Trailblazing American Journalist Gwen Ifill Dead at 61

Gwen Ifill, one of the most prominent African-American journalists in the U.S., has died after battling cancer for months. She was 61.

Ifill joined PBS as the moderator of Washington Week, the public broadcaster's Sunday morning public affairs program, in 1999 and served as the show's managing editor. She was the first African-American woman to host a major political TV talk show. In 2013, she was named co-anchor and co-managing editor with Judy Woodruff of the weeknight evening news broadcast PBS NewsHour.

In 2009, she wrote a book about President Barack Obama, The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama.

"It is with extreme sadness that we share the news that Gwen Ifill passed away earlier today [Monday] surrounded by family and friends," PBS President and CEO Paula Kerger said in a statement. "Gwen was one of America's leading lights in journalism and a fundamental reason public media is considered a trusted window on the world by audiences across the nation."

A native of New York City, Ifill joined PBS in 1999. Prior to joining PBS, Ifill worked as chief congressional and political correspondent for NBC News, White House correspondent for the New York Times, and political reporter for The Washington Post.

She moderated the 2004 vice presidential debate between Dick Cheney and John Edwards, and the 2008 vice presidential debate between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin.

Photo by Tony Powell: Master of Ceremonies Gwen Ifill at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, D.C., 2015

Opera Singer Johan Botha Dies

South African opera tenor Johan Botha has died.

Botha, who was 51 years old, died Thursday in Vienna.

Botha's tenor seemed to effortlessly master a broad variety of operatic roles from Puccini to Wagner.

He showcased his talents on the stages of the world's opera houses, including La Scala, Covent Garden, New York's Metropolitan Opera and the State Opera in Vienna, which Botha had made his operatic home.

"We had been looking forward to his return so much," said Dominique Meyer, the director of the Vienna Opera.

Tenor Michael Schade said Botha was "one of the greatest voices that I ever got to share the stage with."

His last sang three weeks ago in Cape Town at a benefit for The Cancer Association of South Africa.

The Associated Press says the singer was suffering from cancer.

South African President Jacob Zuma said Botha would be remembered "for his soothing and powerful voice."

Botha is survived by his wife and two sons.

Photo by Monika Rittershaus: Production of Ariadne auf Naxos at Hamburgische Staatsoper 2012: Anne Schwanewilms as Primadonna / Ariadne (left), Johan Botha as Tenor / Bacchus (right).

Phyllis Schlafly 'First Lady of US Anti-Feminism' Dies

Phyllis Schlafly, the conservative activist who almost single-handedly helped defeat the proposed Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s and pushed the Republican Party to the right in ensuing decades, has died. She was 92.

Schlafly died Monday of cancer at her home in St. Louis, her son John Schlafly said.

Known as "the first lady of anti-feminism," Schlafly rose to national attention in 1964 with her self-published book, “A Choice Not an Echo,” that became a manifesto for the far right. The book, which sold 3 million copies, chronicled the history of the Republican National Convention and is credited with helping conservative Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona win the 1964 GOP nomination.

She later helped lead opposition to the ERA, a proposed constitutional amendment that would guarantee equal rights under the law regardless of gender. Schlafly argued that the measure would mean the end of the traditional family.

Supporters of the measure argued it would require that laws determining child support and job opportunities be designed without regard to gender.

Schlafly told the Associated Press in 2007 that perhaps her greatest legacy was the Eagle Forum, which she founded in 1972. The ultraconservative group has chapters in several states and claims 80,000 members. "I've taught literally millions of people how to participate in self-government,'' Schlafly said.

The Eagle Forum pushes for low taxes, a strong military and English-only education. The group is against efforts it says are pushed by radical feminists or encroach on U.S. sovereignty, such as guest worker visas. The group's website describes the Equal Rights Amendment as having had a "hidden agenda of tax-funded abortions and same-sex marriages.''

Saint Louis University history professor Donald Critchlow, who profiled Schlafly in his 2005 book, “Phyllis Schlafly and Grassroots Conservatism: A Woman's Crusade,” said the defeat of the amendment helped revive conservatism and pave the way for Ronald Reagan’s election in 1980.

