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Obituaries

Wangari Maathi, First African woman to win Nobel Peace Prize dies

The first African woman to win a Nobel Peace Prizes has passed away. Wangari Maathi, died after a long battle with cancer, sources said. She was 71.

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Wangari Maathi, the first African woman to win a Nobel Peace Prize, has died.

She was 71.

Wangari Maathi dies

Maathi, psssed away after a long battle with cancer, sources said.

The activist

Maathi was an activist who won the Noble Peace Prize for environmentalism and social activism.

She is the founder of the Green Belt Movement where she galvanized poor women to plant 30 million trees. Her work aimed to improve the lives of women, build a relationship between people, the land, and education.

In recognizing Maathai, the Nobel committee said that she had stood up to a former oppressive regime – a reference to former Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi – and that her “unique forms of action have contributed to drawing attention to political oppression.”

Maathai said during her 2004 acceptance speech that the inspiration for her life’s work came from her childhood experiences in rural Kenya, where she witnessed forests being cleared and replaced by commercial plantations, which destroyed biodiversity and the capacity of forests to conserve water.

Greenbelt Movement

She authored four books: The Green Belt Movement; Unbowed: A Memoir; The Challenge for Africa; and Replenishing the Earth. As well as having been featured in a number of books, she and the Green Belt Movement were the subject of a documentary film, Taking Root: the Vision of Wangari Maathai (Marlboro Productions, 2008).

Maathai was born in 1940 in Nyeri, a rural area of Kenya, Africa. She obtained a degree in Biological Sciences from Mount St. Scholastica College in Atchison, Kansas in 1964, a Master of Science degree from the University of Pittsburgh in 1966, and pursued doctoral studies in Germany and at the University of Nairobi, before obtaining a Ph.D. in 1971 from the University of Nairobi, where she also taught veterinary anatomy.

She is the first woman in East and Central Africa to earn a doctorate degree who became chair of the Department of Veterinary Anatomy and an associate professor in 1976 and 1977 respectively. In both cases, she was the first woman to attain those positions in the region.

 


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Unheard Voices Magazine LLC is a news reporting platform covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.

Unheard Voices is an award-winning news magazine that started in 2004 as a local Black newsletter in the Asbury Park, Neptune, and Long Branch, NJ areas to now broaden into a recognized Black online media outlet. They are the recipient of the NAACP Unsung Hero Award and CV Magazine's Innovator Award for Best Social Justice Communications Company.

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Black Excellence

In Memoriam : Renée McMillan (1963 – 2024)

Renée McMillan was a well-respected educator, real estate agent, and community organizer, who will be sorely missed.

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Renée McMillan
Renée McMillan

Renée McMillan was born in Brooklyn, New York. As a child, she was adopted and decades later, Renee was reunited with her biological family which brought her a great sense of joy and fulfillment.

She was a product of the New York City School System and would not hesitate to tell you that she was from Brooklyn, more specifically, “Do or Die Bed-Stuy” which signified the Bedford Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn.

Highly educated

Renée was highly educated and every facet of the word excellence.

She obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Office Management and Supervision from Buffalo State University, an Master of Arts in Educational Leadership from Georgian Court University, and a Master of Arts in Education from Fairleigh Dickinson University.

Career

She started her career as an Accounts Payable Bookkeeper for the Gamma Liaison Photo Agency in NYC. After that, she served as a Sales Representative for Nabisco before entering her calling: the field of Education.

Renee McMillan as an educator

Renée worked many years in the Asbury Park and Neptune Public School systems before finishing up her career as Vice Principal, at the School of Architecture, Construction, and Trades at John F. Kennedy High School in Paterson, New Jersey. She had a passion for education and spent countless summers tutoring students in math. Renée received great satisfaction in inspiring her students to set goals and understand their purpose for their lives.

Real estate

After retiring from the Paterson Board of Education, Renée worked as a Real Estate Agent at Keller Williams Realty.

Renée McMillan served the community

She continued her service by being actively involved in the community. She held positions as Director of Neptune Township Biddy Basketball, a humble servant in the Women’s Ministry at St. Stephen AME Zion Church in Asbury Park, New Jersey, a former County Committee Member for District 10 in Neptune, a member of The PAC Program at Monmouth University, and also coordinated the GOTV activities for local, state, and national campaigns which provided the youth of Neptune with employment during the political season.

Renée’s hobbies were cooking and reading. She became well-known for her culinary and baking skills, extending her love towards others with her incredible gift.

