In MEMORIAM
By Darlene Donloe
A number of noteworthy people closed their eyes for the last time in 2022. They were writers, actors, directors, musicians, publicists, entertainment executives, activists, community leaders, and politicians. All were influential in their own way. And, before leaving the planet, they all made their mark and touched the lives of so many. This column remembers their legacies and pays tribute to those who passed this way. Respect!
JANUARY
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| Max Julien |
Jan. 1 – Max Julien, actor “The Mack.” He was 88.
Jan. 1 - Nick Colionne, jazz guitarist.
Jan. 5 - Jessie Lee Daniels, founding member of Force MDs. He was 57.
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| Sidney Poitier |
Jan. 6 – Sidney Poitier. The best actor EVER!! The first Black man to win an Oscar for Best Actor. He was 94.
Jan. 7 – Calvin Simon, co-founder of Parliament-Funkadelic. Rock and Roll Hal of Famer. He was 79.
Jan. 7 – Lani Guinier, American civil rights theorist. She was the Bennett Boskey Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and the first woman of color appointed to a tenured professorship there. She was 71.
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| Carl Craig |
Jan. 8 – Carl Craig, TV and film producer and writer. He was 68.
Jan. 9 - Maria Ewing, dramatically daring opera star. She was 71.
Jan. 9 - James Mtume, musician, griot, songwriter, producer, activist, radio personality, and bandleader. He was 76.
Jan. 11 - Rosa Lee Hawkins, Dixie Cups singer “Chapel of Love” and “Iko Iko.” She was 76.
Jan. 12 – Ronnie Spector, 1960s pop icon. Member of the Ronettes. She was 78.
Jan. 13 - Sonny Turner, Platter lead singer. He was 83.
Jan. 13 - Fred Parris, singer “In The Still of the Night,” with The Five Satins. He was 85.
Jan. 14 - Greg Webster, original Ohio Players drummer. He was 84.
Jan. 16 - Charles McGee, Tuskegee Airman. He was 102.
Jan. 18 – Lusia Harris, first woman drafted by the NBA; women’s basketball star and the subject of Oscar-Shortlisted, “The Queen of Basketball.” She was 66.
Jan. 18 – Andre Leon Talley, fashion journalist and former Editor-at-Large of Vogue. He was 73.
Jan. 19 – Ian Alexander Jr., DJ, and Regina King’s son. He was 26.
Jan. 20 - Sidney Miller Jr., music executive, Black Radio Exclusive (BRE) magazine founder. He was 89.
Jan. 30 Cheslie Kryst, former Miss USA. She was 30.
Jan. 31 - Jimmy Johnson, soul musician. He was 93.
FEBRUARY
Feb. 3 – Cliff Frazier, executive director of the New York Metropolitan Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolence (NYMLK) and founder and president of the International Communication Association (ICA). He co-founded, and served as chair, of the Harriet Tubman Charter School.
Feb. 4 – Ashley Bryan, longtime artist, children’s book author and illustrator, and soldier survivor of D-Day in France during WWII. He was 98.
Feb. 4 – Donny Gerrard, “Wildflower” singer. He was 75.
Feb. 6 - Syl Johnson, Mississippi-born Chicago blues and soul giant. He was 85.
Feb. 8 - Betty Davis, trailblazing Queen of Funk. She was 77.
Feb. 13 - Lynn Tolliver, WZAK radio legend, industry vet.
Feb. 16 - Guy Johnson, Maya Angelou’s son. He was 77.
Feb. 17 – David Tyson, singer with The Manhattans.
Feb. 18 - Miss Alabama Zoe Sozo Bethel. She was 27.
Feb. 18 - Baba Ahmed T’Chaka Zulu Obafemi, new Afrikan freedom fighter.
Feb. 19 - Charley Taylor, running back turned Hall of Fame receiver. He was 80.
Feb. 21 - Valerie Boyd, biographer of Zora Neale Hurston. She was 58.
Feb. 22 – Ernie Andrews, jazz singer. He was 94.
