Filed under: News, Profiles, Race and Civil Rights

In 2010, we lost notable musical icons and civil rights trailblazers. Famous actors and everyday people caught in the sting of potential police abuses also passed away. Let's take a look back at the names and faces of those we lost this past year.

Albertine Walker

Gospel great Albertine Walker recorded 71 albums and wrote more than 100 songs. A member of The Caravans, a group that would launch the careers of Shirley Caesar, the late Cassietta George, Dorothy Norwood, Inez Andrews, Delores Washington and the late Rev. James Cleveland, Walker was singing by age 4. Her first solo album, "Put A Little Love in Your Heart," was released in 1975 and produced by Donnie Hathaway. In May 2002, President George W. Bush acknowledged Walker's contributions to gospel music. The 81-year-old vocalist died on Oct. 8th, after a long battle with emphysema.



Gary Coleman

We loved his chubby cheeks and smile on the 1980s television show "Differen't Strokes," and he stole America's heart with his witty sense of humor. Life outside of the spotlight, though, wasn't easy for actor Gary Coleman. After the show ended, Coleman's fame subsided. He sued his adopted parents, alleging that they stole the $18 million that he made during his career. He struggled with kidney disease and had multiple run-ins with the law, some with overzealous, mocking "fans." On May 26th, Coleman was admitted to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center, after suffering an intracranial brain hemorrhage when he fell in his Utah home. He eventually slipped in to a coma and was placed on life support at a Utah hospital. Coleman was taken off life support on May 28th by his ex-wife, Shannon Price. Not surprisingly, a dispute broke out after Coleman's death about whether Price, whom he had divorced, had the right to take him off of life support (she did) and his parents' feelings that there may have been foul play in their estranged son's death. A dispute also broke out over Coleman's estate that remains unresolved.

George E. Clinton Jr.

The son of funk legend George Clinton, 68, was found dead in his Florida reisdence on Feb. 1. There was a concern about the younger Clinton's whereabouts and authorities entered his Tallahassee apartment, where they found him dead. Natural causes are suspected in the death.







Benjamin Hooks

It was the late 1970s and the NAACP was no longer the bold civil rights organization that brought landmark cases about school segregation to the forefront of the struggle for civil rights. Hooks inherited the organization, which was deeply in debt and hemorrhaging members, in 1977. By the time Hooks left his position of executive director in 1992, Hooks had helped breath life in to the NAACP. He spent most of his life advocating for civil rights. In 2007, President George W. Bush awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Hooks words to Ebony Magazine upon taking over the struggling NAACP can be used to inspire generations to come: "Black Americans are not defeated. The civil rights movement is not dead. If anyone thinks that we are going to stop agitating, they had better think again. If anyone thinks that we are going to stop litigating, they had better close the courts. If anyone thinks that we are not going to demonstrate and protest, they had better roll up the sidewalks.'' Hooks died on April 15th, after a long illness.

Umaru Yar'Adua

When he took office in 2007, Yar'Adua promised a new era of prosperity and an end to the corruption. Trained as a chemist, he also promised to help repair Nigeria's crumbling infrastructure, including its electrical grid. He also granted amnesty to militants in the Delta region. Despite the deeply flawed circumstances surrounding his election, including reports of election fraud, Yar'Adua was seen as a step forward from the military dictatorship that had ruled the country in recent years. Any hope of being rememberd a s a transformative politcal presence fled out the window, though, when he left the country for emergency medical treatment in Saudia Arabia without leaving anyone in charge. He made no public statements and then snuck back in to the country in the middle of the night, still not seeking to reclaim the power handed over to an acting president in his abscence. He died May 5 and left behind a wife, nine children and a country still in turmoil.

