By Mona Austin
Prominent people in entertainment, music, sports, and politics made the death toll for the year two thousand ten.
America lost two Soul singers in 2010, one at the beginning and one at the end of the year. The sexy R&B balladeer, Teddy Pendergrass, died in January and by year’s end Teena Marie, “Ivory Queen of Soul”, passed away.
The world of entertainment also lost the tallest professional basketball player, Manute Bol, and one of the shortest actors in Hollywood, former child star Gary Coleman.
Two feisty middle-agers that brought their Southern charm to classic female casts are also dearly departed, the hot momma Rue McClanahan (Blanche of the “Golden Girls”) and the no non-sense Dixie Carter (“Julia Sugarbaker” of “Designing Women”).
In the poli-social arena, three notable civil rights era activists also passed away: Benjamin Hooks, Dorothy Height, and Jefferson Thomas of the Little Rock Nine.
The gospel industry said good bye to two of its pioneers, the “Queen of Gospel” Albertina Walker and the “elder statesman” Bishop Walter Hawkins.
These are just some of the people who shared their lives with the world through the first decade of the millennium. We remember their legacy and say farewell to them and others in this photographic
memoir.
