Those We Lost — July 17

Honoring those we lost on July 17 — remembered for what they gave, and for what they left behind.

Cudjo Lewis

Birth name: Oluale Kossola

Born about 1841 — died July 17, 1935

Clotilda survivor, storyteller, Africatown resident, and witness to the last known slave ship to the United States.

Lewis was among the Africans illegally brought to Alabama aboard the Clotilda in 1860. After emancipation, he helped build life in Africatown and later shared his memories, preserving a direct human connection to the final chapter of the Atlantic slave trade into the United States.

Billie Holiday

Birth name: Eleanora Fagan

Born April 7, 1915 — died July 17, 1959

Jazz singer, songwriter, actress, and one of the most influential vocalists in American music.

Holiday changed American music with her phrasing, emotional depth, and ability to turn pain into art. Her performance of “Strange Fruit” became one of the most haunting musical statements against lynching and racial terror.

John Lewis

Full name: John Robert Lewis

Born February 21, 1940 — died July 17, 2020

Civil rights leader, Freedom Rider, SNCC chairman, U.S. congressman, and voting rights champion.

Lewis put his body on the line for justice from the sit-ins and Freedom Rides to the Selma voting rights campaign. He later carried that movement legacy into Congress, where he remained one of the clearest moral voices for democracy, civil rights, and what he called “good trouble.”

Eric Garner

Full name: Eric Bernard Garner

Born September 15, 1970 — died July 17, 2014

Father, Staten Island resident, and police accountability symbol.

Garner’s death after an NYPD officer placed him in a prohibited chokehold became a national flashpoint. His repeated words, “I can’t breathe,” became part of a larger movement against police violence and the unequal treatment of Black people by law enforcement.

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Wear the history: Billie Holiday — from the Black Knowledge Wear collection.