Rev. Sterling Jenkins, III, 60, passed away on June 6 in Oakland. He was born in New Orleans, LA to Sterling Jenkins, Jr. and Helen M. Hopkins. He grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and served with honor in the U.S. Army. As a minister at Grace Baptist Church in Oakland, Jenkins...
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By Lee Hubbard Hundreds of people showed up from all over Bay Area recently to pay tribute to longshoreman Manuel ”Manny” Stimpson at True Hope Church of God in Christ in the Bay View district of San Francisco. Stimpson was a well-known member of IWU Local 10 in San Francisco, working on the waterfront...
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By Barbara Fluhrer Vera Clanton died Saturday, June 1 at her home in San Francisco. She was 96. Her funeral will be held Tuesday, June 11 at 3rd Baptist Church at 10 a.m. In the 1960s, she founded Vera’s Charm School on Divisadero, one of the more famous streets in the San Francisco arts...
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Joseph J. Gross, who served on the Berkeley School and was executive director of Neighborhood House of North Richmond, died on April 25. He was 72. Mostly recently a resident of Albany, he was born on April 3, 1941 in Detroit, MI. He graduated from Howard University in Washington, D.C. and became active in...
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Ora McClendon, affectionately known as “Carol” to family and friends, passed away on April 14 at the age of 90. She was born Ora Hopkins on Dec. 15, 1922 in the Jackson Parish of Quitman, Louisiana to Green and Rose Hopkins. She graduated from Chatum High School in Quitman and was a faithful member...
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By David Browne, Rolling Stone Richie Havens, who brought an earthy soulfulness to the folk scene of the Sixties and was the first act to hit the stage at Woodstock, died of a heart attack on Monday. He was 72 and was living in Jersey City, New Jersey. Last month, Havens announced he would...
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Maudelle Shirek, Berkeley’s baritone voice for justice and equality, died April 11. She was 101.Her image above, which looms large over the City of Berkeley, is an adaptation of the mural dedicated in her honor by the citizens of Berkeley in their City Hall. Designed by artists Mildred Howard and Daniel Galvez, the mural...
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Sharron Faye Jacobs, an active member of Bethel AME Church in San Francisco since 1975, passed away on March 26 at the age of 63. She was born to Tommy and Clytie Mae Walsh Jacobs in Fordyce, Arkansas in 1950. A member of Bethel AME, she served as secretary and administrative assistant for over...
Read more →By Joe Debro Like President Clinton in his first run for President, the city auditor developed her creds in the conservative community by creating a Sista Soldier moment. She publicly spanked two Black City Council members. These council members were trying desperately to level the economic playing field in Oakland. T hey were trying...
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By Alison Flood, The Guardian Chinua Achebe, the Nigerian novelist seen by millions as the father of African literature, has died at the age of 82. He died March 21 following an illness and hospital stay in Boston. In a statement, Achebe’s family requested privacy, and paid tribute to “one of the great literary...
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By Barbara Bauer Charles L. Burns Jr., who worked as an administrator for Four Seasons Arts and other symphonies, died Feb. 24 in San Francisco. He was 76. Burns was born on Aug. 8 1936 to Beamen White Burns and Charles L. Burns, Sr. in Grand Ridge, Florida. He earned a Bachelor of Arts...
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Arlene C. Ackerman, who served as superintendent of Washington, D.C. public schools from 1998 to 2000 and later led the school systems in San Francisco and Philadelphia, died Feb. 2 in Albuquerque, where she had lived for the past year. She was 66. She had pancreatic cancer. Dr. Ackerman came to Washington in 1997...
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The life of Joel Overall, whodied last week at 64, was celebrated by more than 1,000 in arousing “home-going” funeral service at Shiloh Christian Fellowship. Affectionately known as the “Ministering Painter,” he was remembered by Pastor David Kiteley: “Joel always found time to preach the gospel of the scriptures to his clients, sometimes while...
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Moro, a 14-year-old girl in Uganda, has managed to set up a HIV/AIDS education project, Advice for Change, mainly targeting youth living in the slums. Moro,is a student at Kairos High School in Bukasa, lives in Acholi Quarters, near Kampala, Uganda. “I set up this project, mainly to create awareness about HIV/AIDS, such...
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By Lee Hildebrand The blues community is mourning the passing of bluesman Jimmy McCracklin, who diedThursday, Dec. 20, at Creekside Health Center in San Pablo. The prolific singer, pianist and songwriter, a longtime Richmond resident, was 91. “He had a style that was completely his own,” singer-guitarist Sonny Rhodes said of his late friend. ...
