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IN MEMORIAM: Gloria Irene Williams Norman Clark

NNPA NEWSWIRE — GAINESVILLE, FL — Dr. Mrs. Gloria Irene Williams Norman Clark passed away peacefully at home on April 3, 2019. Gloria will be sadly missed by her husband, “Lean on Me” Eastside Hight School Principal, Dr. Joe Clark, her children, step-children, grandchildren, brothers, and countless relatives and friends.

Published

6 years ago

April 9, 2019

Oakland Post

GAINESVILLE, FL — Dr. Mrs. Gloria Irene Williams Norman Clark passed away peacefully at home on April 3, 2019. Gloria will be sadly missed by her husband, “Lean on Me” Eastside High School Principal, Dr. Joe Clark, her children, step-children, grandchildren, brothers, and countless relatives and friends.

Gloria was born on the 11th of September 1944 in North Carolina. She attended elementary, junior high and high school in Dunn, North Carolina, where she lived with her mother, brothers, cousins, grandparents, great aunts and uncles. Gloria was the only girl in her immediate family, so her uncles took her anywhere she needed to go. Her grandmother took her to church every Sunday.

Her grandmother was also a missionary, so she would take Gloria on her visits to the poor and shut-in, instilling in Gloria her life-long commitment to service. Gloria’s childhood summers were spent with extended family throughout the state.

Gloria enjoyed school. She graduated high school at 16 and worked at an elementary school as a teacher’s aide until she was 17, when she then spent a year of study at North Carolina Central College. That year, she met her first husband, Rufus Norman, Jr. and married and moved with him to Brooklyn, New York. Soon after they welcomed their first-born daughter, Cheryl.

An early Civil Rights volunteer and “Women’s “Libber,” Gloria continued working with children at Jamaica Daycare Center in Queens, New York where, together with her husband, they purchased her first house.

They had two more daughters, Victoria and Judith, before moving to New Jersey, where she would live most of her adult life.

While raising her three daughters, Gloria returned to college. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Montclair State College and was a member of Phi Delta Kappa. She next earned a Master of Art Degree from Jersey City State College, where she was initiated into Delta Pi Epsilon. Gloria taught in private schools and public schools, later serving as a high school administrator.

Gloria continued her education, earning enough graduate credits from summer courses at University of California-Davis to put her at Ph.D status.

During her tenure at Eastside High School in Paterson, New Jersey, she met her second husband, Dr. Joe Clark. Both retired from their careers in education and relocated to Gainesville, Florida, a community she has proudly called home for the past twenty years.

Even in her retirement, Gloria remained active in the lives of her children and grandchildren and her Gainesville community. She was a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, the Grand Female Protective Society Lodge # 1, and Greater Fort Clark Missionary Baptist Church.

Gloria brought her bright smile and keen humor, her most reliable sense of commitment, her lioness-like courage, her innovative creativity, and her unwavering perfectionism to all she did, as a home-maker, care-taker, garden-creator, community server, patron of the arts, mother-mentor, and compassionate friend.

Gloria was pre-deceased by her mother, Shirley Mae Gilmore and stepfather, Charlie Gilmore, Jr. and countless other relatives and friends who were instrumental to her life.

She is survived by her husband, Dr. Joe Clark; brothers, Willis McKoy and Johnnie (Mary) McKoy; daughters Cheryl E. Norman, Victoria D. Norman Brown, and Judith I. Norman; stepchildren Joetta (Ronald) Clark Diggs, Joe (Jearl) Clark Jr., Hazel (Shane) Clark Mac; and grandchildren Umar Alim, Carla, Jasmine, and Jason Lee, Satchel and Cole Brown, Joe Clark, III, Jonetta Diggs, and Hazel Mac. All who knew her were loved and prayed for by her and will miss her. Gloria passed happily at home on April 3, 2019.

A celebration of Gloria’s life will be held on Saturday, April 13, 2019 beginning with a wake at 10:30 a.m. and funeral services at 12 noon at Williams Thomas Funeral Home, 823 NW 143rd Street, Newberry, Fl 32669. Those who so desire may make donations in memory of Gloria to Female Protective Lodge #1 or Greater Fort Clarke Missionary Baptist Church. Visit the Gloria Clark tribute page at https://www.williamsthomasfuneralhome.com/m/obituaries/Gloria-Clark-8/Memories.

