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 20 [...]

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 voices [...]

  She was a contestant in the Miss Amigos pageant in Sacramento in 1954, but those who knew her said her true beauty lie in her ability to help provide opportunities for other African Americans in the region. Kathryn C. Lee, co-publisher of the Sacramento Observer Newspaper, passed away peacefully at her home on Monday, [...]

By Janice Ewing and Lateefa Ali The Tuskegee Airmen earned their place in history as they bravely defied convention and fought for what they loved.  We remember these men. But we seem to forget their wives who have also earned their place in history, defying convention and fighting for what, and who they loved. One [...]

Authorities are offering a reward up to $100,000 for information leading to the arrest of 31-year-old Isaac Don Burks, who has been accused of intentionally infecting hundreds of men and women in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania with HIV. Police say his potential victims could date back as far as 2003. He has had [...]

Darrell Carl Burton, a former PG&E employee and a mentor to children, died Wednesday, Jan. 9. He was 68. Burton graduated in 1963 from Lincoln High School in Port Arthur, Texas and joined the U.S. Army, becoming a drill sergeant. After leaving the military in 1968, he relocated to Alameda where he attended Alameda College, [...]

  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 that [...]

Marva Whitney, a fiery-voiced funk singer who toured and collaborated with James Brown — along the way earning the nickname “Soul Sister #1” — died Saturday at 68, Whitney died from complications of pneumonia. She is best known for her version of “It’s My Thing,” which cracked the Hot 100 in 1969, and for the [...]

By Jim Slater, AP Fontella Bass, a St. Louis-born soul singer who hit the top of the R&B charts with “Rescue Me” in 1965, has died. She was 72. Bass died Wednesday night at a St. Louis hospice of complications from a heart attack suffered three weeks ago, her daughter, Neuka Mitchell, said. Bass had [...]

Renowned bass-baritone David L. Tigner, 61, died Dec. 11 of chronic renal and congestive heart failure. As a child, Tigner discovered he had perfect pitch plunking out a Johann Sebastian Bach prelude by ear on a broken piano at his family’s Sebastopol home. He joined the San Francisco Opera in 1974 after two years studying [...]

Frank Davis Jr. 81, of Berkeley, California, died peacefully at home on September 26, 2012, surrounded by family and friends. A memorial service was held Wednesday October 3, 2012, 11:00 am, at the South Berkeley Community Church, 1802 Fairview Street. Berkeley, CA 94703. Telephone (510) 652-1040. He was born March 6, 1931 in Vicksburg, MS, [...]

Lorenzo “Ren” Neville Hoopes, 98 – member of the   Oakland school board for 17 years,  Safeway executive and Mormon bishop –  died on Sept. 21. An active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he served as bishop, stake president, England Bristol mission president and Oakland Temple president and sealer. He began [...]

Wanna Wright died on Saturday afternoon, May 20.  She had undergone many hours of heart surgery, which proved to be more than her heart could tolerate. Wright had earned a reputation in the Bay Area for her tireless work as a community breast cancer advocate and health educator. Some of the organizations she worked for [...]

Oakland resident Cyrus Eugene Bradford died Tuesday, May 15 in Hayward, A public viewing will be held 11:30 a.m. to 6:15 p.m. at Fouche’s Hudson Funeral Home, 3665 Telegraph Ave.  in  Oakland followed by a Quiet Hour at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 30. A funeral service will be held 11 a.m., Thursday, May 31 [...]

Charles “Knottie” Edward Dickens – skilled as a cook, landscaper and painter – died March 28 in San Jose at the age of 56. Born to Louise Hall and Costroma Dickens II on April 10, 1956, he attended elementary school in Marin City and graduated from Tamalpais High School in Mill Valley. Preceded by his [...]

The annual Walk to End Poverty will be held Saturday, May 19 at Lake Merritt in Oakland, hosted by the Alameda County-Oakland Community Action Partnership to raise awareness about the impact of  poverty and what   is being done to curb it. This free event takes place from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Of the [...]

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 well [...]

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 was [...]