His mother was both incarcerated and subjected to surveillance by both the state and federal police, her family support was also murdered, incarcerated, or forced underground due to revolutionary activities - so her inability to gain stability is not at all surprising.
His dad could have been around if he'd chosen to be, nikka could join the BPP for a short period of time but couldn't find it in him to raise his son? He had other kids that he apparently raised.