Content warning: this episode includes violence, drug addiction and references to sexual abuse.
How did a pregnant Black Panther with no legal training defend herself against 156 charges, and win?
Why did she name her son after the last Inca ruler, executed in Cusco in 1572?
And, how did a ballet-dancing theatre kid become the rapper a US vice president said should never have been released?
In the first of four episodes, Peter and Afua begin the story of Tupac Shakur.
Thirty years after the shooting in Las Vegas, a jury has finally reached a verdict. But Tupac's story begins much earlier, in a Manhattan courtroom in 1971. His mother, Afeni Shakur, is on trial as one of the Panther 21. She is pregnant, she has sacked her lawyer, and she is facing life in prison. Peter and Afua follow her from North Carolina to the Black Panthers, and through the FBI's war on the movement. Then they follow her son. He grows up through New York, Baltimore and Marin City, and the episode ends with his first album.
Join Legacy Plus for bonus episodes, early access, Q&A's, fewer adverts and more. In this series, members also get bonus interviews with a former member of Tupac's crew and a filmmaker.
legacy.supportingcast.fm
00:00 Las Vegas, 30 years on
03:26 Afeni Shakur joins the Panthers
06:34 Hoover, COINTELPRO and the Panther 21
10:46 Pregnant in jail
11:39 Afeni defends herself
15:23 Why "Tupac"?
20:47 A revolutionary family
24:11 Baltimore and the School for the Arts
29:46 Marin City
32:36 "Same Song" and the first album
Stay connected with Legacy:
Instagram: @originallegacypodcast
TikTok: @legacy_productions
Explore more from Peter and Afua — essays, sources, and ideas:
Substack: peterfrankopan.substack.com | afuahirsch.substack.com
Join Legacy+ for bonus episodes, early access, Q&A's, fewer adverts and more.
legacy.supportingcast.fm
Stay connected with Legacy:
Instagram: @originallegacypodcast
TikTok: @legacy_productions
Explore more from Peter and Afua — essays, sources, and ideas: Substack: peterfrankopan.substack.com | afuahirsch.substack.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.