Sorority Mourns Loss of Dr. Gloria Black
Educator-activist worked alongside Dr. King
Alpha Kappa Alpha's worldwide network of 200,000 members is mourning the loss of Dr. Gloria Ruby Mae Black.
Dr. Black was a longtime educator and chairperson of Community Board 12 in the neighborhood of Jamaica in New York's borough of Queens. She served on the board for 25 years, including the last five as chairperson. All totaled, she enjoyed a 37-year career as a teacher and counselor in the New York City public school system before retiring in 1992.
During her career, she won numerous awards for her commitment to education. She was honored for her outstanding service to the Middle States Evaluation Committee for Secondary Schools and Colleges; and presented with the York College Alumni and Mary McCloud Bethune Award. She was a recipient of the Teacher of the Year award in Nassau County and honored recently with the Congressional Award of Honor for Community Service.
Dr. Black also won acclaim for her civil rights activism, including her work with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other civil rights giants.
Her advocacy extended to the community of Jamaica. She spoke out on the need to revitalize the downtown area and was a champion for the city's veterans. At the urging of Rep. Gregory Meeks, she served on the Saint Albans Veterans Facility. In 2006, the facility and its medical care services were upgraded and modernized—testimony to her hard work.
She was a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority and a past recipient of its Leadership Award.
She graduated from Livingstone College with a bachelor's degree in history and sociology and earned a master's degree in social work from Columbia University. She later earned a second master's from New York University and a Ph.D., in social psychology, specializing in college and crowd behavior, from the New School of Social Research.
While at Livingstone, she was initiated in the Sorority's Alpha Xi Chapter in 1951. She was active with the Sorority for over 50 years and, at the time of her passing, was a member of the Epsilon Pi Omega Chapter
"We are deeply saddened by the loss of our esteemed member, Dr. Gloria Black. She was a great woman who devoted the best years of her life advocating for better educational opportunities and for veterans," said AKA's International President Barbara A. McKinzie. "Like our organization's great founders, she exhibited true strength and courage and reflected the best in Alpha Kappa Alpha's character. On behalf of our entire membership, we mourn her loss and offer our deepest condolences to her family."