Basketball legend Bill Russell, was the first black (man) to coach a major league team in the U.S., in any sport. Nichelle Nichols played Lt. Uhura, on television's Star Trek, in which she was the first black female in a role of authority, on American television, as well as the first black woman seen on U.S. t.v., kissing a white man (William Shatner's character, Capt. Kirk). It seems a noteworthy coincidence, that both of these groundbreaking figures, for black as well as for American society, expired this weekend. Nichols passed Saturday, of natural causes, at the age of 89; Russell was 88, when he died on Sunday, at the end of an extended illness. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.es...-russell-11-nba-champion-dies-88?platform=amp [SNIP] Until Michael Jordan's exploits in the 1990s, Russell was considered by many as the greatest player in NBA history. "Bill Russell was a pioneer -- as a player, as a champion, as the NBA's first Black head coach and as an activist," Jordan, now the chairman of the Charlotte Hornets, said in a statement. "He paved the way and set an example for every Black player who came into the league after him, including me. The world has lost a legend. My condolences to his family and may he rest in peace." Russell was awarded the Medal of Freedom by former President Barack Obama in 2011, the nation's highest civilian honor. And in 2017, the NBA awarded him with its Lifetime Achievement Award. "Today, we lost a giant," Obama said in a statement Sunday. "As tall as Bill Russell stood, his legacy rises far higher -- both as a player and as a person. Perhaps more than anyone else, Bill knew what it took to win and what it took to lead." President Joe Biden, in a statement released by the White House, praised Russell for his lifelong work in civil rights as well as in sports, and called him "a towering champion for freedom, equality, and justice." "Bill Russell is one of the greatest athletes in our history -- an all-time champion of champions, and a good man and great American who did everything he could to deliver the promise of America for all Americans," Biden said... Russell became the first Black player to be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1975, and in 1980 he was voted Greatest Player in the History of the NBA by the Professional Basketball Writers Association of America. He was part of the 75th Anniversary Team announced by the NBA in October 2021. In 2013, Boston honored Russell with a statue at City Hall Plaza. [END] https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cn...nt/nichelle-nichols-star-trek-dies/index.html [SNIP] Nichols portrayed communications officer Lt. Nyota Uhura in the "Star Trek" TV series and many of its film offshoots. When "Star Trek" began in 1966, Nichols was a television rarity: a Black woman in a notable role on a prime-time television series. There had been African-American women on TV before, but they often played domestic workers and had small roles; Nichols' Uhura was an integral part of the multicultural "Star Trek" crew. The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. called it "the first non-stereotypical role portrayed by a Black woman in television history." Nichols is widely known for participating in one of the first interracial kisses on US television when her character kissed James T. Kirk, portrayed by White Canadian actor William Shatner. In an interview with CNN in 2014, Nichols said the kiss scene "changed television forever, and it also changed the way people looked at one another." After "Trek's" three-season run, Nichols dedicated herself to the space program. She helped NASA in making the agency more diverse, helping to recruit astronauts Sally Ride, Judith Resnik and Guion Bluford, among others. [END]
Note: this thread was not posted in current events, since it means to focus some attention on the concurrence of these deaths, because of the similarly important roles each played, both in changing public opinion, as well as in sharing a symbolic, trailblazing relevance. There is no article online that does this-- and the Current Events rules, specify that one use the title of the link, as the thread title: so no way in the thread title, to link the two (as to which, my title alludes). I hope, then, that this thread may allow for both the lives, and timing of the deaths, of these two figures, to become lenses, through which to view the current state of black America.
What is the point? Folks aren't supposed to die if you believe they are cultural icons? So, two folks die in temporal proximity, and it's a conspiracy? An Omen? of what?
I don't understand why Russell or Nichols passing close to one another seems bizarre. People that hate black people (or any whole subgroup of society) don't care about their accomplishments or consider them equals.
As George Jones song says, "Who's Going to Fill Their Shoes." I greatly admired both of them. However, both passed away of natural causes. Not known with Bill Russell, but given his age, his heart, and Nichelle Nichols passed away of heart failure. So no, its not an omen. Just their time to go into the promise land.
I am not familiar with Russell but was very sadden to hear about Nichols passing yesterday. Star Trek was such a big part of my childhood and remains a large part of my life today. Nichelle Nichols will be surely missed.
