An Amerikan Family is a light helping us go forward.” —
Nikki Giovanni, poet
An enlightening history of the rise and lasting impact of Black
liberation groups in America, as seen through the Shakurs, one of the
movement’s most prominent and fiercely creative families, home to
Tupac and Assata, and a powerful incubator for today’s activism,
scholarship, and artistry.
They have been celebrated, glorified, and mythologized. They have
been hailed as heroes, liberators, and freedom fighters. They have
been condemned, pursued, imprisoned, exiled, and killed. But the true
and complete story of the Shakur family—one of the most famous
names in contemporary Black American history—has never been told.
For over fifty years, the Shakurs have inspired generations of
activists, scholars, and music fans. Many people are only familiar
with Assata Shakur, the popular author and thinker, living for three
decades in Cuban exile; or the late rapper Tupac. But the branches of
the Shakur family tree extend widely, and the roots reach into the
most furtive and hidden depths of the underground.
An Amerikan Family is a history of the fight for Black
liberation in the United States, as experienced and shaped by the
Shakur family. It is the story of hope and betrayal, addiction and
murder, persecution and revolution. An Amerikan Family is not
only family genealogy; it is the story of Black America’s long
struggle for racial justice and the nation’s covert and repressive
tactics to defeat that struggle. It is the story of a small but
determined community, taking extreme, unconventional, and often
perilous measures in the quest for freedom. In short, the story of
the Shakurs is the story of America.