Schlafly remained active in conservative politics well into her 80s, when she was still writing a column that appeared in 100 newspapers, doing radio commentaries on more than 460 stations, and publishing a monthly newsletter.

Photo by Gage Skidmore: Phyllis Schlafly speaking at CPAC in Washington D.C. on 12 February 2011.

Scotty Moore, Legendary Guitarist for Elvis Presley, Dies

Scotty Moore, the pioneering rock-and-roll guitarist who backed Elvis Presley on his early hits, died Tuesday at the age of 84 at his home in Nashville, Tennessee.
Moore was playing in a local country-western band in Memphis, Tennessee in July, 1954 when Sam Phillips, the owner of Sun Records, asked him to work with the 19-year-old Presley.  The next day, Presley and Moore, along with Moore's bandmate, bassist Bill Black, recorded over a dozen songs, including "That's All Right," that merged Presley's raw mixture of gospel and blues vocals with Moore's blues, jazz and country-influenced solos.
The release of "That's All Right" soon caught fire among audiences in the southern United States and launched Presley on the road to rock-and-roll superstardom.  Moore, Black and drummer D.J. Fontana would go on to record hundreds of other rock-and roll songs with Presley in the 1950s, including classics like "Heartbreak Hotel," "Don't Be Cruel," and "Hound Dog."
Moore's innovative playing would go on to inspire later generations of rock musicians, including Rolling Stones' guitarist Keith Richards, who later remarked "Everyone wanted to be Elvis. I wanted to be Scotty."
After ending his partnership with Presley when the singer was drafted into the Army in 1958, Moore founded a record label, Fernwood Records, that released a hit single "Tragedy," by singer Thomas Wayne in 1959.  He teamed up with Presley one last time in 1968 for a television special that revived the singer's career.  Moore continued his music career as a recording studio manager and engineer.

Ali Service Is Celebration of Life, Nonviolence, Humanitarianism

by Marissa Melton

Widow Lonnie Ali and former President Bill Clinton were among many speakers eulogizing boxing legend Muhammad Ali at an arena in Louisville, Kentucky, on Friday as some 15,000 mourners paid their respects.

The service took place after Ali's body had been driven through the streets of his hometown where fans packed the sidewalks to say a joyful and tearful goodbye.

Lonnie Ali spoke of her husband's love of Islam and its teachings of nonviolence. She said he had wanted his memorial service to be used to promote his ideals.

"He wanted us to remind people who are suffering that he had seen the face of injustice ... but he never became embittered enough to quit or engage in violence," she said.

Drawn to the 'forgotten'

She spoke of his love of travel, and of everyday people. "As he moved with ease around the world, the rich and powerful were drawn to him, but he was drawn to the poor and forgotten," she said.

Comedian Billy Crystal said Ali "was funny. He was beautiful. He was the most perfect athlete you ever saw. And those were his own words."

Turning serious, Crystal told anecdotes about the man he called "my big brother," referring to the long friendship between the two men despite differences in their backgrounds and professions.

Speaking of Ali's humanitarian and civil rights work, Crystal said, "He was a tremendous bolt of lighting, created by Mother Nature out of thin air. ... At the moment of impact it lights up everything around it, so you can see everything clearly.”

From polarizing to beloved

Broadcaster Bryant Gumbel commented, "What does it say of a man that he can go from being one of the nation's most polarizing figures to one of its most beloved, and do so without changing his nature?"

He went on to say Ali had led battles "in support of his race, in defense of his generation ... and, ultimately, in spite of his disease." He also called Ali a champion who represented "the best of Islam, to offset the hatred that comes with fear."

Clinton mused on Ali's origins and his transformation into a "universal soldier for our common humanity."

The former president spoke of how hard Ali fought the Parkinson's disease that plagued him for decades before his death last week at age 74. But he also praised Ali's legacy.