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| Jackie Burke |
Feb. 28 – Jackie Burke, producer for E! News, and KTLA-TV. She was 62.
MARCH
March 1 – Richard Pratt, founding member of Blue Magic.
March 3 – Scott Edwards, electric bassist.
March 4 – John “Johnny” Brown, comedic actor. He was 84.
March 7 – Honorable Bishop Ras Denroy Morgan, known to the world as a musical prodigy, a pioneer, and a musical perfectionist who paved the way for Reggae on the international stage. He was 76.
March 8 - Johnny Grier, NFL's first Black referee. He was 74.
March 9 - Autherine Lucy Foster, University of Alabama’s first Black student. She was 92.
March 11 - Timmy Thomas, R&B singer/songwriter/keyboardist/educator, 1972 Soul classic "Why Can't We Live Together." He was 77.
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| Traci Braxton |
March 12 – Traci Braxton, singer, and sister of Toni and Tamar Braxton. She was 50.
March 14 - Pervis Spann, WVON owner.
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| Barbara Morrison |
March 16 - Barbara Morrison, jazz and blues legend. She was 72.
March 19 - Scoey Mitchell, actor, and comedian. Star of “Barefoot in the Park.” He was 92.
March 21 - LaShun Pace, gospel singer. She was 60.
March 30 - Donald “Tabby” Shaw of the legendary trio Mighty Diamonds. He was 67.
APRIL
April 1 - Bunny Diamond, member of reggae trio The Mighty Diamonds. He was 71.
April 3 – Bruce Johnson, longtime WUSA9 anchor. He was 71.
April 3 – Herman Thomas Davis Jr., baseball player. He was 83.
April 7 - Rayfield Wright, Cowboys’ Hall of Famer. He was 76.
April 9 – Dwayne Haskins, Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback. He was 24.
April 11 – Charnett Moffett, acoustic and electric bassist. He was 54.
April 12 - Donald Smith, pianist, and flutist. He was 79.
April 13 – Charles McCormick, founding singer/bassist of the group Bloodstone.
April 14 - Orlando Julius, saxophonist, bandleader, and songwriter. He was 79.
April 14 - Cedric McMillan, bodybuilding champion. He was 44.
April 14 – Shatanya Clarke, Texas news anchor. She was 27.
April 15 - Bob Dozier, Hall of Fame Detroit Mackenzie football coach. He was 76.
April 17 – Roderick “Pooh” Clark, HI-Five member. He was 49.
April 18 – DJ Kay Slay, graffiti artist. He was 55.
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| Andrew Woolfolk |
April 24 – Andrew Woolfolk, Earth Wind & Fire horn player. He was 71.
April 30 - Carl “Butch” McDaniel, guitarist for The New Birth.
MAY
May 3 - Bobby O’Jay, Memphis radio DJ. He was 68.
May 9 – Adreian Payne, former Michigan State basketball player. He was 31.
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| Bob Lanier |
May 10 – Bob Lanier, NBA All-Star, former Detroit Piston, known as the left-handed big man. He also played for the Milwaukee Bucks. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. He was 73.
May 13 - Lil Keed, up and coming Atlanta rapper. He was 24.
May 18 - John L. Canley, belated Medal of Honor Recipient who rescued more than 20 fellow Marines. He was 84.
May 20 – Bernard Wright, keyboardist and “Who Do You Love” singer. He was 58.
May 29 – Samella Lewis, “Godmother” of Black art, who helped preserve its history. She was 99.
May 30 - Jeff Gladney, Minnesota Vikings, and Arizona Cardinals football player. He was 25.
JUNE
June 1 - Marion Barber III, former Dallas Cowboys star. He was 39.
June 3 – London Rapper Lamar “Hypo” Jackson. He was 39.
June 4 – Atlanta Rapper Mariel Semonte ‘Trouble’ Orr. He was 34.
June 17 - Ken Williams, “Everybody Plays The Fool” songwriter. He was 83.
June 20 - Caleb Swanigan, former Purdue basketball player drafted by the Portland Trailblazers in 2017. He was 25.