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Ben Williams, retired reporter for the San Francisco CBS owned station KPIX, has died. He was 85. Williams was one of the first African-American reporters and spent his entire on-air career at KPIX before retiring in the 1980s. He had his start in print, writing for the San Francisco Examiner, before moving to television....
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Gloria Davy, a Brooklyn-born soprano who was the first African-American to sing Aida with the Metropolitan Opera, died on Nov. 28 in Geneva, Switzerland. She was 81. Before Davy was cast in the role, Aida, an Ethiopian princess, was perennially sung by white singers in dark makeup. A lirico-spinto (which denotes a high voice...
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Dave Brubeck, the pianist and composer who helped make jazz popular again in the 1950s and 1960s with recordings like “Time Out,” the first jazz album to sell a million copies, died Dec. 5 in Norwalk, Conn. He was 91. Born in Concord, Contra Costa County, he grew up in farm country. His father,...
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Born and raised in San Francisco, Mrs. Diana Fay Franklin-Adams died after an illness on Friday, Dec. 7. She was 64. Adams dedicated her life to education. Her passion was educating and nurturing young people, inspiring them to achieve their dreams and realize their potential. She began her career as a teacher in the...
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Lillie Lee Mosely, an educator, long time resident of Oakland and member of St. Benedict’s Parish, died on Nov. 27. She was 102. After retiring, Mosely moved to Hawaii to live with her sister Addie Lee Jackson. The two eventually returned to Oakland where they lived for over a decade at Lake Park Retirement...
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Johnny “Nappy” Salem, who worked at Kaiser Permanente as a surgery technician for many years, died Nov. 3 in Walnut Creek. He was 94. Born Oct. 21, 1918, he was educated in Brooks County, Quitman, Georgia and in 1938 entered Georgia State A&I, then known as a Colored College. The college later changed its...
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By The Associated Press Lawrence Guyot, a civil rights leader who survived jailhouse beatings in the Deep South in the 1960s and went on to encourage generations to get involved, has died. He was 73. Guyot had a history of heart problems and suffered from diabetes, and died at home in Mount Rainier, Md.....
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Otho James Green, 77, a management consultant in the Bay Area and Washington, D.C., died Nov. 9 at Heartland Hospice in Chevy Chase, Maryland. After graduating from Hayward State College and completing a fellowship at the Coro Foundation in San Francisco, Green became a consultant in Industrial Relations for the California State Assembly. As...
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Allen Lee Weathersby, Jr., born May 16, 1948, passed away on Oct. 31. He was a military veteran who retired from Todd Shipyard. He will be missed by his daughter Ayanna Weathersby, family and friends. Funeral services were held at Evangelistic Outreach Center, 1743 Foothill Blvd. in Oakland on Wednesday, Nov. 14.
Read more →Warren Barrios Wilson, Oakland attorney and long time executive of Thomas Brothers Maps, died at home on Oct. 26. During his 50 years as a practicing attorney and member of the California State Bar, he was driven by a strong sense of social justice and a desire to give voice to those who were...
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By Ashley Chambers A San Antonio action meeting led by organizer Rev. Ken Chambers, Sr. of Oakland Community Organizations (OCO) sought to unite churches, city officials, and community members together for the cause of providing solutions for the city’s youth on Tuesday, Oct. 30 at Foothill Baptist Church, and hosted by Rev. Gary Golden....
Read more →East Bay faith leaders took the lead in the campaign for Proposition 39 this week, saying it will create tens of thousands of entry-level jobs with a real future for jobless youth. “Voting yes on Prop. 39 is the moral thing to do,” Rev. Phil Lawson told a press conference at Laney College Thursday....
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Russell Means, the Oglala Sioux activist who revived indigenous pride as a leader of the American Indian Movement and appeared in Hollywood movies later in life, has died. He was 72. Means died early Monday at his ranch in Porcupine, S.D., on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The cause of death was esophageal cancer....
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By David Browne, Rolling Stone George McGovern, longtime anti-war congressman from South Dakota who notoriously suffered a devastating loss to Richard Nixon in the 1972 presidential campaign, died at the age of 90. With his focus on peace and world hunger, McGovern was one of the leading liberal voices of his era – and...
Read more →By Maura Dolan, Los Angeles Times The campaign to replace the death penalty with a sentence of life without parole has launched radio and television advertisements, depicting capital punishment as a futile exercise that costs taxpayers and coddles criminals. With only days left before the election, the Proposition 34 campaign is spending more than...