Robert Wilson

A member of the famed Gap Band, Wilson died at his home, after suffering a massive heart attack on Aug. 15th. Wilson, 53, was known as the "Godfather of Bass Guitar." The Gap Band is band best known for hits like "Yearning for Your Love," "Early in the Morning," "Outstanding," "You Dropped a Bomb on Me," and "Burn Rubber on Me (Why You Wanna Hurt Me)." Wilson left behind a wife and two daughters. He was working on a new album and was due to headline a music festival just weeks after his untimely death. "My brother Robert was a bad boy on the bass," Charlie Wilson said of his brother in a statement. "We shared a bond as brothers, musicians and friends. I loved him and losing him is difficult for both Ronnie and I. The music world has lost a very talented man."


Teddy Pendergrass

Millions of people probably owe the late soul singer Teddy Pendergrass a debt of gratitude. Teddy P's soulful, seductive and sexy voice has likely been the soundtrack to romantic encounters around the world for the last few decades. Best know for his deep, rich baritone, Pendergrass sang with Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes before moving on to a solo career. Songs such as "If You Don't Know Me by Now," "The Love I Lost," "Close the Door," "Turn Off the Lights" and "Love T.K.O." are modern-day classics and sound as fresh today as they did when listeners rocked bell bottoms and Afro puffs while grooving to those love anthems. Women tossed their panties onstage at ladies-only concerts. His sound also continues to inspire R&B singers and has been sampled by countless rappers. In 1982, Pendergass was paralyzed from the chest down, when his Rolls-Royce crashed because of vehicle failure. He was only 31 at the time. After rehabilitation, Pendergrass continued to perform and had several hits. He also formed the Teddy Pendergrass Alliance, a nonprofit dedicated to helping people with spinal cord injuries. Pendergrass died Jan. 13th, after battling prostate cancer.

Ali "Ollie" Woodson

How many performers can say they were part of three legendary musical groups? Not many, but Ali "Ollie" Woodson could claim membership in the Temptations, the Drifters and Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes. Woodson was a lead singer for the Tempations from 1984 to 1986 and penned the hit "Treat Her Like a Lady." He replaced Teddy P in the Blue Notes. The Detroit native was a well-rounded musician who played several instruments. He died May 30th after fighting leukemia.



Bo Griffin

Some people thought radio and television personality Bo Griffin could have been the next Oprah Winfrey. Griffin, 51, was a guest-host for the Game Show Network's "GSN Live," and was to begin correspondence work for "Extra." Griffin was known for her work on "Knock Knock Makeovers" on the nationally syndicated "Good Day Live." She was also an entrepreneur who owned her own boutiue and was engaged to be married at the time of her death. Sadly, Griffin died on February 16th, after a brief battle with cancer.

Floribert Chebeya Bahizire

Floribert Chebeya Bahizire fought for human rights in the Congo and may have paid the price wih his life. He meticulously kept track of the people who were killed, jailed or missing and then spoke out about his findings. His wife says he took a trip to the police station the day before. On June 2nd, Bahizire was found dead in his car, his hands tied behind his back. The New York Times wrote: He pursued multiple investigations at the same time from his spartan, unmarked offices on a hillside here: the repression of political opposition, awful conditions in the prisons.....To the outside world he was the vital on-scene witness, through the carefully documented bulletin of the organization he led, La Voix des Sans Voix, or Voice of the Voiceless, to what Human Rights Watch called "the systemic nature of political repression under President Kabila." His experience of that repression was direct, and frequent. In March 2009, the Congo police raided a news conference he was giving, lifted him up, threw him down stairs, handcuffed him and jailed him. He did not give up, however.

Dorothy Height

Dorothy Height, an activist in the struggle for civil rights starting in her teenage years, was on the stage at the Lincoln Memorial as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his "I Have a Dream" speech. She said King spoke longer than he was supposed to, but that when he finished, she knew the speech would have a monumental impact "because it gripped everybody." She later said she wished that someone had spoken on women's equality that day. Height, who led the National Council of Negro Women for 40 years, started her advocacy as a teenager when she marched in New York, yelling, "Stop the lynching." In the 1950s, she pushed President Dwight D. Eisenhower to move more quickly on school desegregation. She also went on to help coordinate the Civil Rights Movement. During her six decades on the national stage, Height worked to end racial segregation and fight for gender equality. She worked on the effort to desegregate schools and to give blacks voting rights and better employment opportunities. Height continued to speak out about inequality well in to her 90s. Former President Bill Clinton awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1994 and she was a frequent advisor to President Barack Obama. Height died April 20th of natural causes at the age of 98.