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| Jaylon Ferguson |
June 21 – Jaylon Ferguson, Baltimore Ravens linebacker. He was 26.
June 22 – Willie Lee Morrow. Inventor of the Afro Pick. He was 82.
June 23 - Reggie Andrews, songwriter and music educator. He was 74.
June 25 - Sam Gilliam, abstract artist of drape paintings. He was 88.
June 27 - Marlin Briscoe, pioneering Black quarterback. He was 76.
JULY
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| Adam Wade |
July 7 – Adam Wade, singer, and actor. First Black network television game show host (Musical Chairs). He was 87.
July 8 - Jose, Eduardo dos Santos, longtime Angolan ruler. He was 79.
July 10 - Busi Lurayi, actress. She was 36.
July 13 – Tanita Myers, VP/news operation at iHeart Media’s Black Information Network. She was 49.
July 14 – William “Poogie” Hart, Delfonics founding member and lead singer William "Poogie" Hart. He was 77.
July 14 – Jak Knight, comedian, and Big Mouth star. He was 28.
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| Tanya Kersey |
July 18 – Tanya Kersey – Founder of the Hollywood Black Film Festival. She was 61.
July 19 – Michael Henderson, singer, songwriter, and bass player. He was 71.
July 19 – Latisha Chong, a hairstylist who helped change fashion. She was 32.
July 21 - Kamoya Kimeu, Kenyan paleontologist – a fossil-hunting “legend” in East Africa. He was 84.
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| Taurean Blaque |
July 21 – Taurean Blaque, ‘Hill Street Blues’ actor. He was 82.
July 23 – Mable Haddock, founding president and first CEO of the National Black Programming Consortium and founder of Black Public Media. She was 74.
July 27 – Mary Alice, Tony award-winning actress (Fences). She also appeared in Sparkle, Down in the Delta, and A Different World). She was 80, 84, or 86. All three ages have been reported.
July 28 – Sidney Kirk, veteran jazz pianist, and Isaac Hayes sideman. He was 78.
July 30 – Archie Roach, Aboriginal activist, and songwriter. He was 66.
July 30 – Nichelle Nichols, Uhura on Star Trek. She was 89.
July 31 – Bill Russell, two consecutive NCAA titles at the University of San Francisco, an Olympic Gold Medal in 1956, and 11 NBA titles in 13 seasons with the Boston Celtics. Also, the first Black head coach in any professional sport. He was 88.
July 31 – Heather Gray, Emmy Award-winning executive producer of the CBS series The Talk.
AUGUST
Aug. 4 - Sam Gooden, Impressions founding member. He was 87.
Aug. 4 - Albert Woodfox, an activist who spent 42 years in solitary confinement.
Aug. 7 – Roger E. Mosley, actor (Magnum P.I.). He was 83.
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| Lamont Dozier |
Aug. 8 – Lamont Dozier, award-winning songwriter, Motown legend, and hitmaker. He was 81 or 83.
Aug. 13 – Teddy Ray, comedian ‘Pause With Sam Jay.’ He was 32.
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| Denise Dowse |
Aug. 13 – Denise Dowse, actress/acting coach/director. She was 64.
Aug. 25 - Mable John, Motown's first solo female artist signed by Berry Gordy. She was 91.
SEPTEMBER
Sept. 1 - Earnie Shavers, heavyweight boxer. He was 78.
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| Bernard Shaw |
Sept 8 – Bernard Shaw, CNN’s first chief anchor. He was 82.
Sept. 12 – Ramsey Lewis. Iconic musician. He was 87.
Sept 12 – Rakim ‘PnB Rock’ Allen, rapper. He was 30.
Sept 14 - Jesse Powell, singer. He was 51.
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| Marva Hicks Taha |
Sept. 16 – Marva Hicks Taha, award-winning singer, and actress. She was 66.
Sept. 20 - Maury Wills, Dodgers legend. He was 89.
Sept. 21 – Jalen Hill former UCLA basketball player. He was 22.
