Mutulu Shakur
Encyclopedia
Mutulu Shakur is a former proponent of the Republic of New Afrika
and a close friend of Geronimo Pratt
.
Shakur is best known for planning the infamous $1.6 million robbery of a Brinks armored truck in New York in which a guard and two police officers were killed. One of his accomplices in the holdup was Kathy Boudin
, a member of the Weather Underground
and a fugitive on the FBI's Most Wanted List for 11 years. Boudin was arrested at the scene of the crime, but Shakur escaped. Shakur had been a leader of an offshoot of the Black Liberation Army
. He is currently incarcerated in the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons
"Administrative Maximum" (ADX) Facility in Florence, Colorado
. His projected release date is February 10, 2016.
truck driven by Boudin and her husband David Gilbert. However, the transfer was seen and called in to the police, who set up a roadblock at the Tappan Zee Bridge
. A shootout occurred in which two Nyack policemen were killed and Boudin was captured.
In the 1980s, he was arrested on Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act
(RICO) charges of bank robbery and aiding his sister, Assata Shakur
, in her escape from prison on November 2, 1979. While at large, on July 23, 1982 he became the 380th person added by the FBI to the Ten Most Wanted Fugitives
list. He was arrested February 12, 1986 in California and was subsequently found guilty of taking part in the armored-truck robbery and the prison escape.
While in ADX Florence
, he was visited by novelist Jonathan Franzen
. The visit forms part of Franzen's essay "Control Units," which is included in his book of essays How to Be Alone
, published in 2002. Shakur is to be released in 2016. He is also featured on a television show called American Gangster featured on Centric and BET.
Shakur was a strong supporter of Malcolm X as well as several other Civil Right's 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.
Republic of New Afrika
The Republic of New Afrika , was a social movement that proposed three objectives. First, the creation of an independent African-American-majority country situated in the southeastern United States. A similar claim is made for all the black-majority counties and cities throughout the United States...
and a close friend of Geronimo Pratt
Geronimo Pratt
Geronimo Ji Jaga , also known as Geronimo ji-Jaga Pratt born: Elmer Pratt, was a high ranking member of the Black Panther Party...
.
Shakur is best known for planning the infamous $1.6 million robbery of a Brinks armored truck in New York in which a guard and two police officers were killed. One of his accomplices in the holdup was Kathy Boudin
Kathy Boudin
Kathy Boudin is a former American radical who was convicted in 1984 of felony murder for her participation in an armed robbery that resulted in the killing of three people. She later became a public health expert while in prison...
, a member of the Weather Underground
Weatherman (organization)
Weatherman, known colloquially as the Weathermen and later the Weather Underground Organization , was an American radical left organization. It originated in 1969 as a faction of Students for a Democratic Society composed for the most part of the national office leadership of SDS and their...
and a fugitive on the FBI's Most Wanted List for 11 years. Boudin was arrested at the scene of the crime, but Shakur escaped. Shakur had been a leader of an offshoot of the Black Liberation Army
Black Liberation Army
The Black Liberation Army was an underground, black nationalist-Marxist militant organization that operated in the United States from 1970 to 1981...
. He is currently incarcerated in the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons
Federal Bureau of Prisons
The Federal Bureau of Prisons is a federal law enforcement agency subdivision of the United States Department of Justice and is responsible for the administration of the federal prison system. The system also handles prisoners who committed acts considered felonies under the District of Columbia's...
"Administrative Maximum" (ADX) Facility in Florence, Colorado
ADX Florence
The United States Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility is a supermax prison for men that is located in unincorporated Fremont County, Colorado, United States, south of Florence. It is unofficially known as ADX Florence, Florence ADMAX, Supermax, or The Alcatraz of the Rockies...
. His projected release date is February 10, 2016.
Robbery and arrest
On October 20, 1981, after six previous unsuccessful attempts to rob a Brinks truck, Shakur and five or six other men succeeded in robbing one, killing one of the Brinks guards. They drove to another location where they transferred the money to a U-HaulU-Haul
U-Haul International, Inc. is an American equipment rental company, based in Phoenix, Arizona, that has been in operation since 1945. The company was founded by Leonard Shoen U-Haul International, Inc. is an American equipment rental company, based in Phoenix, Arizona, that has been in operation...
truck driven by Boudin and her husband David Gilbert. However, the transfer was seen and called in to the police, who set up a roadblock at the Tappan Zee Bridge
Tappan Zee Bridge
The Governor Malcolm Wilson Tappan Zee Bridge, usually referred to as Tappan Zee Bridge, is a cantilever bridge in New York over the Hudson River at one of its widest points; the Tappan Zee is named for an American Indian tribe from the area called "Tappan"; and zee being the Dutch word for "sea"....
