When a prominent person pass away, I try to find time to blog about it. Sadly, my mind was too distracted throughout the year to blog about everyone I found interesting.
Here were some memorial blog posts from earlier this year
People from my personal life
http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2021/11/in-memory-of-my-dentist-dr-clifford-park.html
http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2021/10/in-memory-of-uncle-michael.html
http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2021/04/in-memory-of-auntie-theldine.html
http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2021/08/in-memory-of-lisa-lam.html
http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2021/09/the-mystery-of-elia-laeli.html
http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2021/04/former-students-and-tragedy-on-kalakaua.html
Public figures
http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2021/07/2021-cruel-year-for-old-school-rappers.html
http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2021/05/colt-brennan-1983-2021.html
http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2021/07/haunani-kay-trask.html
http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2021/02/rush-limbaugh.html
http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2021/02/the-legends-of-baseball.html
Here are some other interesting people who passed away in 2021
Malakai "Mo" Maumalanga
"Mo" was a former gang member turned social worker who encouraged troubled youth in Hawaii to turn their lives around in a positive direction. He worked for the Adult Friends for Youth (AFY), the same organization that worked with him when he was transitioning out of the gang life.
Sadly, he was murdered in front of his own home decades after leaving the gang life. It is still a mystery of who killed him and why they did it.
Robert Kekaula
Robert Kekaula was a well-known TV journalist for decades. Most of his career focused on sports, though in his last few years, he was also focused on the non-sports news as well.
He was a cultural icon in that he was an example of how even a pidgin-speaking large-sized Native Hawaiian man can rise to the top of local news media. You didn't have to abandon your cultural roots to make it in the mainstream! He & Paula Akana were probably the first Native Hawaiian duo to be the lead anchor for KITV News. (or any local TV news for that matter).
He not only was a journalist but also a musician who released 3 albums, 2 of which won the prestigious Na Hoku awards.
Bob Jones
This Bob Jones is not to be confused with the controversial religious university in South Carolina named after a different person with the same name.
This Bob Jones was a legendary TV news reporter in Hawaii who didn't shy away from expressing strong opinions on the air or especially in the opinion articles he wrote for Midweek. Whatever backlash he got was nothing compared to the dangers he faced while reporting from Vietnam in the 1960s.
My main memory of him was when I was growing up in the 80s and 90s when he and Jade Moon, were the lead anchors for KGMB News.
Collin Powell
Collin Powell was a man of many "firsts" in many high positions in the US government. He was the first African-American to be the chair of the US military's joint-chief-of-staff (under George HW Bush) , as well as the first to be Secretary of State (under George W Bush).
During his time with the joint-chief-of-staffs, he was in the media spotlight as the US military was about to save Kuwait from Saddam Hussein in the early 1990's. He impressed many Americans who thought he could eventually become the first African-American president.
People even begged him to run in 1996. But Powell didn't really fit into the major political parties. He was a friend of the Bush family and identified as a Republican at the time, but he wasn't comfortable with the entire Republican agenda. I felt that if the US elections didn't allow for political parties and everyone had to run as an individual, Collin Powell would've been able to be the first African-American before anyone even heard of Barack Obama.
Powell did accept the position as a Secretary of State under President George W. Bush. It was a time of major turmoil as the 9/11 attacks happened. The US launched an attack on Al Qaida who was headquartered in Afghanistan. Though Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with 9/11, Bush wanted to "finish the job" and get rid of Saddam Hussein once and for all. There was disagreement within the administration about those plans, with Powell saying we would need more troops than what Donald Rumsfeld (Secretary of Defense) was proposing. Sadly, Bush went along with Rumsfeld's idea which turned out to be a disaster. Overthrowing Hussein was the easy part, it was keeping the peace that turned out to be the hard part. Also, Powell was humiliated as his speech about the alleged weapons of mass destruction in Iraq turned out to be wrong.
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Some people wondered that even though Collin Powell was able to gain prestigious positions within the US government, that he could he have done more for the African-American community. Some felt he wasn't radical enough. I mentioned this on Facebook.
Mixed legacy? Why? He broke barriers and made achievements that were denied to his parent's generations. He did speak out against racism, but some felt he should've been more radical in his statements.
People need to understand that in order for progress to happen, there's needs to be people working within the system (like Collin Powell) and people speaking out from outside the system (like the BLM movement). People in both groups would express their thoughts differently because they have different roles to play. But all the roles are important!
In the last year of his life, Collin Powell was suffering from blood cancer which weakened his immune system, which was unable to fight off the coronavirus even though he was vaccinated.
I wrote the following on Facebook
Vaccines help most who get it, though it may not be enough to help those with weakened immune systems. Colin Powell's blood cancer left his immune system weakened beyond repair. But for the rest of us, we can helped with the vaccine.
Covidiots need to understand if they get vaccinated, they're less likely to spread covid to those with weakened immune system. THE WHOLE POINT of getting vaxed, wearing masks and not gathering in large groups is to PROTECT THOSE WITH weakened immune systems. But too many covidiots are all about the "me, myself and I" and don't understand the concept of protecting the vulnerable.
Desmond Tutu
Desmond Tutu was a religious leader and an activist against the apartheid regime in South Africa. Like Martin Luther King, he advocated nonviolent resistance even as people were losing patience with being nonviolent against a violent oppressive regime.
