Obituaries
As we’ve come to understand year after year, day after day, death is an inevitable part of life—a universal truth that spares no one. Yet, despite its certainty, the weight of loss never becomes easier to bear, nor does the act of processing its impact. For those within Black culture, where community and shared experiences […]
As we’ve come to understand year after year, day after day even, death is unfortunately an inevitable part of life. Still, as much of a fact as that may be, the blow of experiencing loss never gets any easier, nor does reporting on the subject in Black culture.
Gospel legend Richard Smallwood, 8-time Grammy nominee, dies at 77 after kidney failure. Pioneered contemporary gospel sound.
Legendary Memphis soul artist Don Bryant, known for hits like 'I Can't Stand the Rain,' passes away at 83.
Viola “Mother” Ford Fletcher, one of the last living survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, has died in Tulsa at the age of 111.
Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, formerly known as H. Rap Brown, a Black revolutionary who preached armed resistance, dies at 82.
Dr. Bessie Nelson, beloved mother of gospel singers Jonathan and Jason Nelson, has passed away. The family asks for prayers and privacy during this time.
Sha'Vi Lewis, a Clark Atlanta alum who competed in Bravo's fashion-competition series "Project Runway," passed away on Feb. 24.
Britt Allcroft, Creator of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends, Passes Away at 81 Britt Allcroft, the visionary creator of the beloved children’s series Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends, has passed away at the age of 81. A statement from her family announced her passing and requested privacy as they mourn her loss. Allcroft, originally […]
The last 12 months marked the heartbreaking losses of so many iconic and transcendent Black figures in entertainment, business, sports, activism and beyond.
While death is inevitably a part of life, that truth doesn’t make it any easier to say goodbye to those who have died in our Black culture.
Nikki Giovanni, the legendary poet, author and activist whose career spanned nearly 60 years, has died. She was 81.
