Obituary
-
Boxing Legend Pernell ‘Sweet Pea’ Whitaker Dead at 55
Pernell “Sweet Pea” Whitaker, the former world champion boxer who embarrassed opponents with his elusive defense and crisp counterpunches, has died at the age of 55. The Virginian-Pilot reports that the Norfolk, Va., native was fatally struck by a car while crossing the intersection of Northampton Boulevard and Baker Road in Virginia Beach, Va. He…
-
Bushwick Bill of Iconic Hip-Hop Group Geto Boys Dead at 52
Bushwick Bill (born Richard Stephen Shaw), the hip-hop legend and co-founder of the iconic Houston group Geto Boys, has died. According to his publicist Dawn’s confirmation via TMZ, Bill died surrounded by family Sunday evening at 9:35 p.m. in Houston. He was 52 years old and suffered from Stage 4 pancreatic cancer. Dawn also posted…
-
West Point Identifies Cadet Killed in Training Accident
The remains of a cadet killed in a vehicle accident near the West Point training site have been identified, according to CNN. Twenty-two-year-old Christopher J. Morgan of West Orange, N.J. “died due to injuries sustained from a military vehicle accident at a training area,” the U.S. Military Academy at West Point announced last Friday.…
-
Grammy Award-Winning Jazz Drummer Lawrence Leathers Dead at 37
Grammy-winning jazz drummer Lawrence Leathers died Sunday in New York City. He was 37. ABC News reports that Leathers was discovered unconscious in a stairwell of his Bronx, NY, apartment building before he was pronounced dead at the scene. Police believe he was a victim of domestic violence and confirmed that his girlfriend, 41-year-old Lisa…
-
Harlem Drug Kingpin Frank Lucas Dies at 88
Harlem kingpin Frank Lucas, who inspired the 2007 feature film American Gangster with Denzel Washington, has died. According to CBS News, Lucas passed Thursday in New Jersey. He was 88. Raised in North Carolina, Lucas found his way to New York in the 1960s, eventually becoming a major drug trafficker based out of Harlem, known…
-
Melvin Edmonds, Founder of R&B’s Soulful After 7, Dies at 65
Melvin Edmonds, older brother of legendary hitmaker Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds and a founding member of the R&B group After 7, which rose to fame in the ’90s, has died. He was 65. Melvin Edmonds’ death Saturday was announced by the group Monday on Facebook, and confirmed to the Indianapolis Star by his son Melvin. Edmonds…
-
Unita Blackwell, Civil Rights Activist and the 1st Black Woman to Be Elected a Mayor in Mississippi, Dies at 86
Unita Blackwell, a veteran of the civil rights movement and winner of a MacArthur “genius” grant who was the first black woman to be elected a mayor in the state of Mississippi, has died. She was 86. Blackwell’s son confirmed that she died Monday, according to the Associated Press. Blackwell was born in the impoverished…
-
Chris McNair, Father of 16th Street Church Bombing Victim Denise McNair, Dies at 93
His eldest child, an 11-year-old girl named Denise McNair, was brutally taken from him and their family by a group of homegrown terrorists known as the Ku Klux Klan in the 1963 bombing of Birmingham, Ala.,’s 16th Street Baptist Church. Now, Chris McNair—father, husband and history-making political figure in his own right—has died at his…
-
Rashida and Kidada Jones Say Goodbye to Mother Peggy Lipton
It was a sad Mother’s Day for Rashida and Kidada Jones after the death of their mother, actress Peggy Lipton, on Saturday, following a battle with cancer. Lipton was 72. Her daughters issued a statement to the Los Angeles Times, writing: “She made her journey peacefully with her daughters and nieces by her side. ……
-
Rest in Power: Famed Lindy Hop Dancer Norma Miller Dies at 99
She was known as the Queen of Swing, a dancer who helped make famous the lindy hop, a fast-paced, acrobatic dance popular during the Big Band era of the 1930s and 1940s. On Sunday, the queen, Norma Miller, died of congestive heart failure at her home in Florida. She was 99 years old. Miller, who…