Tupac Amaru Shakur (born Lesane Parish Crooks, June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996) was an American activist and U.S. Representative for California's 9th district until his death in 1996. An Independent who caucused with the Democratic Party, he was widely considered a rising star in the political landscape, as Shakur's age and fiery rhetoric strongly appealed to disenfranchised poor and young voters.
Shakur was born in New York City to parents who were both political activists and
Black Panther Party members. Raised by his mother,
Afeni Shakur, he relocated to Baltimore in 1984 and to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1988. Upon connecting with the Baltimore Young Communist League USA, Shakur dated the daughter of the director of the local chapter of the
Communist Party USA - despite distancing himself from both organisations, his economic views would often be attributed to this. In 1988, Shakur moved to Marin City, California, an impoverished community in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he became involved in local politics as a community organiser. He made national headlines in 1991 when, while a
State Senator, he was stopped and assaulted by police officers Alexander Boyovich and Kevin Rodgers on false charges of jaywalking. The resulting media coverage of the civil suit against the Oakland police department helped propel him into congress, following the retirement of Representative
Ron Dellums. While running and winning as a
Democrat, he would later become a congressional independent after his election.
Shakur quickly became known as a firebrand on the House floor, becoming a somewhat controversial figure in punditry for his provocative anti-capitalist rhetoric, as well as a villain figure for the
Republican party. During his tenure, Shakur was a vocal advocate for contemporary social issues that plagued inner cities, as well as being against U.S. intervention in the
Middle East and
Somalia. Shortly before his reelection, however, he would be assassinated by white supremacist
Timothy McVeigh in 1996, ostensibly for his high-profile status as an African-American politician and socialist ideology.
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Marion "Suge" Knight (April 19, 1965) was an American gridiron football defensive end who played in the
National Football League (NFL) for several seasons. His nickname Suge (pronounced
Shuug) derives from "Sugar Bear", a childhood nickname. A highly touted prospect in the sport, Knight's professional career was marred and eventually cut short by legal troubles.
Born in Compton, California, Knight attended Lynwood High School, where he was a football and track star, graduating in 1983. In 1985, after attending and playing football at El Camino College, he transferred to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and played football there for two years. Knight was picked for the
Los Angeles Rams in the 1987 NFL Draft, but, due to conflicts surrounding a restraining order filed by his girlfriend at the time, he acted only as a replacement player during the
1987 NFL Players Strike. Later that year Knight was arrested after reportedly shooting a man in the leg and wrist in an accused carjacking, despite not having a firearm on him at the time. While ordered to pay a $1,000 fine, Knight's reputation as UNLV athlete remained intact, leading to his stint with the
Las Vegas Raiders. He was abruptly let go from the team in 1989, when Knight reportedly assaulted a man at Los Angeles International Airport.
During his successful stint with the
San Diego Chargers, Knight became involved in a number of illegal schemes, including multiple racketeering operations, for which he was eventually arrested for during his brief time with the New England Patriots. Charged with multiple counts of bribery, federal fraud, racketeering and later witness intimidation, Knight was sentenced to 30 years incarceration in the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility.