She Worked For Black Press For Over 48 Years By Evan Carlton Ward Sun-Reporter This story was originally published by the Sun-Reporter. Gail Cordelia Berkley-Armstrong, legendary awarding-winning Bay Area journalist and Sun-Reporter editor, has died after a lengthy illness. She was 74. The veteran journalist was committed to the mission of the Black Press of […]
John Lewis May Be Gone But, His Legacy Remains
By Ana Martinez-Ortiz When we die, we hope that we’ll be remembered but there are certain people in this world who will never be forgotten, and U.S. Rep. John Lewis was one of them. Lewis passed away last week Friday, July 17. He was 80 years old and had fought a six-month battle with cancer. […]
IN MEMORIAM: Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch: Remembering Carroll Spinney
By Nsenga K. Burton, Ph.D. NNPA Newswire Entertainment and Culture Editor Growing up, Sesame Street was a way of life. Modeled after a brownstone neighborhood in Harlem, it was familiar yet far with a cast of characters who looked and sounded like the melting pot of people growing up in America’s cities at that time. […]
Vel Phillips, Influential Trailblazer and Civil Rights Pioneer, Dies at 94
By Evan Casey and Karen Stokes Velvalea “Vel” Phillips, a Milwaukee legend, an advocate for civil rights who displayed courage under great pressure, died Tuesday. She was 94. Civil rights activist Vel Phillips was the first woman to sit on the Milwaukee Common Council. She was the first woman to serve as a judge in […]
Winnie Mandela Dies at 81
By Stacy M. Brown (NNPA Newswire Contributor) South Africa’s “Mother of the Nation” an anti-Apartheid crusader Winnie Madikizela-Mandela has died, her family confirmed in a statement on Monday, April 2. The ex-wife of the late Nelson Mandela, Winnie Mandela was 81. In a statement, her family said Mandela “died after a long illness, for which […]
Simeon Booker, an Icon of Black Journalism, Dies at 99
By Stacy M. Brown (NNPA Newswire Contributor) Simeon Booker, a trailblazing Black journalist, who covered the Civil Rights Movement for the iconic African American magazines EBONY and Jet and who was the first Black person to work as a full-time Washington Post reporter, has died. Booker, who’s credited with playing an integral role in delivering […]
‘A Trusted Comrade,’ Black Press Legend George Curry Dies at 69
By Stacy M. Brown NNPA News Wire Contributor The Black Press lost one of it’s most celebrated warriors when George Curry, veteran journalist and former Editor-In-Chief of the NNPA News Wire, died from an apparent heart attack on Saturday, August 20. Curry was 69. “On behalf of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), we are […]
Inside and Outside of the Ring, The Champ Made a Difference
By Stacy M. Brown The Washington Informer, NNPA Member Muhammad Ali’s historic win against George Foreman in Kinshasa, Zaire in 1974 was perhaps the greatest of all of his ring victories. Ali dropped Foreman in the eighth round of that heavyweight bout known as “The Rumble in the Jungle.” Foreman was among the first to […]
Wisconsin’s First African-American Judge, Harold Jackson, Passes at 77
Harold Baron Jackson, Jr. was born December 28, 1939 in Washington, D.C. Julia O. Jackson and Harold Jackson Sr. were prominent members of the Black middle class in Washington D.C. Julia O. had big dreams for their son, coupled with his high IQ; so, instead of sending him to Dunbar High School – known as […]
The “Shining Star” Has Left Us
A Tribute to Maurice White by Harry C. Alford On February 3 my oldest daughter sent me a text saying: “Daddy, Maurice White died this morning.” I conveyed the sad news to my wife and realized that Maurice was like family to most of us. His songs and live performances brought joy to our nation […]