Akil LaRue Oliver

Akil LaRue Oliver was beaten to death by two Arab store owners on Nov. 18th, after getting in to an argument about being shortchanged 7 cents. Ragheb and Nabil Sulaiman were charged with murder and aggravated assault in Oliver's death. The Miami New Times writes: Oliver stormed in and out of the store, and police say he called one of the men a "fucking Arab" and told him he'd "fuck his mothers and sister." That's when Nabil grabbed a bottle and hit him over the head, and Ragheb whacked him to death with a crowbar. Oliver's pastor says the man was a faithful church attendee and was getting married. Protestors fought against the store reopening.

Melvin Turpin

Former University of Kentucky star Melvin Turpin, who was the sixth pick in one of the NBA's best draft classes ever, was found dead in his home from a self-inflicted gunshot wound on July 8th. Turpin, 49, led his team to three conference titles and lost the national championship in 1984 to Patrick Ewing's Georgetown Hoyas. Turpin holds the record for the most field goals made in SEC tournament play and was taken at the top of an outstanding draft class that included hall of famers Akeem Olajuwan, Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley. Turpin did not have a stellar career, averaging 8 points and 5 rebounds in 361 games, and was out of the NBA after five seasons. Family and friends said the suicide was unexpected.


Jaesun Ingles

Jaesun Ingles, a 31-year-old Chicago resident, died after being tasered by police during a traffic stop. Ingles was pulled over for several traffic infractions on March 31st, police say. Police also claim Ingles had marijuana in the car. He allegedly fled when police tried to arrest him and tried to swallow a small plastic bag. Police say he resisted arrest and was tasered multiple times. When he began having trouble breathing, the paramedics were called.





Micheal R. Bailey

At 62, Michael R. Bailey was a 20-year veteran police officer who was weeks away from retiring. At about 6 a.m. on July 18th, Bailey was coming home from one of his shifts, where he was assigned to guard Chicago Mayor Richard Daley's home. When he stopped outside his own South Side home to clean the Buick he had purchased for himself as a retirement present, three men approached Bailey in what police say was a possible robbery attempt. Bailey announced he was a police officer and then there was an exchange of gunfire. His son grabbed one of his father's weapons and ran outside after the attack, but it was too late. "We heard (his daughter) screaming, 'They shot my daddy, somebody shot my daddy!' " neighbor Angelece Cook told the Chicago Tribune. Bailey's dead body, still clad in his uniform, lay in front of his new Buick. Nearby was a bottle of Windex and three guns, only one of which belonged to Bailey. This was the third shooting death of an off-duty Chicago police officer in two months this summer. Bailey was described as a pillar of the community who tried to steer wayward kids in the right direction.

Thomas Wortham IV

Thomas Wortham, 30, served two tours in Iraq and patrolled the potentially dangerous streets of Chicago. When he wasn't in his Chicago police uniform, he volunteered as head of an effort to improve a local park and return it to residents. But it wasn't overseas or in the line of duty that Thomas Wortham IV lost his life. Chicago police say Wortham was killed May 20th by three people trying to steal his new motorcycle. Wortham was at his parents' home, when he was approached by the suspects. His father, a retired Chicago police sergeant, came to his son's aid, killing one attacker and critically wounding another. A third was able to escape but was eventully arrested.





