Those We Lost — September 12

Honoring those we lost on September 12 — remembered for what they gave, and for what they left behind.

Mal Goode

Full name: Malvin Russell Goode

Born February 13, 1908 — died September 12, 1995

Broadcast journalism pioneer.

In 1962, ABC hired Goode as the first Black correspondent for a national television network, where he covered the Cuban Missile Crisis and the United Nations with an authority that opened network news to Black journalists. Every anchor who followed walked through his door.

Steve Biko

Full name: Stephen Bantu Biko

Born December 18, 1946 — died September 12, 1977

Founder of South Africa’s Black Consciousness Movement.

Biko taught that pride in Blackness itself was the first act of liberation. Beaten to death in police custody at thirty, he became a global martyr whose killing galvanized the international anti-apartheid movement, including the American divestment campaigns led by Black students and churches.

Bobby Byrd

Full name: Robert Howard Byrd

Born August 15, 1934 — died September 12, 2007

Singer, songwriter, and foundation of funk.

Byrd discovered James Brown, brought him into the Famous Flames, and stood beside him for decades as funk’s essential second voice — the answer on "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine." The call always needed his response.

Ramsey Lewis

Full name: Ramsey Emmanuel Lewis Jr.

Born May 27, 1935 — died September 12, 2022

Pianist and jazz ambassador.

Lewis’s 1965 recording "The In Crowd" carried jazz onto the pop charts, and across sixty years and three Grammys the Chicago master brought generations to the music through radio, television, and mentorship.

PnB Rock

Birth name: Rakim Hasheem Allen

Born December 9, 1991 — died September 12, 2022

Philadelphia rapper and singer.

The melodic voice behind the platinum hit "Selfish" brought vulnerability to street music before he was murdered in Los Angeles at thirty — another artist lost to the violence his songs tried to outrun.