Of course, I won't be able to write about every person with a dose of fame, especially if I don't know much about them.
I already wrote about the following
Dick Tomey
https://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2019/05/in-memory-of-dick-tomey-1938-2019.html
Nipsey Hussle & John Singleton
https://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2019/05/nipsey-hussle-john-singleton.html
Now for a few more
Ross Perot
Reuters
Ross Perot
Ross Perot was an eccentric entrepreneur who later ran for president (sounds familiar).
Perot gained his billions by buying one of the early entrepreneurs in the computer industry. He started Electronic Data Systems in 1962, and then Perot Systems in the 1980s.
In 1992, Perot ran for US president as an independent candidate. His campaign focused on eliminating the national debt and against trade deals that he felt would put the US at a disadvantage.
While he wasn't part of the major political parties, he did have more than enough money to fund infomercials to promote his campaign. Many people were fascinated by his use of charts to describe national problems and how to solve them
He did drop out & later re-entered the presidential race, making many people suspicious about how dedicated he really was to become president.
However, he was able to enter the presidential debates against the incumbent George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton.
Perot was able to get 19% of the popular vote, a lot more than most minor-party candidates usually get. However, it wasn't enough, and Bill Clinton ultimately won the election.
In 1996, Ross Perot ran for president again. Unfortunately, he wasn't invited to debate the major party candidates (Bill Clinton & Bob Dole) and only got 8% of the popular vote!
1992 was the last time that candidates from other political parties were ever allowed to debate the Democrat & Republican nominees for president. This is a national tragedy in that people don't get a chance to hear those from "third parties" challenge the major party candidates on their positions. The major political parties are afraid of someone being inspired by Ross Perot and humiliating the major party politicians on national TV, so they avoid debates with what they consider "inferior beings" from the outside.
--
Ross Perot died from leukemia in July 2019
David Koch
Paul Zimmerman / WireImage
David Koch
David Koch, along with his brother Charles Koch, are known as the Koch Brothers, the oil company executives who gave millions to political causes.
The Koch Brothers are usually considered "conservatives", but they are really more aligned with libertarians. In fact, David Koch attempted to become the Libertarian Party nominee for president in 1980.
They sided with Republicans on lowering taxes, reducing regulations on businesses, and were openly skeptical towards global warming (this earned them major hostility from the Radical Left).
However, the Koch Brothers also sided with more liberal causes like criminal justice reform, drug decriminalization and a more lenient immigration policy (this really alienated them from the Republican Party since Trump took over).
Outside of politics, the Koch Brothers also gave millions to the arts & medical research.
Charles Koch was able to survive prostate cancer for 27 years until he passed away in August 2019.
Toni Morrison
Olga Besnard/Dreamstime.com
Toni Morrison
Toni Morrison was a prominent author, editor & professor.
Her writings focused on various aspects of African-American life and dealt with the harsh realities of slavery, racism and sexual abuse.
Her most popular novel Beloved won a Pulitzer Prize and was adapted into a movie featuring Oprah Winfrey and Danny Glover.
In 1993, Morrison became the first African-American women to win a Nobel Prize for Literature.
Morrison did get some controversy when she stated in 1998 that Bill Clinton was "America's first black president" due to his popularity with the African-American community as well as his life story associated with various stereotypes of African-Americans (single mother, poverty, jazz, his fried foods diet). Obviously, this offended many people. Ten years later, the USA elected an actual African-American person as president - Barack Obama! Obama later awarded Morrison with the Presidential Medal of Freedom
Morrison passed away in August 2019 due to pneumonia
Robert Mugabe
AFP
Robert Mugabe
He was a rebel fighting for the rights of the indigenous people of Zimbabwe when it was a British colony of Rhodesia.
White domination of Zimbabwe ended in 1979. There was much hope when Mugabe became the first black president of Zimbabwe.
However, white oppression was replaced by black oppression under Mugabe's reign of terror. While much of the Western world's attention focused on European-descendants being victimized by Mugabe's lynch mobs, the majority of his victims were other indigenous Africans.
