Dr. Mutulu Shakur Presente. His name was Mutulu Shakur. Dr. Mutulu Shakur. A lifetime freedom fighter for Black people for most of his life.
Born in Baltimore, Maryland, as Jeral Wayne Williams on August 8, 1950. His mother moved north when he was seven years old, and he grew up in New York’s Jamaica, Queens. In his 20s, he joined almost every Black liberation movement he encountered. He was a member of the group RAM, or the Revolutionary Action Movement. He worked with Provisional Government of the Republic of New Afrika, which sought the establishment of a free Black nation in five southern states. He joined the Black Panther Party, and later its military wing, the Black Liberation Army.
His service to the Black community wasn’t just in revolutionary activism, but as a doctor of acupuncture, where he treated addicted drug users and AIDS patients. He helped found BAAANA, the Black Acupuncture Advisory Association of North America and, later, the Harlem Institute of Acupuncture. In 1975, he married Afeni Shakur, the mother of a little boy named Tupac Amaru Shakur. A daughter, Sekyiwa, was born to the couple.
After almost 40 years in prison, charged with the 1981 armed robbery of a Brinks truck, and his alleged role in the liberation of BLA soldiers, Mutulu was granted compassionate release in December 2022, after an aggressive form of cancer was detected. Dr. Mutulu Shakur returned to his ancestor on July 6, 2023. He is survived by his children, Mopreme, Sekyiwa, Talib, Nzingha, Ayize, and Chinua Shakur. Dr. Mutulu Shakur lived through 72 winters.
With love, not fear, this is Mumia Abu-Jamal.
These commentaries are recorded by Prison Radio.
