In Memorial 2007: From Artists To Politicians, These Black People Touched Our Lives

GONE, BUT NEVER FORGOTTEN — We pray for the souls of these prominent African-Americans who didn't live to see 2008:

Jimmy Cheatham, jazz trombonist, Jan. 12

Barbara McNair, actress/singer, Feb. 4

Dennis Johnson, basketball player/coach, Feb. 22

Jane Bolin, New York City Family Court judge (1939-79); the country’s first black female judge, Jan. 8

Billy Henderson, soul singer; member of The Spinners, Feb. 2

Lamar Lundy, football player; one of the L.A. Rams’ “Fearsome Foursome” defensive linemen, Feb. 24

Homer Harris, football player; first black captain of a Big 10 Conference team (University of Iowa), March 17

Luther Ingram, R&B singer, March 19

Walter Turnbull, founder of the Boys Choir of Harlem, March 23

Calvin Lockhart, actor, March 29

Eddie Robinson, Grambling football coach, April 3

Dakota Staton, jazz singer, April 10

Roscoe Lee Brown, Emmy Award-winning actor, April 11

Juanita Millender-McDonald, congresswoman from California, April 22

Zola Taylor, singer; member of The Platters, April 30

J. Robert Bradley, gospel singer; famed for his “Amazing Grace” rendition; Martin Luther King Jr.’s and Mahalia Jackson’s favorite singer, May 3

Alvin Batiste, jazz musician, May 6

Yolanda King, activist; daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., May 15

Carl Wright, actor, May 19

Fannie Lee Chaney, civil rights activist; mother of slain civil rights worker James Chaney, May 22 (Carolyn Goodman, mother of Andrew Goodman, another civil rights worker slain with Chaney in 1964, died on Aug. 17.)

Parren Mitchell, congressman from Maryland; a founder of the Congressional Black Caucus, May 28

Tony Thompson, R&B singer, June 1

Bill Pinkney, R&B singer, last surviving member of The Drifters, July 4

Art Davis, jazz double-bassist, July 29

Bill Robinson, baseball player/coach, July 29

Chauncey Bailey Jr., journalist, Aug. 2

Irene Morgan, jailed for refusing to give up her seat on a Greyhound bus to a white person in Virginia in 1944 — 14 years earlier than Rosa Parks. Morgan’s arrest led to the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling that Virginia’s law enforcing segregation on interstate buses was illegal, Aug. 10

Max Roach, jazz drummer, Aug. 16

Willie Tee (Wilson Turbinton) New Orleans music legend, Sept. 11

Bobby Byrd, soul singer, Sept. 12

Ernest Withers, photographer, Oct. 15

Augustus Hawkins, congressman from California, Nov. 10

John Cross Jr., pastor of 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala., Nov. 15

Homer Broome Jr., LAPD’s first black commander, Nov. 26

Sean Taylor, football player, Nov. 27

Cecil Payne, jazz saxophonist, Nov. 27

Bill Willis, football player, Nov. 27

Ike Turner, R&B musician, Dec. 12

Frank Morgan, saxophonist, Dec. 14

St. Clair Bourne, filmmaker, Dec. 15

Julia Carson, congresswoman from Indiana, Dec. 15

Oscar Peterson, Grammy Award-winning jazz pianist, Dec. 23

May perpetual light shine on them.

For a more complete list, check out The Wave

Day 23 of The Writer's Strike: What's A Non-Union Black Writer To Do???

From Civil Rights To Silver Rights, We Shall Overcome ... Someday?

This Thanksgiving I went back home to Chicago. Amidst the turkey, dressing, mac & cheese, sweet potato pies, collard greens and other calorie laden holiday delectables, I was frequently asked, "Are you on strike?"

That question puts me in an odd position. On one hand, I totally support my fellow writer's and their cause to such a degree as going out marching myself and possibly leading them in a good old Negro spiritual inspired civil rights marchin' song:

Ain't gonna let no 'ducers turn me 'round, turn me 'round, turn me 'round Ain't gonna let no studio turn me 'round, Keep on a marchin', keep on a writin' , wit all my residuals in hand...On the other hand, "being on strike" means that you are refusing to work until certain employment conditions are met. But what if you weren't working before the strike was called? The WGA brass would answer that being on strike also means that you refuse any work offered while the strike is in progress. Okay, that's sort of a positive approach, but with 48% of the Guild's membership not working at any given time, how realistic is it that writer's will be given "offers"--especially now? I'll tell you... Read more about Am I On Strike?