I " : : : -- '^4^V y v-' V .;,_ >v . gj| JJS V. ".?®^^;;... B ' jdfj mmm m t tfe **JP^ ■ * i§ W|W 1 1 Br ■ I S iPlB B 111 I 4 B 1 E^v BBBBHm|BBBMk- 1 M 9 | hI% •-' - I n ft 9 IBKTinIBWiBBrrfWffMBBn iH MBHr f B ft k ■ SHft m v B 1 SP k !■ K 9 ® Br J| 9 ■ *■ i^H^w I S V ■ M -,- ■ * J* ^ Wv t*gygH w farm! 6ar 9 .Jg|| : H Lover of people, Afeni Shakur Nora Ballard and Ted Fetter ASSOCIATE FEATURES EDITOR AND GUEST WRITER She is 55 years old, she speaks in a strong, thick voice. She was once a Black Panther, and she gave life to Tupac Amaru Shakur. Afeni Shakur was intro duced by Neena Robertson (Guilford senior, and president of the African American Cultural Society) as an "activist, mother, woman." Neena wrote a poem called "A Dedication" for Afeni, and read it to a rapt audience in Dana Auditorium on Sunday night. Tupac was one the most captivating and profound per formers of his time, yet his mu sic transgressed racial bound aries and has become timeless. Since Tupac was murdered on Sept. 13, 1996, Afeni has car ried on the legacy of her son through heartfelt speeches, the release of several CD's (previ ously unreleased material), the y^^THE GUILFORDIAN Greensboro, NC creation of a Tupac Shakur art center in Georgia, and an up coming MTV documentary, Shakur said Sun. night. Afeni's speech was sincere as she spoke with pride, love, and dignity. She made it clear from the beginning that she was "not the only woman who has lost a child," and stated, "I am very fragile in my pride." She went on to describe her difficult upbringing in Lumberton, NC: "we have been dirt poor farmers." Her ancestors were kidnapped slaves. She described her younger self as "arrogant" and "angry." Afeni also admitted her drug abuse. "I am a recovering addict," she said. In fact, she was in prison for much of her preg nancy with Tupac. She ad dressed her difficulty in coming to terms with her habit, and how the experience was humbling in a way. "I was a run-of-the-mill, garden variety, dope fiend." Her long struggle with ad diction hurt Tupac, and he ad- dressed his pain in his song, "Dear Mama." Afeni offered in sight to the broader effects of drug abuse: "our actions as drug addicts affect other peoples lives ... and we pretend it doesn't." Whereas addiction was Afeni's curse, Tupac was her blessing. "God blessed me," she said. She spoke about her "spec tacular son" with more than just motherly adoration. Although he only lived 25 years, Afeni believed he lived a full life. "I al ways believed Tupac had a be ginning, middle, and end." She also said, "he did more in 25 years than most of us cam do in three lifetimes." Afeni openly discussed her son's death, talking about the February 15, 2002 tragedy matter-of-factly. "One individual person made a choice that day, and that day, that choice was to take another person's life," she said in a som ber yet honest way. She cut through any trivial ideas that could be lingering in Dana when she said "things are as bad as you think; now that you know they are that bad, do something about it." Afeni was thankful that she was drug-free for the five years before Tupac's death and ever since. "I'm grateful that when he took his last breath, I was clean and sober." See Shakur, p. 10

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