A biopic on the life of Afeni Shakur, the mother of Tupac Shakur, has been announced.
Peace, Love & Respect; the Afeni Shakur/Panther 21 story will follow a crucial two years in her life between 1969 and 1971, and her involvement in the Black Panther Party.
Afeni, who passed away in 2016, was a prominent member of the organisation. She joined in 1968 and was arrested as a part of the ‘Panther 21’, who were put on trial accused of organising bomb attacks in New York before they were acquitted.
The new biopic is set to be executive produced by Jasmine Guy and Jamal Joseph, while Dina LaPolt is producing. The film has also received the backing of the Shakur estate.
The film will take events up to Tupac’s birth in 1971 and include flashbacks to Afeni’s younger years as well.
Describing Afeni as “a powerful woman” for representing herself in the trial, LaPolt explained (via Variety): “When the trial started, Afeni had gotten pregnant when she was out on bail.
“Two of the Panthers absconded, the judge freaked out and Afeni got put back in jail. She was five months pregnant [with Tupac] and made a motion to get a glass of milk for her unborn child! She had a lot of self-confidence, and that’s our movie – it begins with the day she was arrested.”
She also explained how the women at the heart of the Black Panther Party have so far been largely unrepresented in the media, adding: “The free breakfast programs, the medical facilities, the newsletter, information about where to go for access to education – that was run by women.”
Speaking of the film’s next steps LaPolt added: “What we want to do is to take meetings with production companies. We would love to partner with ARRAY or Juvee Productions. I foresee a Black woman director, screenwriter, or Black woman production company [coming on board], that would be our dream. That would be our goal.”
Meanwhile, last year it was confirmed that unreleased music by Tupac and photographs had gone on auction, and were expected to fetch a price of up to $1million (£753,405).
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