1954 – 2025. It is with a heavy heart that the NYU community shares news of the unexpected passing of our beloved Professor Michael D. Dinwiddie. So many students came to know Professor Dinwiddie as a brilliant teacher, adviser, artist, and historian.
1934 – 2025. Raymond Saunders, a belatedly recognized Bay Area artist who decried the art world’s tendency to pigeonhole Black artists by race even as he produced paintings that actively explored racial subjects, passed away just a few days after his first retrospective at a major museum, in Pittsburgh. “Can’t we get clear of these degrading limitations,” he wrote, “and recognize the wider reality of art where color is the means and not the end?”
1993 – 2025. Mamy Tall, the celebrated Senegalese architect, designer, and cultural visionary known for reshaping the narrative of African cities, has passed away. A radiant force in West African design, Tall co-founded Dakar Lives, a digital platform spotlighting Senegal’s urban culture, and established Weex Tall, a multidisciplinary studio merging architecture, photography, fashion, and heritage.
1970 – 2025. Malcolm-Jamal Warner, the actor who rose to fame as a teenager playing Theo Huxtable on “The Cosby Show,” passed away. Mr. Warner acted in dozens of television shows, directed episodes of television series, appeared in plays, wrote poetry and performed music as a bass player among his many accomplishments.
1941 – 2025. When Boston artist and social activist Dana Chandler Jr. passed away, he left not only the legacy of his art. He created an institution in 1978 that also lives on: the African American Master Artists-in-Residence Program (AAMARP), in affiliation with Northeastern University (NEU).
1924 – 2025. Anna Mae Robertson,101 years old, was one of the last surviving members of the “Six Triple Eight,” an all Black, all-female WWII battalion. Robertson had been a member of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion in 1943, the only African American Women’s Army Corps to serve overseas during World War II.
1941 – 2025. Beuford Smith, was a prominent member of the Kamoinge Workshop, a collective that nurtured Black photographers at a time when they were marginalized by the mainstream.
1933 – 2025. Clarence O. Smith convinced skeptical advertisers of the power and worth of the Black female consumer market in becoming a founder of Essence, the first generalcirculation magazine catered to Black women.
1943 – 2025. Sly Stone, pioneering leader of the eclectic ban Sly and the Family stone passed away. He was a monumental figure, a groundbreaking innovator, and a true pioneer who redefined the landscape of pop, funk, and rock music.
1971 – 2025. Veteran journalist and filmmaker Sacha Jenkins, widely known for his impactful work in hip-hop culture, has passed away. Jenkins spent decades using storytelling to elevate hip-hop, whether through print, television, or film.