Billy Garland

William Marvin Garland Jr. or William B. Garland (born August 5, 1949) is an American former member of the Marxist–Leninist and black power political and militant organization the Black Panther Party (BPP) and the biological father of rapper Tupac Shakur.

Biography Garland was born in New Jersey, the second oldest of six children to his mother, Eloise Marie Barnes Garland, who died from an illegal abortion when Garland was only six years of age. During his childhood he lived in various cities around New Jersey and in California before settling in Somerville. While attending Somerville High School, he became a star athlete on the school's basketball team. Garland would later enroll in community college but dropped out to join the newly established Jersey City chapter of the Black Panther Party after the assassination of Martin Luther King.

Role in the Black Panther Party

In 1970, Bashir Hameed appointed Garland as the defense captain for the Jersey City chapter of the Black Panther Party. His role was to check-in with other east coast chapters and organize meetings.

Relationship with Afeni Shakur and Tupac Shortly after moving up the ranks in the BPP, he met Afeni Shakur, who was also a high-ranking member in the party in New York City. The two dated for a while and eventually broke up. Garland later found out she was pregnant with Tupac Shakur during the Panther 21 trial. Garland then learned he was the biological father after Tupac was born in 1971. He remained somewhat involved in Tupac's life until 1976; at that time, he lost contact with Afeni completely. Afterwards Garland would get married and distance himself from the party to raise his family in New Jersey.

In 1991 Garland would notice Tupac after seeing him on a poster for the movie Juice. It was the first time seeing Tupac in 15 years. However, Garland would not reconnect with Tupac until 1994, while Tupac was at Bellevue Hospital following the Quad City shooting. Garland has acknowledged that he felt concerned Tupac "don't wanna see me" prior to him finally meeting with his son after so long. While Shakur was incarcerated at Clinton Prison in Dannemora, Garland made frequent visits, where they formed a close bond, with Tupac even meeting Garland's wife. When Tupac was released, the two kept in contact but did not spend enough time with each other in part due to Tupac's busy work schedule. However, Tupac's mother Afeni was skeptical of Garland, noting to People in 1997 that she in fact rarely saw him after Tupac was born and believed he was "garbage," "a goldigger" and the “designated sperm donor.”

Tupac also mentioned Garland, in several interviews. In 1995, Shakur stated in an interview conducted by Tabitha Soren for MTV News on Venice Beach that, "recently after I got shot, this other guy came and was like he was my father and he looks like me, he's been to jail to see me. His kids look like me... I just woke up (in hospital) and he was standing over me."

After Tupac was shot on September 7, 1996, Garland flew out the next morning from New Jersey to Las Vegas to be there for him. Tupac died on September 13, 6 days after the shooting. Afeni listed Garland as deceased, which left her in charge of Tupac's estate. In 1997, Garland would sue Afeni over Tupac's estate, seeking to obtain half of it and noting how her death cerfiticate claim about him being deceased was false. Garland has also been interviewed on Art of Dialogue and DJ Vlads YouTube channel.

Personal life

Garland has six children including Tupac Shakur; Takerra Allen who is the author of the famous "Parachute" book series; and N'Neka Garland, who was the producer of the soap opera General Hospital, and who died in 2023 at the age of 49.