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Mervyn Dymally, the history-making California assemblyman, senator and lieutenant governor who also served in Congress for more than a decade, has died at age 86. Representing Compton, Dymally was the state’s first foreign-born Black assemblyman in 1962, its first black state senator in 1966 and the first and only black lieutenant governor in 1974....
Read more →Lela Davis Herbert, a successful owner of an East Bay drapery business and active civic leader, died on Sept. 24. She was 86. Born May 5, 1926 to Bishop Canary Davis and Cora Burkley Lamb in Cherokee County, Rusk, Texas, she accepted the Lord at a young age and was baptized in the Church...
Read more →A well-known singer, school counselor and entrepreneur, former East Bay resident Lorice Stevens-French died May 21 in Arizona. She was 76. She gained a reputation and a following for her performances in concert halls and on television and radio, appearing in “Best of Broadway,” New York Central Park’s “Porgy and Bess” and as a...
Read more →By Wade Woods Joseph Skiffer, Jr., one of the Bay Area’s leading African American developers, died on April 29 after a long battle with diabetes. He was 67. Over the course of his career, he was involved in the development of La Galleria, high-rise condominiums on Nob Hill and condominiums throughout Northern California, as...
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The Equal Justice Society mourns the loss of John Payton, the President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., who died late Thursday after a brief illness. He was 65. EJS expresses our deep condolences to his wife, Gay, and to the LDF family on this tragic loss. “John Payton...
Read more →LaJuana Lupe “Tweety” Bobino, a dedicated member of the Oakland Dynamite’s youth football and cheerleading organization, died Jan. 15. She was 47.Bobino started with the Dynamites as a cheerleader. She went on to serve as a board member, team mom and coach, leading her squads to win many championships.Born on June 2, 1964, to...
Read more →Pastor Pearl Scott, national and international evangelist, healer and founder of Oakland’s Miraculous Foundation Christian Center Church, passed away January 20.With her two loving daughters Dr. Patricia Scott-Brooks and Dr. E. Jenee Scott and granddaughters Emperess Hall and Majesty Scott at her bedside, she peacefully transitioned to be with her Lord.Mother Scott, as thousands...
Read more →“The Godfather of Rhythm and Blues” Johnny Otis, the musician, bandleader, songwriter, impresario, disc jockey and talent scout who was often called “the godfather of rhythm and blues,” died last week at his home in Altadena, Calif. He was 90. Leading a band in the late 1940s that combined big band jazz with the...
Read more →Mary Louise “Weezie” Holden, an employee of the Oakland Unified School District and a surrogate mother to all who entered her home , died on Jan. 4. She was 69.Born in Shreveport, LA, she attended school and married her friend Bobby Lynn Holden. The couple eventually moved to the Bay Area.Starting in 1975, she...
Read more →Rev. Joseph Lee Johnson, a pioneer in the Bay Area religious community for over 65 years, died Jan. 9 at the age of 93. He served for over 41 years as pastor of Elisabeth Missionary Baptist Church in Richmond.Born Sept. 3, 1918, in Shreveport, Louisiana, Rev. Johnson was well known as someone who affected...
Read more →The union representing Kaiser Permanente’s nurses says thousands of its caregivers may walk off the job Jan. 31 in an echo of mass demonstrations at hospitals in September if labor talks between Kaiser and a sister union stall.Kaiser and the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW), which represents mental health professionals, therapists and optical...
Read more →By Aneesah Dryver After an eight-year hiatus, the internationally known Dance Theatre of Harlem will soon return to the stage as a new company with new dancers, aiming to renew the prestigious dance group. Funding and leadership issues are no longer concerns for the dance company, which has worked to rebuild its leadership. The...
Read more →Wife of Oakland’s First African American City Councilman Virginia Craft Rose, 98, a long-time civic, cultural and educational leader, passed away in Oakland on Dec. 26.Rose taught in the Children’s Centers of the Oakland Unified School District for 30 years before retiring in 1974. She was active with the NAACP, the YWCA, Alpha Kappa...
Read more →Widow of Dr. Marcus A Foster and former Oakland resident Albertine “Abbe” Ramseur Foster, 86, died Dec. 27 at the home of her daughter and son-in-law in Detroit, MI. Her husband was a nationally prominent educator and Oakland’s first African American superintendent of schools, who was assassinated in 1973 by the Symbionese Liberation ArmyAbbe...
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