{"id":176437087,"date":"2014-05-23T00:32:53","date_gmt":"2014-05-23T05:32:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/?p=176437087"},"modified":"2014-05-23T00:32:53","modified_gmt":"2014-05-23T05:32:53","slug":"obit-elombe-brath","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/2014\/05\/23\/obit-elombe-brath\/","title":{"rendered":"OBIT: Elombe Brath"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

\"daily<\/a><\/p>\n

Wednesday, May 21, 2014<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

Harlem mourns death of <\/span><\/h1>\n

Elombe Brath, lifelong warrior <\/span><\/h1>\n

in battle for <\/span><\/h1>\n

pan-African empowerment<\/span><\/h1>\n

‘Tireless and genuine fighter,’ Brath, who was 77, fought apartheid as founder of Patrice Lumumba Coalition; fought to end use of term ‘negro’, advocated on behalf of Central Park 5 and co-founded African Jazz-Arts Society & Studios.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
BY\u00a0JAN RANSOM\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<\/header>\n
<\/header>\n
\n
\"Pan-African<\/a>

Pan-African activist Elombe Brath died Monday at age 77. \/ photo by KWAME BRATHWAITE<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Harlem is bidding farewell to an indefatigable freedom fighter and pan-African activist who waged a decades-long battle for black empowerment at home and around the world.<\/span><\/p>\n

Elombe Brath died Monday night at Amsterdam Nursing Home in Harlem. He was 77.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n

<\/i><\/b>He lived his life doing what he loved. He wanted global fairness for people around the world.<\/strong><\/span><\/i><\/b><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

In 1977, the group organized a much-publicized boycott of \u201cIpi Tombi,\u201d a South African musical that was being produced on Broadway, for allegedly exploiting African artists and culture and presenting a false portrayal of life under apartheid.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe lived his life doing what he loved,\u201d said his son Cinque Brath. \u201cHe wanted global fairness for people around the world.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He was one of the top organizers when Harlem welcomed Nelson Mandela, in 1990, and a strong advocate for the Central Park 5.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Brath,<\/a>

Brath, the Brooklyn-born pioneer who grew up in Harlem and Hunts Point, founded the Patrice Lumumba Coalition in 1975. The Harlem-based group spread word of the ongoing struggle against oppression in Africa. \/ KWAME BRATHWAITE<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Brath suffered several strokes, and had been living in the nursing home since 2009.<\/span><\/p>\n

Four of his seven children and his wife, Helene Nomsa Brath, were at his side when he died.<\/span><\/p>\n

Among the thinkers whom Brath counted as influences: Marcus Garvey, Malcolm X, Carlos Cooks and his cousin, Clenell Wickham, who waged a political battle on behalf of working class blacks in colonial Barbados as an editor of The Herald, a Barbadian newspaper.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\u201cHe\u2019s<\/a>

\u201cHe\u2019s not just a local hero,\u201d said state Sen. Bill Perkins, who honored Brath last year. \u201cHe\u2019s an international hero.\u201d Here, Brath is pictured with his wife, Helene Nomsa Brath, and one of their seven children. \/ COURTESY CINQUE BRATH<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

He fought to eliminate usage of the term \u201cnegro\u201d and, in 1961, launched a \u201cBlack is Beautiful\u201d campaign with a series of Afrocentric fashion shows featuring African-American women who were known as the Grandassa models and sported voluminous afros.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cElombe was a tireless and genuine fighter for civil and human rights,\u201d said Herb Boyd, a journalist, historian and educator. \u201cHis voice was a clarion call to the revolutionary struggle and commitment.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Brath\u2019s activism extended to the realm of music. With his brother Kwame, he created the African Jazz-Arts Society & Studios in Harlem, in 1956, to highlight the genre\u2019s African identity. He also worked as a graphic artist at WABC-TV, and served as a consultant on African affairs for the late local television host Gil Noble.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Elombe<\/a>

Elombe Brath (left), a producer at radio station WBAI-FM, discusses the arrest of reporter Errol Maitland while he was covering the funeral of Patrick Dorismond. Lawyer Michael Warren looks on at news conference at the station. \/ SUSAN WATTS\/DAILY NEWS<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s not just a local hero,\u201d said state Sen. Bill Perkins, who honored Brath last year. \u201cHe\u2019s an international hero.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

A funeral will be held at 10 a.m. May 31 at the Abyssinian Baptist Church, 132 Odell Clark Place.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

+++++++++++++<\/p>\n

jransom@nydailynews.com<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
<\/dt>\n
<\/dt>\n
>via:\u00a0http:\/\/www.nydailynews.com\/new-york\/uptown\/harlem-mourns-death-activist-elombe-brath-article-1.1800926<\/a><\/dt>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/header>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Wednesday, May 21, 2014         Harlem mourns death of Elombe Brath, lifelong warrior in battle for pan-African empowerment ‘Tireless and genuine fighter,’ Brath, who was 77, fought apartheid as founder of Patrice Lumumba Coalition; fought to end use of term ‘negro’, advocated on behalf of Central Park 5 and co-founded African […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","_s2mail":"yes"},"categories":[6],"tags":[4,12,11],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176437087"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=176437087"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176437087\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":176437100,"href":"https:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176437087\/revisions\/176437100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176437087"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=176437087"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176437087"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}