Rest In Power: Notable Black Folks Who We’ve Lost In 2024

Jason Mendez

UPDATED: 10:00 p.m. ET., December 9, 2024

As we’ve come to understand year after year, day after day even, death is unfortunately an inevitable part of life. Still, as much of a fact as that may be, the blow of experiencing loss never gets any easier, nor does reporting on the subject in Black culture.

Nikki Giovanni, one of the world’s most well-known African-American poets, passed away on December 9 at the age of 81. CBS affiliate WDBJ in Virginia confirmed that Giovanni died peacefully with her wife, Virginia Fowler, by her side.

Rising to fame in the late 1960s, Giovanni was a prominent figure in the Black Arts Movement with her early work showcasing a militant perspective, reminiscent of the Civil Rights & Black Power Movements.

She would later expand her work to include children’s literature and works discussing social issues, relationships, and even Hip-Hop. She was also a well-established educator, serving as a University Distinguished Professor in the English Department at Virginia Tech. Recently, she won an Emmy for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking for the HBO original doc, Going To Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project.

Having battled cancer twice, Giovanni continued to work amid a third bout. Three weeks before her passing, she performed with saxophonist Javon Jackson at the Louis Armstrong House in New York City.

Her final book of poetry, aptly titled The Last Book, will be published in Fall 2025.

Learn more below about who in our culture has passed away so far this year in 2024 Below