With a heavy heart, the Rosa Parks Scholarship Foundation extends our deepest condolences to the family of Luther "Badman" Keith, a blues musician, former reporter, columnist, and editor at The Detroit News, executive director of ARISE Detroit, and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Rosa Parks Scholarship Foundation. He passed away Wednesday night at the age of 74.

"Luther was the soul of our board and, remarkably, of so many other informal and formal gatherings of people. Such an extremely kind man, who walked the talk when it came to true, deep dive service for our community," says board president James Rosenfeld.

According to published reports, he was the first African American sports reporter at a major Detroit daily (1973), the first African American assigned to cover the state capitol (1979), and the first African American newsroom editor at The Detroit News (1982).

Our prayers to Luther's wife and family.