"My enduring image of him is like a little reel in three shots," Clinton said. "The boxer I thrilled to as a boy, the man I watched take the last steps to light the Olympic flame when I was president ... and then this — the children whose lives he touched; the young people he inspired. That’s the most important thing of all."

A sense of 'somebodiness'

Louisville Pastor Kevin Cosby spoke of Ali in the same breath as civil rights legend Rosa Parks and barrier-breaking athletes Jackie Robinson and Jesse Owens, all African-Americans who defied societal norms to try to break the color barrier between black and white Americans.

"Before James Brown said, 'I'm black and I'm proud,' Muhammad Ali said, 'I'm black and I'm pretty,' " Cosby said, adding that, in the time that Ali said it, " 'blacks' and 'pretty' were an oxymoron." He said Ali "dared to affirm the power and capacity of African-Americans," and gave them a "sense of somebodiness."

Rabbi Michael Lerner, a political activist, spoke of Ali's decision to give up his boxing title rather than be drafted to serve in the Vietnam War. "Ali stood up to immoral war, risked fame to speak truth to power," he said.

Other guests at the service included many members of Ali's family, Hollywood director Spike Lee, football legend Jim Brown, basketball's Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and actress and comedian Whoopi Goldberg.

Hockey Superstar Gordie Howe Dies at 88

Hockey star Gordie Howe, considered the greatest hockey player of all time by many of his fellow athletes, died Friday at age 88.

His family says Howe simply died of "old age." He had been suffering from the effects of a stroke in 2014, as well as dementia.

The Canadian-born Howe is known throughout the sport as "Mr. Hockey." He began his legendary career in 1946 and played professional hockey until 1980, when he was well into his 50s.

He helped the Detroit Red Wings win four Stanley Cup championships and was named the National Hockey League's most valuable player six times.

Howe set numerous hockey scoring records that stood for decades until broken by another hockey legend, Wayne Gretzky. Gretzky idolized Howe, calling him the greatest hockey player who ever lived and the nicest man he ever met.

U.S. President Barack Obama said of Howe in a statement, ". . . the list of kids who skated around the pond until dark, picturing themselves passing, scoring, and enforcing like Howe, dreaming of hoisting the Stanley Cup like him . . . comprises too many to count."

Ivory Coast Pays Final Tribute to Congolese Music Legend Papa Wemba

by Emilie Iob

Before the body of African music legend, Papa Wemba, was taken to the Democratic Republic of Congo for burial, International and local artists in Ivory Coast paid a final tribute to the musician known as "the King of Rumba Rock". 

The crowd encouraged the members of Papa Wemba's band to perform despite their grief, as they stood, visibly emotional, on a stage surrounded by flowers.

A few thousand people, all dressed in white, came to pay tribute to one of Africa’s most famous musicians.  The message on their t-shirts and on the stage read "We mourn you, long live Wemba."

Audience member Alain Aka says Papa Wemba was a big man of music.  Sadly he is gone, he says, so they are here to pay him the stirring tribute he deserves.

For young local musician Eric Kouassi, Papa Wemba was an inspiration.

"We have all known him since we were little", Kouassi says.  "We grew up with his music and his melodies.  His death really affected us, that is why we came to give support."

Officials and artists took turns praising the man known for his Congolese rumba.

“Africa mourns a son.  Ivory Coast mourns a brother.  And the D.R.C. mourns a father,” said one presenter.

Papa Wemba, whose real name was Jules Shungu Wembadio, died Sunday after collapsing on stage.  He was performing at the FEMUA music festival, organized in Abidjan by another legendary African musical act, the Ivorian band Magic System.

Wemba's family was present at the wake in Abidjan, dressed mostly in black and sitting in the front row.

Music System band member A’Salfo says that Papa Wemba wanted to die on stage.  He says we should not be sad, we should be proud.  If the biggest artist of African music decides to die where Magic System was born, he says it means he wanted to send a message.

The celebration lasted until dawn before Wemba's body was flown to home to the Democratic Republic of Congo.  He was 66 years old.  

(Photo by Dicapipups: Papa Wemba in 2015.)