. A shootout occurred in which two Nyack policemen were killed and Boudin was captured.
In the 1980s, he was arrested on Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act
Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act
The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, commonly referred to as the RICO Act or simply RICO, is a United States federal law that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization...
(RICO) charges of bank robbery and aiding his sister, Assata Shakur
Assata Shakur
Assata Olugbala Shakur is an African-American activist and escaped convict who was a member of the Black Panther Party and Black Liberation Army...
, in her escape from prison on November 2, 1979. While at large, on July 23, 1982 he became the 380th person added by the FBI to the Ten Most Wanted Fugitives
FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, 1980s
The FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives during the 1980s is a list, maintained for a fourth decade, of the Ten Most Wanted Fugitives of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation.-FBI headlines in the 1980s:...
list. He was arrested February 12, 1986 in California and was subsequently found guilty of taking part in the armored-truck robbery and the prison escape.
While in ADX Florence
ADX Florence
The United States Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility is a supermax prison for men that is located in unincorporated Fremont County, Colorado, United States, south of Florence. It is unofficially known as ADX Florence, Florence ADMAX, Supermax, or The Alcatraz of the Rockies...
, he was visited by novelist Jonathan Franzen
Jonathan Franzen
Jonathan Franzen is an American novelist and essayist. His third novel, The Corrections , a sprawling, satirical family drama, drew widespread critical acclaim, earned Franzen a National Book Award, and was a finalist for the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction...
. The visit forms part of Franzen's essay "Control Units," which is included in his book of essays How to Be Alone
How to Be Alone
How to Be Alone is a 2002 book collecting fourteen essays by Jonathan Franzen. Most of the essays previously appeared in The New Yorker, Harper's Magazine, Details, and Graywolf Forum...
, published in 2002. Shakur is to be released in 2016. He is also featured on a television show called American Gangster featured on Centric and BET.
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 Right's 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
Tupac Shakur
Tupac Amaru Shakur , known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor. Shakur has sold over 75 million albums worldwide as of 2007, making him one of the best-selling music artists in the world...
, and father of rapper Mopreme Shakur. Shakur was interviewed in the Oscar
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
-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
Lincoln Detox
The Lincoln Hospital's acupuncture drug detoxification clinic was founded in the South Bronx by activists involved with The Black Panther Party, The Republic of New Afrika, the Young Lords, and Students for a Democratic Society...
(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
A 2Pac Tribute: Dare 2 Struggle
A 2Pac Tribute: Dare 2 Struggle is a posthumously released tribute album dedicated to the late hip hop icon.Dr. Mutulu Shakur released the tribute album album to commemorate Tupac's 35th birthday and 10 year passing anniversary...
, featuring artists such as Mopreme Shakur, Outlawz
Outlawz
Outlawz, formally known as Outlaw Immortalz, is an American hip hop group founded by Tupac Shakur in late 1995 after Shakur's release from prison. Collectively, they are probably best known for appearing in the video "Hit 'Em Up", in a diss track aimed at Biggie Smalls and other New York...
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.
External links
- "Dare to Struggle" music compilation's website
- Family and Friends of Mutulu Shakur's website
- ThugLifeArmy.com interview with Shakur
- VIBE news article
- "American Gangster: Mutulu Shakur & the Republic of New Afrika" by Alan Kurtz (BlogcriticsBlogcriticsBlogcritics is a blog network and online magazine of news and opinion. The site—a self-proclaimed "sinister cabal of superior writers"—was founded in 2002 by Eric Olsen and Phillip Winn...
) - The Killing of Tupac ShakurThe Killing of Tupac ShakurThe Killing of Tupac Shakur, a biographical and true-crime account, by journalist and author Cathy Scott, of the 1996 murder of rapper Tupac Shakur. The book made news upon its September 1997 release, on the first anniversary of Shakur's death, because of an autopsy photo included in its pages. It...
by Cathy ScottCathy ScottCathy Scott is an American true crime writer and investigative journalist, born and raised in San Diego, United States growing up in nearby La Mesa, California...
(Huntington Press 2nd ed., 2002)