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Tiguan’s AI Touchscreen & Gear Shift: VW Just Changed the Game! #2

Explore the Tiguan’s cutting-edge 12.9-inch infotainment touchscreen featuring wireless Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, voice control, and a new AI assistant. See how VW innovatively moved the gear shifter to the steering column, enhancing the center console and navigation system! #AutoNetwork #Tiguan #Infotainment #AppleCarPlay #AndroidAuto #AISystem #NavigationSystem #CarTech #TechReview #CarInnovation #Automotive

Published

2 hours ago

June 17, 2025

Oakland Post

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IN MEMORIAM: Legendary Funk Pioneer Sly Stone Dies at 82

Sly Stone’s musical approach radically reshaped popular music. He transcended genre boundaries and empowered a new generation of artists. The band’s socially conscious message and infectious rhythms sparked a wave of influence, reaching artists as diverse as Miles Davis, George Clinton, Prince, Dr. Dre, and the Roots.

Published

2 hours ago

June 17, 2025

Oakland Post

Sly and the Family Stone play the Opera House in Bournemouth. Mojo review. Photo by Simon Fernandez.

By Stacy M. Brown
BlackPressUSA.com Newswire

Sylvester “Sly” Stewart—known to the world as Sly Stone, frontman of the groundbreaking band Sly and the Family Stone—has died at the age of 82.

His family confirmed that he passed away peacefully at his Los Angeles home surrounded by loved ones, after battling chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and other health complications.

Born March 15, 1943, in Denton, Texas, Stone moved with his family to Vallejo, California, as a child. He began recording gospel music at age 8 with his siblings in a group called the Stewart Four. By his teenage years, he had mastered multiple instruments and was already pioneering racial integration in music—an ethos that would define his career.

In 1966, Sly and his brother Freddie merged their bands to form Sly and the Family Stone, complete with a revolutionary interracial, mixed-gender lineup.

The band quickly became a commercial and cultural force with hits such as “Dance to the Music,” “Everyday People,” and “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)”—all penned by Stone himself.

Their album “Stand!” (1969) and live performances—most notably at Woodstock—cemented their reputation, blending soul, funk, rock, gospel, and psychedelia to reflect the optimism and turmoil of their era.

As the 1970s progressed, Stone confronted personal demons. His desire to use music as a response to war, racism, and societal change culminated in the intense album “There’s a Riot Goin’ On” (1971). But drug dependency began to undermine both his health and professional life, leading to erratic behavior and band decline through the early 1980s.

Withdrawn from the public eye for much of the 1990s and early 2000s, Stone staged occasional comebacks. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Grammys in 2017, and captured public attention following the 2023 release of his memoir “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)”—published under Questlove’s imprint. He also completed a biographical screenplay and was featured in Questlove’s documentary “Sly Lives!” earlier this year.

His influence endured across generations. Critics and historians repeatedly credit him with perfecting funk and creating a “progressive soul,” shaping a path for racial integration both onstage and in the broader culture.

“Rest in beats Sly Stone,” legendary Public Enemy frontman Chuck D posted on social media with an illustrative drawing of the artist. “We should thank Questlove of the Roots for keeping his fire blazing in this century.”

Emmy-winning entertainment publicist Danny Deraney also paid homage. “Rest easy Sly Stone,” Deraney posted. “You changed music (and me) forever. The time he won over Ed Sullivan’s audience in 1968. Simply magical. Freelance music publicist and Sirius XM host Eric Alper also offered a tribute.

“The funk pioneer who made the world dance, think, and get higher,” Alper wrote of Sly Stone. “His music changed everything—and it still does.”

Sly Stone is survived by three children.

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PRESS ROOM: Clyburn on 10th Anniversary of Mother Emanuel AME Church Shooting in Charleston

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Congressman James E. Clyburn (SC-06) released the following video on X, paying tribute to the 10th anniversary of the shooting that took place at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina on June 17, 2015.

Published

3 hours ago

June 17, 2025

Oakland Post

By Congressman James E. Clyburn

WATCH HERE

CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA – Congressman James E. Clyburn (SC-06) released the following video on X, paying tribute to the 10^th anniversary of the shooting that took place at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina on June 17, 2015.

“Over 6 years ago, the House first passed my Enhanced Background Checks Act to close the Charleston Loophole that allowed a white supremacist to obtain the gun he used to murder nine worshipers at Emanuel AME Church on June 17, 2015.

“I’ll never stop fighting to pass this law.”