This was such a huge contrast to Nelson Mandela in neighboring South Africa. While Mandela was bold in his fight against the apartheid regime, when he took power, he advocated racial & ethnic reconciliation even when others weren't in the mood for it. He also refused to run for re-election because he truly believed that South Africa was best served by a peaceful transfer of power instead of having a ruler of life.
When Mandela was released from imprisonment, many European South Africans feared he was going to be the next Robert Mugabe. He wasn't!
I compared Nelson Mandela & Robert Mugabe in previous blog posts
https://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2019/02/yesterdays-victims-can-be-tomorrows.html https://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2013/12/nelson-mandela.html
Other articles on Robert Mugabe and his reign of terror
Lawrence Pintak, “I met Robert Mugabe in the late 1970s. What he told me still haunts me.,” Vox, September 6, 2019,
https://www.vox.com/world/2019/9/6/20853400/robert-mugabe-dead-zimbabwe-president-zanu-pf
Joseph Winter, “Robert Mugabe: From liberator to tyrant,” BBC, September 6, 2019
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-27519044
Tricia Escobedo, David McKenzie, and Hilary Clarke, “Robert Mugabe, Who Once Said 'Only God' Could Ever Remove Him, Dies at 95,” CNN, September 6, 2019
https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/06/africa/robert-mugabe-intl-hnk/index.html
Nicholas Kristof, “If Only Mugabe Were White,” New York Times, June 28, 2008
https://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/29/opinion/29kristof.html?hp
Nicholas Kristof, “Looking Away from Mugabe's Tyranny,” New York Times, April 4, 2004
https://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/04/opinion/nicholas-d-kristof-looking-away-from-mugabes-tyranny.html
Robert Mugabe finally met his end in September 2019 due to cancer. He was in a Singapore hospital for treatment when he died. Meaning, after so many decades as ruler of Zimbabwe, he couldn't get one decent hospital in his own country that he trusted to save his life.
Cokie Roberts
Heidi Gutman/ABC
Cokie Roberts
Cokie Roberts was one of the pioneers among women working in political journalism back in the 1960s & 1970's. She worked with various local TV stations around the country, and then with NPR.
She later became a co-host of ABC's political talk show "This Week". She also wrote many articles on the political scene.
While working with mostly liberal-dominated stations, she was known to be fair when dealing with Republicans.
Bobby Allyn and Scott Neuman, “Cokie Roberts, Pioneering Journalist Who Helped Shape Npr, Dies at 75,” National Public Radio, September 17, 2019, https://www.npr.org/2019/09/17/761050916/cokie-roberts-pioneering-female-journalist-who-helped-shape-npr-dies-at-75
Political journalist George Will, who worked with Roberts on ABC's This Week, said Roberts was not just born to the political class but was a natural inhabitant.
"She liked people on both sides of the aisle and had friends on both sides of the aisle," Will told NPR. "If you don't like the game of politics, I don't see how you write about it well," he said. "She liked the game of politics and she understood that it was a game."
However, she was unsparing in her criticism of Donald Trump when he ran for president.
"[Trump] is one of the least qualified candidates ever to make a serious run for the presidency," Roberts and her husband wrote. "If he is nominated by a major party — let alone elected — the reputation of the United States would suffer a devastating blow around the world."Learn more at
Karma Allen, Meghan Keneally, and Nancy Gabriner, “Legendary Journalist and Political Commentator Cokie Roberts Dies at 75,” ABC News, September 17, 2019, https://abcnews.go.com/US/legendary-journalist-political-commentator-cokie-roberts-dies-75/story?id=65633507.
John Conyers
US Congress
John Conyers
He was an advocate of civil rights legislation, introduced a bill to have a holiday honoring Martin Luther King, pushed for sanctions against South Africa's apartheid regime and defended the rights of Muslims.
While he was very woke on racial justice, he wasn't so woke in his dealings with women. His career ended with the #metoo movement taking note of his various sexual harassment allegations.
