Those We Lost
Those We Lost — May 28
May
Honoring those we lost on May 28 — remembered for what they gave, and for what they left behind.
Mary Lou Williams
Born May 8, 1910 — Died May 28, 1981
Field: Jazz / Piano / Composition / Arrangement / Music Education
Mary Lou Williams was a jazz pianist, composer, arranger, and mentor whose career stretched across major eras of jazz.
Why it matters: Williams was one of the great architects of jazz language. Her death on May 28 closed a life that shaped swing, bebop, sacred jazz, and music education.
Maya Angelou
Born April 4, 1928 — Died May 28, 2014
Field: Literature / Poetry / Memoir / Civil Rights / Performance
Maya Angelou was a poet, memoirist, performer, teacher, and civil rights figure.
Why it matters: Angelou’s work transformed pain into language and survival into testimony. Her passing marked the loss of a writer whose voice shaped how generations understood trauma, dignity, Black womanhood, and survival.
Ethel Lois Payne
Born August 14, 1911 — Died May 29, 1991
Field: Journalism / Black Press / Civil Rights / International Reporting
Ethel Payne was a journalist known as the “First Lady of the Black Press.” She reported for the Chicago Defender, covered civil rights, international affairs, presidential press conferences, and Black political life.
Why it matters: Payne used journalism as pressure. She asked questions that forced presidents and officials to answer for civil rights, segregation, foreign policy, and Black citizenship.
Wear the history: Maya Angelou — from the Black Knowledge Wear collection.
