A REMARKABLE SURVIVAL - THE EARLIEST KNOWN MANUSCRIPT BY SHAKUR TO COME TO MARKET, A BOOKLET OF HAIKUS WRITTEN AND ILLUSTRATED BY HIM AT AGE 11 FOR HIS INCARCERATED GOD FATHER AND FELLOW BLACK PANTHERS

Tupac Amaru Shakur (1971-1996), was born Lesane Parish Crooks in East Harlem, New York, to Afeni Shakur (née Alice Faye Williams) and Billy Garland, both active members of the Black Panther party in the late 1960s through early 1970s. Afeni later renamed him after Túpac Amaru II, the Incan revolutionary, and he subsequently took the last name of his sister Sekiya's father, Black Panther Mutulu Shakur.

Afeni was an incredible organizer and brilliant orator; she represented herself and the other members of the Panther 21 during their trial where they were all facing 366 years in prison for conspiracy charges. Afeni's fiery cross examination of police witnesses and her passionate closing argument to the jury (while in prison and eight months pregnant with Tupac) was key to the acquittal of the Panther 21. The Panthers would become Tupac's de facto family, with Jamal Joseph filling a very important role in Tupac's life as his godfather.

At the time the present manuscript was written, Tupac, Afeni, and baby sister Sekiya were under constant FBI surveillance. He lived with the trauma of seeing members of his movement family being arrested, imprisoned and killed. He turned his pain to artistic power by creating a book of Haiku filled with poetry and art that spoke of nature, peace, hope, strength and liberation. Despite the FBI surveillance he bravely sent his first book into Leavenworth, a Federal maximum-security prison, to his godfather, a man that had been labeled as a dangerous revolutionary. These seeds of using poetry and art to express, to fight, to teach, to heal, would blossom as Tupac himself became the "Rose That Grew from Concrete."

As Jamal explains: “I kept it [the haiku booklet] for about a year and then got permission from a prison counselor to send a package home (to my wife Joyce) along with some other letters and legal documents. The Guards had been searching cells after a gang stabbing and were messing up prisoners' books, letters and photos. If you had money in your commissary account to pay for shipping and a decent counselor you could get a permission slip and take your stuff to the mail room to send home.” Had Jamal not thought to do this, it is very possible that this remarkable manuscript would have been lost to the world forever.

Manuscript material by Tupac is incredibly rare - indeed the only material that has appeared free and clear on the market has been a sprinkling of his beautifully composed and poetic love letters (see lots 101-107 for the most important tranche of such letters to have come to market); nothing even closely resembling the present manuscript has ever been offered.

The Haiku booklet is at once a sweet childhood product, written by a young boy who was very proud of his work, and excited to share it and his academic progress with his family, as well as a profound testament to Tupac's childhood experience, as clearly evidenced by his words on the first page: “This is dedicated to my family/ who are imprisoned for/ trying to build a better nation/ for me./ STAY STRONG./ Chui, Sekou, Jamal, Bilahl./ My test results in school/ were/ Reading: Post High School/Math: 7.7/ Language: 11.3/ By the way I’m in the 6th grade. I’ll be twelve in June 16, 1983/12/I love you all!!/[drawing of a heart]”.

Tupac then opens the manuscript by describing a form of poetry he had apparently recently learned about, the haiku, and in fact writes the entire booklet in haiku format. It is here that we see the seeds of what would grow into Tupac’s greatest creative output, his lyrics, which were known for both their poetic turns, as well as for their content, treating many of the topics touched on in the present manuscript, including race, identity, hope, freedom, pride, and justice.

Each page contains verses with different themes, most paired with a drawing, for example “Faith/ Faith is what we need/ it keep us alive day by day/ Faith is important.” “Black/ Black is our color/ We were born black / in Africa/ I am Black and proud”, both paired with a drawing of a proud and pretty stylish looking Black man, and “A dream is lovely/ you drift to another/ Land/ I dream in the night,” paired with a sweet drawing of Tupac laying in bed, pen in hand, dreaming of the release of Jamal, Chui, Sekou, and Bilal from prison. Other drawings include a detailed portrait of a Freedom fighter, a later-erased drawing of a Klansman in hooded robe, as well as fish, and a sunset. Tupac signs the booklet in a manner that any other child might sign something dedicated to someone they looked up to and hoped to be like one day:

“I hope you enjoyed my haiku/

Be strong/

I love/

you/

Tupac ♥ Shakur/

Future/

Freedom Fighter.”

Poetry would go on to play an incredibly important role in Tupac’s life, one which led him onto the path of becoming a star. At age 17, Tupac and family moved from Baltimore to Marin City in California, where he attended Tamalpais High School. It was there that Tupac attended Leila Steinberg’s poetry workshop, The Microphone Sessions. Steinberg quickly recognized the future superstar's talent, and took him under her wing, mentoring him in his writing, and even welcoming him into her family's home for a time. This relationship would prove to be pivotal for Tupac's career; not only did Steinberg help Tupac hone his writing skills, she would become his first manager, organizing a concert for his rap group Strictly Dope, and helping to broker Tupac's signing with Atron Gregory, manager of Digital Underground. In 1990, Tupac joined the group as a roadie and back-up dancer, before going on to debut with them in 1991, under the stage name 2Pac. The rest is history.

Jamal Joseph (b. 1953) is a Professor of Professional Practice and former chair of Columbia University’s Graduate Film Program. He is the Executive Artistic Director of New Heritage Theater and Films and the Founder of the acclaimed Impact Repertory Youth Theater of Harlem, as well as an alumnus of the Sundance Directing Lab and the Third World Newsreel Film and Video Workshop.

Jamal walked into the Harlem Office of the Black Panther Party at age 15. At 16, he was arrested with Afeni Shakur and other leaders as a member of the New Panther 21. His decades-long struggle for liberation continues as a member of the Black Panther Party Alumni Association fighting with other Panther Veterans for the release of Political Prisoners and fighting racism and fascism in all forms.

Jamal credits his time spent in the Black Panther Party and Leavenworth Federal Prison as the fire that forged his creative sword. While in prison, he earned two college degrees, wrote five plays, two volumes of poetry and founded a groundbreaking theater company that brought prisoners together who had previously been divided by race, culture and violence.

Jamal co-wrote and directed the feature film CHAPTER & VERSE. (theatrical and BET). Jamal’s additional directing credits include DRIVE BY: A LOVE STORY and DA ZONE for Starz, HIP HOP IN THE PROMISED LAND for Comedy Central and HUGHES DREAM HARLEM for PBS. His additional writing credits include KNIGHTS OF THE SOUTH BRONX for A & E, NEW YORK UNDERCOVER ("BAD BLOOD") for FOX; THE MANY TRIALS OF TAMMY B for Nickelodeon, and ALI: AN AMERICAN HERO for FOX. Jamal is the author of Tupac Baby (Algonquin Books). Jamal is currently adapting Panther Baby into a television series for STARZ.

Jamal was named one of the top twelve African American New York educators in the Daily News Black History Month issue. He has been featured in the New York Times, ABC’s Nightline, Showtime’s “Lords of the Revolution”, PBS' "Vanguards of the Revolution", HBO’s Def Poetry Jam and the EPIX docu-series “By Whatever Means Necessary.” His awards include a Cine Golden Eagle, a National Black Program Consortium Prized Pieces Award, a Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame Award, a Union Square Award, a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship, The Paul Robeson Citation Award from Actors Equity and an Academy Award nomination for Best Song for his work with Impact in the film August Rush.

Provenance:

Directly from the personal collection of Jamal Joseph

Condition Report:

To request a condition report for this lot, please contact pop@sothebys.com