Her legacy will live on forever

Renée leaves to mourn her memory to her loving and dedicated husband, her beloved children, two daughters and one son, her precious grandchildren, one girl and boy, a devoted and caring godmother, god sister and godbrother, godson and goddaughter, two doting sisters, three adoring brothers, two special brothers-in-law, and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, and other relatives as well as a countless number of friends and colleagues.

Renée was loved by the Unheard Voices community and she sorely be missed.

Visit James Hunt Funeral Home to read Renee McMillan’s obituary in full.


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Obituaries

O.J. Simpson, football Hall of famer, dies at 76 after cancer battle

O.J. Simpson, the football hall of famer and Hollywood actor who was acquitted of charges he killed his former wife and her friend, has died. He was 76.

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O.J. Simpson dies at 76
OJ Simpson (Gerald Johnson, DOD, Public Domain Image | https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:O.J._Simpson_1990_%C2%B7_DN-ST-91-03444_crop.JPEG)

O.J. Simpson, the football hall of famer and Hollywood actor who was acquitted of murder charges, has died.

He was 76.

Family announces passing

The family announced on Simpson’s official X account that Simpson passed Wednesday after battling prostate cancer. He died in Las Vegas, officials there said Thursday.

“On April 10th, our father, Orenthal Simpson, succumbed to his battle with cancer. He was surrounded by his children and grandchildren. During this time of transition, his family asks that you please respect their wishes for privacy and grace,” the family posted on Simpson’s X account.

Life of ups and downs for O.J. Simpson

Simpson was a former NFL star, actor, and broadcaster whose athletic achievements and fame were eclipsed by his 1995 trial in the slayings of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman.

The infamous case

Simpson assembled a “dream team” defense for the trial.

He didn’t testify, but the prosecution asked him to try on the gloves in court. He struggled to squeeze them onto his hands and spoke his only three words of the trial: “They’re too small.”

His attorney Johnnie L. Cochran Jr. told the jurors, “If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit.”

Acquitted

Simpson was acquitted of murder for both his ex-wife and Goldman.

The proceedings captivated the country, with tens of millions of viewers tuning in at home and at work and sparked heavy debates on race.

Though acquitted of murders, in 1997, a civil trial jury unanimously deemed Simpson liable for the deaths and ordered him to pay $33.5 million in damages.

Served time

Years later at 61, Simpson served about nine years in prison for an unrelated case involving a memorabilia robbery in Las Vegas. He was released in 2017 on parole.

Football career

After graduating from high school, Simpson enrolled at City College of San Francisco for a year and a half before transferring to the University of Southern California for the spring 1967 semester to play football.

At USC, Simpson dominated the collegiate football and received the Heisman trophy in 1968.

NFL

Simpson went on to play 11 seasons in the NFL, nine of them with the Buffalo Bills, where earning him the moniker “The Juice” and ran behind an offensive line known as “The Electric Company.”

He won four NFL rushing titles, rushed for 11,236 yards in his career, scored 76 touchdowns and played in five Pro Bowls. His best season was 1973, when he ran for 2,003 yards, the first running back to accomplish breaking the 2,000-yard rushing mark.

O.J. Simpson’s Legacy

Simpson leaves behind five children. He shared three children, Arnelle, Jason and Aaren, with his first wife, Marguerite Whitley, and welcomed two kids, Sydney and Justin, with his second wife Nicole Brown Simpson.


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Obituaries

Legendary DJ Mister Cee passes away

Mister Cee, the legendary New York City radio DJ, has died. He was 57 years old.

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Mister Cee (Facebook/MikaV • CC BY-SA 4.0 | https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mister_Cee.jpg#mw-jump-to-license)

Calvin LeBrun, the legendary New York City radio DJ known as Mister Cee, has died. He was 57 years old.

DJ Mister Cee passes

Cee, who grew up in Brooklyn,was a prominent figure in the hip-hop scene in New York City.

He got his start as a DJ and producer for Big Daddy Kane, taking part in Kane’s debut album. Cee is also often credited with discovering another pillar of Brooklyn hip-hop, the Notorious B.I.G. He also played a role in launching the careers of  Jay-Z, Alicia Keys, 50 Cent, Drake among others.

Cee’s long-running “Throwback at Noon” show became one of the most listened to programs in NYC radio at Hot 97. At the time of his death, he was working for Audacy’s 94.7 The Block in New York.

“We have lost the iconic Mister Cee. I listened to him yesterday and am in complete shock. He was a dear friend to all of us, a wonderful man, and one of the most important and impactful DJs of all time. I love you Cee”, Hot 97’s Peter Rosenberg said.

No cause of death has been revealed.


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