Learn more at
Melissa Nann Burke and Gregg Krupa, “John Conyers, Longest-Serving Black Member of Congress in History, Dies,” Detroit News, October 27, 2019, https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2019/10/27/john-conyers-obituary/2908410002/.
Elijah Cummings
US Congress
Elijah Cummings
Cummings was another longtime legislature and a member of the Congressional Black Caucus.
Cummings had his first dibs in civil rights activism when he was 11, when he & his friends worked to integrate a swimming pool in Baltimore. He later majored in political science and was a student government president at Howard University. He spent 13 years in the state assembly, and 23 years in the U.S. House of Representatives.
More recently, Elijah Cummings advocated for the impeachment of Donald Trump. Trump hit back by noting the rat-infested buildings in Cumming's Baltimore district. However, one of the slumlords operating there happened to be Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law & senior advisor.
Matthew Rozsa, “Kushner properties under renewed scrutiny after Trump calls Baltimore a 'rodent infested mess',” Salon, July 29, 2019,
https://www.salon.com/2019/07/29/kushner-properties-under-renewed-scrutiny-after-trump-calls-baltimore-a-rodent-infested-mess/
It turns out that Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law who works alongside the commander-in-chief at the White House, owns property in the Maryland city with a history of actual rodent problems, according to a pair of investigations."It is certainly ironic that the president’s own son-in-law was complicit in contributing to some of the neglect that the president purports to be so concerned about," Baltimore County Executive John A. Olszewski Jr. told the Washington Post on Saturday.
Trump, being a person who wants to have it both ways, gave a very insincere tribute to Elijah Cummings when he died.
There is a more sincere tribute from a Republican, Trey Gowdy, who worked with Elijah Cummings in Congress
Trey Gowdy, “Elijah cummings and I were political opponents. We were also good friends.,” Washington Post, October 10, 2019,
https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/10/18/elijah-cummings-i-were-political-opponents-we-were-also-good-friends/
There are more than a few YouTube videos of Elijah and me disagreeing with each other over the years. Unfortunately, there are no videos capturing his calls of encouragement to me. Or of me pushing him in his wheelchair — he would have done the same for me — because I wanted to talk with him while we walked. Or of Elijah going out of his way to encourage a member of my staff because he knew what it was like to be a young professional of color; because his desire to see her succeed exceeded any and every political difference they may have had.(skipped paragraphs)
Our life experiences were different. Our political beliefs could not have been more different. We disagreed on most issues, from how to address gun violence to which questions are appropriately asked during a decennial census. We both had a passion for criminal justice reform, but even when we agreed on the destination, we frequently had different paths to get there. He championed “ban the box” legislation, while I thought there was a different route to giving people a second chance. The political environment we served in together could not have been more challenging: the Benghazi hearings, the Fast and Furious hearings and hearings surrounding the 2016 election. Our committee assignments and respective leadership teams seemed to thrust us into almost every contentious issue facing Congress. Yet we never had a cross word outside of a committee room during the years we served together.
To the contrary, I had genuine affection for Elijah, and I admired the path he took, over the course of his life, rising to become a leader in Congress.
Don Imus
Source: AP Photo/Richard Drew
Don Imus
A long-time talk radio host well known for his outrageous remarks. He basically insulted everyone left & right
examples noted at
Emmett Tyrrell, “Don Imus, Rip,” Townhall, January 2, 2020 https://townhall.com/columnists/emmetttyrrell/2020/01/02/don-imus-rip-n2558811
But what lead to his downfall was in 2007 when talking about the NCAA women's basketball championship game, he referred to Rutger's team as "nappy headed ho's". This ignited a major controversy intersecting both race and gender. Don Imus was fired and became a social outcast.
