Mutulu Shakur, the Black liberation activist freed from prison after a yearslong organized movement advocating for his release, has died of cancer. He was 72.
Shakur, who was rapper Tupac Shakur’s stepfather, died on Friday surrounded by family in Los Angeles, Jomo Muhammad, an organizer with the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement that advocated for Shakur’s freedom, told NBC News. The death comes six months after Shakur was released on parole from a 60-year prison sentence, during which he was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a blood cancer that can affect the bones and kidneys.
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For years, advocates, organizers and supporters urged the U.S. Parole Commission to free Shakur so he could spend his final days with his family. Muhammad said that while Shakur’s supporters are overcome with grief over his death, they are glad he was able to die outside of prison.
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