She Saved 21 Lives In This Historic Trial
Black History Year
PushBlack
4.6 • 2.2K Ratings
🗓️ 15 February 2023
⏱️ 3 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Twenty-one Black Panthers were about to go to prison for something they didn’t do! That is, until one determined young woman stepped up to secure their freedom, all while pregnant… with Tupac Shakur?
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | 21 black panthers were about to go to prison for something they didn't do. |
| 0:05.0 | That is, until one determined young woman stepped up to secure all their freedom, |
| 0:11.0 | while pregnant, with Tupac Shakur. |
| 0:16.0 | This is Two Minute Black History, what you didn't learn in school. |
| 0:21.0 | In 1969, New York's district attorney indicted 21 Harlem black panthers |
| 0:33.0 | over a made-up conspiracy to bomb the entire city. |
| 0:38.0 | In 1970, 22-year-old Afini Shakur posted the $100,000 bail after community crowdfunding. |
| 0:48.0 | But there was no money left over to hire an attorney. |
| 0:52.0 | So she did it all herself. |
| 0:54.0 | Shakur did her own research and interviews leading up to the trial. |
| 0:59.0 | She was determined to free not only herself, but her community. |
| 1:04.0 | In the courtroom, she even conducted her own cross-examination and all of this while pregnant. |
| 1:11.0 | How did it go? |
| 1:19.0 | None of the FBI's evidence could be validated in court. |
| 1:24.0 | The trial also revealed that the FBI had planted undercover infiltrators to provoke violence within the Panther Party. |
| 1:33.0 | The infiltrators couldn't lie under oath and the judge made up his mind after only 45 minutes. |
| 1:40.0 | The judge looked out at the crowd and repeated, not guilty, 156 times straight. |
| 1:48.0 | Shakur couldn't help but scream and cry with joy. |
| 1:52.0 | Her work paid off for herself, her people, and her son, who grew up to be Tupac Shakur. |
| 2:01.0 | Afini Shakur once said, |
| 2:03.0 | A true revolutionary is motivated by love. |
| 2:07.0 | Even her name, Afini, means lover of the people. |
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