Sept. 22 – Joyce Chiles, Mississippi prosecture. She was 67.
Sept. 24 – Pharoah Sanders, jazz saxophonist. He was 81.
Sept. 28 – Artis Leon ‘Coolio’ Ivey, Gangsta’s Paradise rapper. He was 59.
Sept. 30 – Keith “Wonderboy” Johnson, gospel singer and songwriter. He was 50.
OCTOBER
October 2 – Sacheen Littlefeather, the actress who declined Marlon Brando’s Oscar. She was 75.
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| Charles Fuller |
Oct. 3 – Charles Fuller, Pulitzer-winning playwright for “A Soldier’s Story.” He was 83.
Oct. 3 – Latauriisha ‘Half Ounce’ O’Brien, rapper.
Oct. 4 - Tiffany Jackson, former All-American basketball player. She was 37.
Oct. 11 – Willie Spence, ‘American Idol’ contestant. He was 23.
Oct. 15 – Joyce Sims, “Come Into My Life,” R&B singer. She was 63.
Oct. 15 – Micheal ‘Mikaben,’ Benjamin, Haitian singer. He was 41.
Oct. 21 – Zuri Craig, singer. He was 44.
Oct. 23 – Robert Gordy. Motown singer and executive. The younger brother of Motown founder Berry Gordy. He was 91.
Oct. 28 – Rev. Calvin O. Butts, III, pastor at Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem. He was 73.
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| Takeoff |
Oct. 31 – Takeoff, member of the rap trio Migos. He was 28.
NOVEMBER
Nov. 3 – Lois Jeanette Curtis, her lawsuit secured disability rights. She was 55.
Nov. 9 – Fred Hickman, CNN sports anchor. He was 66.
Nov. 17 - Josefa Salinas, broadcasting entrepreneur. She was 53.
Nov. 22 – Cecilia Marshall, wife of Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. She was 94.
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| Irene Cara |
Nov. 26 – Irene Cara, singer, actress. She was 63.
Nov. 28 – George “Papa G” Pryce, former head of publicity at Death Row Records.
Nov. 29 - Clarence Gilyard Jr. – actor - Walker, Texas Ranger and Die Hard. He was 66.
DECEMBER
Dec. 1 – Dorothy Pitman Hughes, activist, child-welfare advocate, public speaker, and author. She was 84.
Dec. 5 - Yakira Chambers, actress and ‘NCIS: Hawaii’ story editor. She was 42.
Dec. 6 – Janis Hunter Gaye, ex-wife of Marvin Gaye. She was 66.
Dec. 6 - Janie Washington, former marketing and promotions executive with the Inner City group of radio stations, particularly WBLS and WLIB stations.
Dec. 11 - Paul Silas, former basketball player, NBA Champion, and NBA All-Star. He was 79.
Dec. 12 - Ron Taylor, writer, studio executive, and diversity pioneer. He was 71.
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| Stephen "tWitch" Boss |
Dec. 13 – Stephen “tWitch” Boss, The Ellen DeGeneres Show DJ, also a dancer. He was 40.
Dec. 13 – Ronnie Turner, son of Tina Turner. He was 62.
Dec. 16 - Floyd Brown, the first African American newsman at WMAQ (back in the 1950s). He was 92.
Dec. 17 – Elayne Jones, pioneering percussionist. She was 94.
Dec. 19 – Sonya Eddy, ‘General Hospital’ actress. She was 55.
Dec. 21 – Franco Harris, Pittsburgh Steelers, ‘Immaculate Reception,’ N.F.L. Hall of Famer. He was 72.
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| Thom Bell |
Dec. 22 - Thom Bell, prolific songwriter, and architect of ‘The Sound of Philadelphia’. He was 79.
Dec. 27 – Joseph Mersa Marley, reggae artist, and Bob Marley's grandson. He was 31.
Dec. 29 - Pele, Brazilian soccer icon. He was 82.
Dec. 31 - Anita Pointer, founding member of The Pointer Sisters. She was 74.
