Afeni Shakur Davis, the mother of Tupac Shakur, has died at the age of 69.
Although best known as the mother of the famed rapper, Afeni Shakur Davis was almost a member of The Black Panther Revolutionary Party and, in later years, was an outspoken activist for women's rights, racial issues and gang violence. In 1999 at the Video Music Awards, Afeni Shakur and Voletta Wallace, the mother of Notorious BIG, met on the stage and effectively ended the long-running feud between the East and West Coast genres of rap.
Her drug-use in her younger days was well known and documented, particularly by Tupac Shakur in his song, Dear Mama. However, Afeni Shakur remained clean since 1991 and founded Amaru Entertainment to keep his back catalogue alive.
Afeni Shakur was pronounced dead yesterday evening from cardiac arrest and is survived by her daughter and Tupac's half-sister, Sekiwya Shakur.