But unlike King, Tutu was able to live long after the segregation system he was fighting against ended. Tutu still had more work to do.
In the early years of the post-apartheid era, Tutu was in charge of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which investigated human rights abuses that occurred during the apartheid regime. Those who were truthful in their testimony in front of the commission were given amnesty. The goal wasn't so much to punish but to establish some sort of reconciliation and healing.
He also didn't hesitate to criticize the post-apartheid government for its abuses and corruption.
He spoke out for the rights of the LGBT, people living with HIV/AIDS, and the economically marginalized.
Tutu also spoke out against human rights abuses overseas, whether it was about Israeli abuse of Palestinians in the West Bank (for which he was falsely accused of anti-Semitism) or on the Rohingya refugees from Myanmar.
FW De Klerk
Also from South Africa was FW De Klerk, who was the final president of South Africa in the apartheid era. Though he was a longtime supporter of apartheid, by the late 80's he realized the system was unsustainable. Riots were occurring nationwide, and there were economic boycotts from outside. A civil war was a real possibility. In the long run, there was no way apartheid was able to withstand such pressures. It was best to end the system right then and there and start a peaceful transition.
De Klerk approved the release of anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela who eventually became the first president of the post-apartheid era. Both won the Nobel Peace Prize.
But even with him starting the transition away from apartheid, there were still some people who haven't forgiven him for being a past supporter of apartheid. His final statement before his death was an expression of regret for his past support of apartheid.
Bob Dole
Bob Dole had a long career of service to the US government, starting from time as a US soldier fighting in World War 2, and later with decades in the US Senate. His political career culminated in a run for US President in 1996 for which he lost to the incumbent Bill Clinton. It was almost like a rerun of 1992 in which fellow WW2 veteran George HW Bush lost to a guy who dodged the draft during the Vietnam War. While people respected the service of Bush and Dole, they were also seen as out-of-touch with modern America as compared to the younger Clinton.
I wrote the following on Facebook about Bob Dole after he died.
I was in high school when Bob Dole ran for president, most of us thought him and other Republicans (like Dan Quayle and George HW Bush) are uptight morality preachers who complained too much about gangsta rap and TV sitcoms. Bill Clinton looked cool in comparison. Little did we know that the Republicans would change their image to the vulgar, deplorable bullies like Donald Trump who thinks basic decency is for chumps! As a middle-aged adult, I kinda sorta miss the uptight conservatives like Bob Dole and Dan Quayle, mostly because the Republican brand became way more toxic and repulsive under Trump!
John Madden
John Madden was one of the biggest legends in professional football even though he couldn't play at that level due to injuries in his college days. In the 1970's, he was the head coach of the Oakland Raiders, for which he won a Super Bowl in 1977. He was able to succeed with a team of outlaws and misfits with 3 simple rules: be on time, pay attention, and play like hell.
But it was his career after coaching in which he really gained legendary status. For nearly 3 decades, he was mostly famous as the game-time voice for NFL games. He was able to explain the complexities of the game with his verbal descriptions and his visual illustrations on the screen. And he had a great sense of humor.
And to top all of that, his name became a brand name for a popular video game series: Madden NFL. Those who couldn't make the team on the field could pretend to be NFL players while playing the game. And those who did succeed on the field could laugh at themselves when noting their likeness appearing in the game.
Bobby Bowden
Bobby Bowden was the longtime head football coach at Florida State University. When he started coaching there in 1976, Florida State was a no-name school without a winning tradition. That quickly changed as he led the school to multiple national championships over the decades. He coached the greats like Deion Sanders, Chris Weinke, Charlie Ward, Warrick Dunn and Peter Warrick. He became the 2nd winningest coach in college football history until he retired in 2009.
The reason he stood out to me was back when I skimming his book at a bookstore, one part really got my attention. He mentioned that when working with his assistant coaches, he preferred to correct them in private. He said that if he was to embarrass the assistant coaches in front of the players, that would disrespect the assistant coach's authority over the players. I wish more supervisors would understand that.
Beverly Cleary
Beverly Cleary was the author of many classic children's books, which still have a place on library shelves decades after their initial publication. Ironically, this former librarian and author didn't like reading growing up because she thought it was boring. Her goal was to write books that a younger version of herself could relate to, being that she grew up as a rascal kid in the middle-class suburbs. That might seem like the norm now, but at the time, it was revolutionary.
Betty White
(note: even though this post was posted a day before she died, I'll add my thoughts on her here)
The actress who has been known as a national treasure for living what seemed like an eternity has passed away on the final day of 2021, less than a month before her 100th birthday.
She has appeared on sitcoms, game shows and variety shows over the decades, most famous one being The Golden Girls, an 80s sitcom centered around 4 elderly women enjoying their golden years, even as they tackle social issues like age discrimination, gender relations, race relations, medical malpractice and more. The show was seen as ahead of its time as it dealt with the issue of homosexuality and AIDS.
In her last few years, Betty White continued to make guest appearances on comedy shows, as well as prominent features in TV ads and social media memes.
While we all joked that she will live on forever, it is her legacy and spirit that will do so!
(note: I might add more to this post! I just want to make sure I got something published before the end of 2021. I'll add more soon)
