Blackhacker

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | R&B star Gerald Levert dies at 40
Grammy-nominated R&B star Gerald Levert has died aged 40, his record company has confirmed.

Ed Bradley, Veteran CBS Newsman, Dies - New York TimesEd Bradley, an anchor on CBS’s 60 Minutes, died today after suffering from leukemia, CBS News reported. He was 65.

With the number of Blacks in broadcast Journalism a precious few, this accomplished mans presence will be missed. But He left a body of work, and a legacy for all of us to follow, and a work in in telling us about ourselves that should be continued. RIP Ed Bradley. Please take the time to read his biographies that may be found at CBS News, Wikipedia, and I am sure other places around the Internet.

ATLANTA (Reuters) - Coretta Scott King, who surged to the front of the fight for racial equality in America after her husband Martin Luther King Jr. was murdered in 1968, died at age 78, friends and family said on Tuesday.
“Her daughter was with her at the time she passed, probably about 1 to 1:15 this morning,” said Bishop Eddie Long of the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Georgia, the pastor of King’s youngest child Bernice. Link

I do not possess the eloquence to convey what we have lost this day, Or convey what this woman’s life has meant to me, to black people in America, and to the Nation in general. What she has given, what she has stood for. She is among the giants on whose shoulders all Americans must stand. And she hold the standard by which all of us must be judged.

Mrs. King, Thanks you for you life.

Lou Rawls - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Louis Allen Rawls (December 1, 1935 - January 6, 2006) is a Chicago-born American soul music, jazz, and blues singer. Known for his smooth vocal style, Frank Sinatra once said that Rawls had “the classiest singing and silkiest chops in the singing game.”[1]

Pryor died of cardiac arrest at the age of 65 in an Encino hospital at 7:58 a.m. Pacific Time on December 10, 2005. He was brought to the hospital after his wife’s attempts to resuscitate him failed. His wife was quoted as saying that “At the end there was a smile on his face.”

link

For all of the problems that this man had, in his life, I still find inspiration in the fact that he over came them. He was the ORIGINAL King of Comedy. I defy you to name a comedian out today that does not reference him as one of top 3 comedic inspriartions. If he does not he is probably not very good or litteral born yesterday. His comedy had a relevancy for its time and all time. Ths world is the poorer for his passing but the richer because he was here. He will be missed.

Update: “Winos and Junkies”

Dap: Avery Tooley

queen has passed away today. It was because of her, how she had the courage to demand respect. It was her and those that stood with her, and supported her, and all of those like her, in that era had the courage to do the same in thier corner of America, that we, not only black people, but all Americans, can enjoy any of the freedoms and inalienable that we are promised in the Great Documents of Our Nation. I agree with the Neville Brothers “Thank you, Miss Rosa.”

AP

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) — Actor Brock Peters, best known for his heartbreaking performance as the black man falsely accused of rape in “To Kill a Mockingbird,” died Tuesday at his home after battling pancreatic cancer. He was 78

His most notable role is that of Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a white women in the Jim Crow south, in the excellent movie adaptation of “To Kill A Mockingbird.” Trek fans will remember him as Admiral Cartwright in Star Trek IV & VI and as Joe Sisko, the father of Ben Sisko in ST:DS9 the best of all TV Trek Series. He even Darth Vader for the Star Wars Radio Series. Didn’t know there was a Star Wars Radio Series

Memory Alpha has the most comprehensive list of his screen performances I’ve seen thus far.

NYTimes

John H. Johnson, who used his mother’s furniture as security for a $500 loan to start the business empire that eventually included Ebony and Jet magazines and that made him one of the nation’s richest and most powerful black businessmen, died yesterday in Chicago. He was 87.

There isn’t a Black Family in a America that didn’t have a subscription to Ebony or Jet at one time or another, if not both. And you know you could always find a copy at the barbershop. The Jet was already opened to page 43.

Defense Attorney Johnnie Cochran Jr. Dies

By LINDA DEUTSCH, AP Special Correspondent

LOS ANGELES - Johnnie L. Cochran Jr., who was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor in December 2003, died Tuesday at his home in the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles. He was 67.

What every you may think about this man. If I every get into legal trouble I can’t think of anyone I would rather have in my corner.

I just found out about this. The AP via yahoo has some details.

NEW YORK - Ossie Davis, the imposing, unshakable actor who championed racial justice on stage, on screen and in real life, often in tandem with his wife, Ruby Dee, has died. He was 87.

Davis was found dead Friday in his hotel room in Miami Beach, Fla., according to officials there. He was making a film called "Retirement," said Arminda Thomas, who works in his office in suburban New Rochelle and confirmed the death.

Miami Beach police spokesman Bobby Hernandez said Davis’ grandson called shortly before 7 a.m. when Davis would not open the door to his room at the Shore Club Hotel. Davis was found dead and there does not appear to be any foul play, Hernandez said.

Davis, who wrote, acted, directed and produced for the theater and Hollywood, was a central figure among black performers for decades. He and Dee celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 1998 with the publication of a dual autobiography, "In This Life Together.”