Aiyana Jones

This innocent 7-year-old girl was shot in the head by Detroit police on May 16th as part of a raid that was being filmed for the A&E show "The First 48." Police were looking for a homicide suspect and say an officer fired her weapon after being jostled by Jones' grandmother. Jones' family members say police used a flash-bang grenade and actually fired from outside the home. The attorney for Jones' family have accused police of a cover-up and say video footage of the incident confirms the family's version of events. Jones' family has filed suit against A&E. Michigan State Police are investigating the tragedy.







William P. Foster

William P. Foster, who died Aug. 28th at the age of 91, was the founder of the Florida A&M Marching 100 band. He created the high-stepping style that so many other bands would imitate. Far from just teching music, he helped to shape young minds. Foster headed the Florida A&M band from 1946 until he retired in 1998. USA Today called Foster's band the best known in the country, and the New York Times called it the most imitated. Foster's band played current, popular music. "There's a psychology to running a band," Foster told The New York Times in 1989. "People want to hear the songs they hear on the radio; it gives them an immediate relationship with you. And then there's the energy. Lots of energy in playing and marching. Dazzle them with it. Energy." Because of the band's success and prominence "members of the Marching 100 have played at Super Bowls, the Olympics, the Grammy Awards and the inaugurations of Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama," the AP wrote. Many of its members have gone on to careers as band directors and professional musicians, including Joseph "Cannonball" Adderley. Foster, who graduated from the University of Kansas in 1941, earned his master's degree from Wayne State University in 1950 and received his doctorate from the Teachers College at Columbia University in 1955. He was a highly educated man who wrote two books: "Band Pageantry: A Guide for the Marching Band" and "The Man Behind the Baton." Even those who did not go on to careers in the arts benefited from the training Foster provided. Among the skills students learned in band were discipline, problem solving and perseverance. "I've heard doctors, lawyers and professors say that Dr. Foster instilled those leadership qualities in them, and it caused them to be successful," said Julian E. White, a former student of Foster's and the school's current band director and music department chairman.

May the men, women and children who passed in 2010 rest in peace.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Italian screenwriter who worked with directors such as Visconti and Zeffirelli

The Italian screenwriter Suso Cecchi d'Amico, who has died aged 96, collaborated on the scripts of more than 100 films, including Vittorio De Sica's Ladri di Biciclette (Bicycle Thieves, 1948), William Wyler's Roman Holiday (1953), Mario Monicelli's I Soliti Ignoti (Big Deal on Madonna Street, 1958) and Francesco Rosi's Salvatore Giuliano (1962). She also worked with Michelangelo Antonioni on Le Amiche (The Girlfriends, 1955) and Franco Zeffirelli on Jesus of Nazareth (1977), but she was best known for her creative contribution to the films of Luchino Visconti, including Il Gattopardo (The Leopard, 1963).

She was born Giovanna Cecchi in Rome to a Tuscan painter, Leonetta Pieraccini, and the literary critic Emilio Cecchi, a major figure in 20th-century Italian letters. For a few years in the early 1930s, before the Cinecittà studios were built in Rome, her father had been entrusted by Mussolini's government with running the state-backed film company Cines. "We Cecchi children were excited by Daddy's new job because we all loved the movies," Suso said. Many film people were among the literati who frequented the family home. Italy's leading theatre critic, Silvio d'Amico, was a regular visitor. His son Fedele (known as Lele), a musicologist, married Suso in 1938.

In the early 1930s, when it wasn't fashionable for young Italian girls to study abroad, Suso's father had sent her first to Switzerland and then to Cambridge. On her return to Italy, she got a job as a civil servant and, thanks to her language skills, worked for eight years as an interpreter-secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Trade. During the second world war Lele had to go into hiding because of his anti-fascist activities. He later suffered bad health, making it necessary for Suso to become the breadwinner. She translated English texts, including Thomas Hardy's Jude the Obscure and Shakespeare plays, and went on to translate plays staged by Visconti.