I blogged about the controversy back in 2007
https://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2007/04/who-are-you-calling-ho.html
more on Imus
Lorraine Wheat, “Hollywood Sends Mixed Reactions On the Death of Don Imus,” Variety, December 27, 2019
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/hollywood-sends-mixed-reactions-death-014754423.html
Gershon Kingsley
Jack Manning/The New York Times
Gershon Kingsley
Gerson Kingsley was an innovator of electronic music.
Kingsley spent his childhood as a Jewish refugee during WW2, going from Germany to Israel, Cuba and the United States.
In the 1960s, he was one of the early users of the new invention, the Moog synthesizer. With it, he made one of the earliest electronic music hits "Baroque Hoedown" and "Popcorn". This was years before Kraftwerk took electronic music to a whole other level!
Kinglsey also composed movie scores, operas & more.
Kingsley died on December 2019 at the age of 97.
learn more at
Jon Pareles, “Gershon Kingsley, Master of Electronic Sounds, Dies at 97,” New York Times, December 15, 2019,
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/15/obituaries/gershon-kingsley-dead.html/
Dick Dale
Redferns/Getty Images
Dick Dale
Dick Dale was a guitarist whose music was the soundtrack of many surf videos. He used the musical influences of Lebanon (where his family was from) and applied it to his electric guitar to make an amazing sound.
His most famous instrumental was Misirlou, a mainstay of surf rock that was later used in "Pulp Fiction" and sampled by the Black Eyed Peas "Pump It" and Lil Nas X & Cardi B's "Rodeo".
Dale died in March 2019 of kidney disease
Otis Hart and Anastasia Tsioulcas, “Dick Dale, Surf Guitar Legend, Dead at 81,” National Public Radio, March 18, 2019,
https://www.npr.org/2019/03/18/704329806/dick-dale-surf-guitar-legend-dead-at-81
Keith Flint
Brian Rasic/Getty Images
Keith Flint
Keith Flint was the lead singer for the electronic music group The Prodigy (not to be confused with the deceased member of Mobb Deep).
The group The Prodigy mixed electronic music with alternative rock to make an even crazier & wilder sound.
They hit their peak in 1997 with their hits "Firestarter" and "Breath" (the video for that song will gross you out with rats & roaches in an apartment). They also got major controversy over their song "Smack My B---- Up".
Keith Flint later had his own punk rock band Flint.
In March 2019, Keith Flint was found dead from hanging in his own home.
Otis Hart, “Keith Flint, Vocalist of the Prodigy, Dies at 49,” National Public Radio, March 4, 2019,
https://www.npr.org/2019/03/04/699974575/keith-flint-vocalist-of-techno-popularizers-the-prodigy-dead-at-49
Bushwick Bill
Scott Dudelson/Getty Images
Bushwick Bill
In a rap world in which the big & strong usually get the most status, Bushwick Bill was very short, shorter than most rappers who call themselves "Lil". He was 3 feet 8 inches tall.
Don't let his size fool you, the people who were around him will tell you crazy stories about him not being afraid of getting into fights.
Decades of drug use took its toll. It is believed his heavy drinking led to him dying of pancreatic cancer in June 2019
Sidney Madden, “Bushwick Bill, of Houston Rap Group Geto Boys, Dead at 52,” National Public Radio, June 10, 2019,
https://www.npr.org/2019/06/10/731076691/bushwick-bill-of-houston-rap-group-geto-boys-dead-at-52
Juice WRLD
XXL
JuiceWRLD
Jarad Anthony Higgins (aka Juice WRLD) was a rapper/singer who merged the influences of emo & reality rap, a combination that is popular among today's youth.
Juice WRLD first gained attention on the music sharing website Soundcloud and eventually gained mainstream popularity in 2018 with his major hit "Lucid Dreams", which sampled Sting's "Shape of My Heart".
He also had some other hits the last 2 years like "Armed & Dangerous", "Hide", "Legends" (tribute to other emo rappers who died before him xxxTentacion & Lil Peep) and a collabo w/Ellie Goulding "Hate Me".
Juice WRLD was only 21 when died of a drug-induced epileptic seizure at an airport on December 8, 2019
