Tupac Shakur

1996 MTV Video Music Awards

Shakur in 1996, photo by Prphotos

Birth Name: Lesane Parish Crooks

Date of Birth: June 16, 1971

Place of Birth: East Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, New York, U.S.

Date of Death: September 13, 1996

Place of Death: Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.

Ethnicity: African-American [including, possibly, Tuareg]

Tupac Shakur was an American rapper, songwriter, and actor.

He was the son of African-American parents, William Garland and Afeni Shakur (born Alice Faye Williams). He was born Lesane Parish Crooks. He adopted his surname, “Shakur”, from his stepfather, black nationalist Mutulu Shakur (who was born Jeral Wayne Williams). His mother gave him the name Tupac Amaru after the Peruvian revolutionary Túpac Amaru II. His parents were Black Panther members. His mother was also a businessperson, philanthropist, political activist. His stepbrother is rapper Mopreme Shakur.

His father is said to have Tuareg heritage, an African ethnic group. It is not clear if this ancestry has been verified/documented.

A video with Tupac’s father can be seen here.

Tupac’s paternal grandmother was Eloise Marie Barnes (the daughter of Walter Barnes and Carnell Phoenix/Williams). Eloise was born in Florida. A picture of Tupac’s paternal grandparents can be seen here.

Tupac’s maternal grandfather was named Walter Williams, Jr. (the son of The Rev. Walter Williams and Lena).

Tupac’s maternal grandmother was Rosa Belle McLellan (the daughter of Kennie McLellan and Rosa Lee Powers). Tupac’s grandmother Rosa was born in North Carolina. Kennie was the son of Peter McLellan. Tupac’s great-grandmother Rosa’s father was Robert Powers, who was the son of a slave named Jeffrey Powers. Rosa’s mother was Millie Ann Wooten.

Sources: Genealogies of Tupac Shakur (focusing on his mother’s side) – http://www.wargs.com
https://www.geni.com
https://www.wikitree.com

Tupac’s maternal great-great-grandfather, Robert Powers, on the 1870 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org

Tupac’s maternal great-great-great-grandfather, Jeffrey/Jeff Powers, on the 1850 U.S. Slave Schedule – https://familysearch.org

ethnic

Curious about ethnicity

127 Responses

  1. the punisher says:

    I love his music.

  2. Daisuke says:

    If he’s 1/32Caucasian then he’s mixed.

    • Clarisse Foxx says:

      no your mixed when your half and half or multi racial and thats what hes not

      • Daisuke says:

        you’re so wrong .Tupac is mixed-race not black. Saying that mixed is only this or that is YOU’RE opinion. Since his lineage can be traced to European people then he’s mixed-race. the people who think mixed is only half and half have no sense.

        • Coolerthanyou says:

          2pac is black, full black, both of his parents are black, you’re an idiotic person who wants to claim him as someone other than black because you are probably fan of his, who knows, Barack Obama is mix, Halle Berry included, because both of their parents are of a different race. You know nothing about being black, or how blacks come in different shapes and sizes, so just go take a dirt nap somewhere and die

        • Kerrywhite says:

          HE’S BLACK DICKHEAD, get over it. He rapped and identified as a black man all the time in his career. He’s only 6% White. Mulatto or bi-racial is a term for someone who is half-white and half-black from two different racial parents. Maybe you need a dictionary.

  3. the punisher says:

    Why are their so many people from the east coast on this site

  4. driko says:

    tupac shakur was not an “African-american” i the strict definition of the word.he was of a different ethnic origin,you can tell by his facial structure,and overall demeanor.

  5. andrew says:

    Tuareg? interesting. They are the nomadic people of Sahara, how they came to America?

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.