time," and more soon on her record label Amaru Records.

BILLY GARLAND
Biological father of Tupac. Tupac was told that his father was dead, but he first met him in hospital after being shot in New York. A member of the Black Panthers.


MUTULU SHAKUR
Married to Afeni Shakur. Convicted for his involvement in a 1981 armored car robbery. It left two policeman and a brinks guard dead.

LUMUMBA SHAKUR
Brother of Mutulu Shakur. Murdered in Louisiana before Mutulus arrest.

ZAYD SHAKUR
Brother of Mutulu Shakur. Killed in a shootout in New Jersey.

Geronimo Ji Jaga Pratt
Black Panther member, Tupac's godfather.

Assata Shakur
In 1973 she and Zayd Shakur were stopped by an New Jersey trooper. In a shooout Zayd and the NJ trooper were killed. Assata was sent to prison. In 1979 she escaped from prison after learning of a plan to kill her. She fled to Cuba, where she is under Asylum granted by The Cuban People.

Entertainers, Friends, Family and Associates speak out
E-40
Tupac was hated by a few but loved by many, and those who hated him didn't even know him, I truly believe that there will never be another rapper who can uplift spirits and explain the ups and downs of everyday life through rap music like Pac.


SHOCK G/MONEY-B (Digital Underground)
If you want to mourn, do it for your own personal loss. Don't mourn for Pac, remember him for his art and don't be sad for his death. Pac lived a short, fast, concentrated, an intense life. He lived a 70 year life in 25 years. He went out the way he wanted: in the glitter of the fast life, hit record on the charts, new movie in the can, and money in the pocket. All Pac wanted was to hear himself on the radio and see himself on the movie screen. He did all that and more.

SNOOP DOGG
I feel we need to come up with some sort of Tupac Black on Black Crime fund. And some sort of cease-fire. If it was an East Coast/West Coast or not, we need to put a stop to this before it gets out of hand.

GERARD (High School Friend)
First time I ever saw Tupac, he was in eighth grade. I seen this kid that had this shirt with the old school iron-on letters, MC NEW YORK. And he was rhyming. All these people was around him, even back then. We was adversaries at first, but we formed a crew. Born Busy and shit, MC New York, DJ Plain Terror, Ace Rocker, and my man D on the beat box. Taking mad peoples out, the invincibles. Then we started writing little rhymes for Jada (Pinkett). Jada was rhyming a little bit too. Don't Sleep.

MARLON WAYANS
Me and Pac, we laughed a lot during Above the Rim. It's not like being with this ill gangsta that everyone portrayed his as. We used to go in the trailer and just crack jokes. We used to tease him and say he should cross out the T on his chest and change his image to HUG LIFE.

JOHN SINGLETON
When I saw Juice, Tupac's performance jumped out at me like a tiger. Here was an actor who could portray the ultimate crazy nigga. A brother who could embody the freedom that an "I don't give a fuck" mentality gives a black man. I thought this was some serious acting. Maybe I was wrong. During the filming of Poetic Justice, 'Pac both rebelled and accepted my attitude towards him as a director/advisor. This was our dance in life and work. We'd argue, then make up. Tupac spoke from a position that cannot be totally appreciated unless you understood the pathos of being a nigga, a displaced African soul, full of power, pain, and passion, with no focus or direction for all that energy except his art.

JANET JAKSON (Poetic Justice)
feel very fortunate to have seen another side of Tupac, someone who was very caring and loving, a contrast to his public image. He will be missed by many.

COOLIO
I know for a fact that it's not an East Coast/West Coast thang. What happened was, you know, it was a street thang. Sometimes when you put yourself in a situation, you get caught up in another situation. Tupac had a knack for doing that.

CHUCK D
To me he's like the James Dean of our times. Basically, a rebel without a cause. And the industry and the media are partially responsible for whatever goes down: in accenting the negative aspects of a black celebrity. It's the soup-up, gas-up treatment. They soup him up, they're not there on the downside. People thing that this man's life was entertainment. One of our best talents is gone over some bullshit. I'm fuckin' pissed. I ain't putting up tears. Tears ain't gonna do a damn thing. Interscope will go on to sell 10 million copies of this album. Make a scholarship fund out of their share of the money. That's what I call making things happen.

OMAR EPPS (Juice)
Pac was just the truth. He always brought it from the heart. Sometimes the truth hurts or the truth can set you free. In his case, it did both. Some said he was the rappin' Nostradamus, like he could prophesy. But he was just saying that ill shit that niggas be thinking and no one wanted to say. The thing was, he lived his life in a way that the lyrics had to come true. He just went all out. Everyday was his first and last.

MINISTER CONRAD MUHAMMAD
To lose a young man like Tupac Shakur will brilliance and talent, at 25 years old, is indicative of what black males in this society are facing. We are not living long enough to realize our full potential. Malcolm X, in his young years, was a gangbanger, a drug dealer. Tupac would have evolved naturally, but black men are dying before they get.

PRODIGY (Mobb Deep)
Between my crew and people over there on the West Coast, it's sad to see where it's going. I don't know how this started, but we need to get together. Once everybody can calm down, relax and put our troubles behind us, we can strive for a better tomorrow.

HAVOC (Mobb Deep)
I loved him before the confrontation; I loved him, and I loved his music. We was planning to patch things up with him but we didn't even get the chance. It's sad, man. I think the streets killed him. It wasn't no East Coast/West Coast thing, it was the streets.

TREACH (Naughty By Nature)
My man Pac, he didn't have a criminal record until he made a record. Once you get into the light, a lot of stuff comes on to you. One thing I can say, he was one of the realest niggas that lived. He said whatever was on his mind; he never bit his tongue for nuthin'.

Assata Shakur (Aunt)
Divide and conquer is what the FBI does best. Just look at the history. The FBI engineered the split in the Black Panther party. The police and the government have pitted organizations against each other, gangs against each other, leaders against each other. Now you've got this East coast versus West coast thing.
Look, we came over on the same boats, we slaved on the same plantations together, and we're all being oppressed, brutalized, and incarcerated together in mega numbers, what sense does it make for us to be fighting each other? So yes, I believe the government encouraged this in-fighting, and I wouldn't be surprised to find out that they set Tupac up more than once.

[ZaireBellaHill]

Keep up the good work on educating people on one of the most influential minds of our time.

[OsunkoyaIfayomi]

excellent I also did not know Assata Shakur was his aunt Peace

[ShortyReal]

Tight work, very informative.- P.E.A.C.E