Bernice Irene Sumlin passed away

Association chief executive and educator Bernice Irene Sumlin (1926 - 2018) was the 19th International President of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. She served as a high school teacher, guidance counselor, community counselor and secondary principal. After retiring from education, she worked as an industrial consultant for Wright-Patterson Air Force Base....

Bishop John Hurst Adams passed away

Bishop Bishop John Hurst Adams (1927 - 2018 ) served as Bishop for the African Methodist Episcopal Church for thirty-two years and rose to national prominence as a religious and civil rights leader....

Mercer Cook passed away

State deputy attorney Mercer Cook (1930 - ) has served as Assistant State’s Attorney and Deputy State’s Attorney for Cook County, after which he went into private practice....

Joseph Johnson passed away

College president and university president Joseph Johnson (1934 - 2018 ) is the former president of both Grambling State University and Talladega College. Johnson retired in 1998....

John W. Barfield, Sr. passed away

Maintenance company chief executive John W. Barfield, Sr. (1927 - 2018 ) founded The Bartech Group, named the 1985 "Company of the Year" by Black Enterprise. Barfield received The George Romney Award recognizing lifelong achievement in volunteerism....

Lt. Col. Donald Campbell passed away

Academic administrator and lieutenant colonel Lt. Col. Donald Campbell (1935 - 2017 ) was a long standing member of the Maricopa County Community College District Board and a retired military veteran. Campbell was the first African American to be accepted into the Arizona Air National Guard and the first African American in the Alabama National Guard....

Reverend Jerry A. Moore, Jr. passed away

Association chief executive, city council member, and pastor Reverend Jerry A. Moore, Jr. (1918 - 2017 ) was the former pastor of the Nineteenth Street Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., and a former city council member for the City of Washington, D.C....

Simeon Booker passed away

Magazine reporter and newspaper reporter Simeon Booker (1918 - 2017 ) worked for Johnson Publishing Company for fifty-three years, covering the Emmitt Till Murder and Trial, the Freedom Rides and the events of the Civil Rights Movement....

Reverend Curtis Harris passed away

Mayor and pastor Reverend Curtis Harris (1924 - 2017 ) was the first African American council member, vice mayor and mayor of Hopewell, Virginia....

Cordell Reed passed away

Energy executive Cordell Reed (1938 - 2017) was the former senior vice president and nuclear power public spokesman of Commonwealth Edison, serving in three separate departments. Reed also represented ComEd in a 1995 trade mission to South Africa....

Clyde Martin passed away

Regional sales manager Clyde Martin (1936 - 2017 ) staged protests as a student and later worked to integrate Jay's Potato Chips. The regional sales manager for Jay's, he also served as inspector for the Internal Affairs Division of the Cook County, Illinois, Sheriff’s Department....

Della Reese-Lett passed away

Television actress and singer Della Reese-Lett (1931 - 2017 ) has been performing and recording music since 1953 and was the first African American woman to host her own television program. Reese was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame....

Pete Moore passed away

Singer, songwriter, and producer Pete Moore (1939 - 2017)...

The Honorable David S. Cunningham, Jr. passed away

City council member The Honorable David S. Cunningham, Jr. (1935 - 2017 ) represented the Tenth District as a Los Angeles City Councilman, as well as serving as state chairman of the California Delegation to the Democratic National Committee in 1976. Later in his career, Cunningham formed Dave Cunningham and Associates, a public affairs consultant firm....

Augustus Colson passed away

Publishing chief executive Augustus Colson (1936 - 2017 ) started his own publishing company, Church Times, which combined his artistic and writing abilities, and used them to increase communications in the African American church community....

Robert Guillaume passed away

Actor Robert Guillaume (1927 - 2017 ) was a two time Emmy Award winner, and the star of the first television show to feature an interracial couple, entitled The Robert Guillaume Show....

The Honorable James Ford passed away

Mayor The Honorable James Ford (1925 - 2017 ) served on Tallahassee, Florida's city commission, becoming the first African American since the Reconstruction era to assume the role. He was also the city's first African American mayor....

Joseph Daniel Clipper passed away

Photographer Joseph Daniel Clipper (1937 - 2017 ) was renowned for his portraits, which have been commissioned by U.S. congressmen, the U.S. military, Howard University, and others. In 1976, he took the first group photo of the Congressional Black Caucus....

Robert Bragg passed away

Physics professor and physicist Robert Bragg (1919 - 2017 ) was a leader in the techniques of x-ray diffraction and the study of carbon-based materials, and served as a professor at the University of California, Berkeley from 1969 to 1987....

Arthur H. Harper passed away

Corporate chief executive Arthur H. Harper (1955 - 2017 ) was the president and CEO of General Electric Equipment Services and founded GenNx360 Capital Partners....