The first script on which she worked, for the producer Carlo Ponti and director Renato Castellani, was never filmed. But with Castellani (and five others) she got her first credit immediately afterwards, with Mio Figlio Professore (My Son, the Professor, 1946), followed in 1947 by two films directed by Luigi Zampa, Vivere in Pace (To Live in Peace) and L'Onorevole Angelina (Angelina: Member of Parliament), the latter starring Anna Magnani, who became one of Suso's closest friends. In the same year she co-scripted Alberto Lattuada's Il Delitto di Giovanni Episcopo (Flesh Will Surrender), from Gabriele d'Annunzio's novel, which was also one of Federico Fellini's early script credits.

In 1948 she was one of several scriptwriters who shared credits with De Sica and Cesare Zavattini on Bicycle Thieves, based on Luigi Bartolini's novel, which followed an impoverished man who searches for his stolen bicycle with his young son. Suso recalled: "Zavattini would have probably ended the film like the book, with the father and son returning home defeated. I suggested the idea of the father in desperation trying to steal a bike himself ... After being humiliated in front of the kid, a new bond is born between them." Suso never claimed credit as an "auteur" and said: "I'm just an artisan, the author is the director."

Sometimes her craftsmanship was not given its due. Wyler was aware that Ben Hecht's original script for Roman Holiday, about a princess (Audrey Hepburn) who meets an American reporter (Gregory Peck) in Italy, failed to capture the real mood of 1950s Rome. Suso and Ennio Flaiano were hired for an uncredited rewrite. "They wanted us to work in an office at the studios," she said, "as the hack rewriters do in Hollywood, but we said it would make us the laughing stock of Cinecittà. So they let us work at home."

Suso said Wyler appreciated their ideas, such as letting Hepburn sleep in Peck's room and don his pyjamas, then a daring touch for Hollywood movies. Her presence at scriptwriting sessions was a great comfort to directors who did not want writers to interfere too much but were grateful for creative suggestions. She had a special relationship, both professionally and in private, with Visconti although they always used the formal "Lei" when addressing each other. Their films together included Bellissima (1951), Senso (1954), Rocco e i suoi Fratelli (Rocco and His Brothers, 1960) and Ludwig (1972). According to Suso, the outline of Visconti's films, especially the literary adaptations, was established by the director himself. The Leopard, based on Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa's novel about the Sicilian aristocracy, was divided into three parts, including a final ballroom sequence, representing the decline and death of Prince Salina (Burt Lancaster), who has secured a profitable marriage for his nephew (Alain Delon) to a merchant's daughter (Claudia Cardinale). The film omits the book's epilogue, set 20 years later.

Suso believed that if Albert Camus's widow had allowed the crucial structural changes that Visconti wanted in the first part of his adaptation of L'Étranger (The Stranger), the resulting film (Lo Straniero, 1967) would have been more successful. For his projected adaptation of Marcel Proust's À la Recherche du Temps Perdu (Remembrance of Things Past), Visconti wanted to deal with only two sections of the novel, the tormented love stories between the narrator (to be played by Delon) and Albertine; and between Baron de Charlus (with whom, according to Suso, Visconti identified) and Morel (to be played by Helmut Berger).

Apart from Visconti, the two directors with whom Suso worked most frequently were Luigi Comencini and Monicelli. Her work with Comencini included his excellent TV adaptation of Elsa Morante's La Storia (History, 1986). She co-scripted many films for Monicelli including Casanova 70 (1965), which starred Marcello Mastroianni and received an Oscar nomination for best original screenplay.

In 1994 Suso was awarded the Golden Lion for lifetime achievement at the Venice film festival. Lele died in 1990 but Suso had the comfort of three children who survive her and have made important contributions to Italian cultural life: Silvia as a film producer, Caterina in directing the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia film school in Rome, and Masolino, a translator, critic and teacher. Masolino's daughter, Margherita, interviewed her grandmother for the 1996 book Storie di Cinema (e d'Altro) – Stories About the Cinema (and Other Things), the closest Suso came to an autobiography.

• Suso Cecchi d'Amico (Giovanna Cecchi), screenwriter, born 21 July 1914; died 31 July 2010