Rapper Keith “Guru” Elam best known as part of the Legendary Gangstarr rap group, has passed away on Monday, April 19 after a long battle with cancer. He was 43 years old.

Solar, Guru’s partner, expressed sadness over the loss and sent this statement to All Hip Hop:

“The world has lost one of the best MCs and Hip-Hop icons of all-time — my loyal best friend, partner, and brother.

Guru has been battling cancer for well over a year and has lost his battle! This is a matter that Guru wanted private until he could beat it, but tragically, this did not happen. The cancer took him. Now the world has lost a great man and a true genius. [ SOURCE ]

Dorothy Height, who as longtime president of the National Council of Negro Women was the leading female voice of the 1960s civil rights movement in the United States, died Tuesday. She was 98.

Height died at 3:41 a.m., said Howard University Hospital spokesman Ron Harris. No cause of death was given.

Height was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1994 by President Clinton and the Congressional Gold Medal in 2004. She was among a handful of key African-American leaders to meet with Obama at the White House recently for a summit on race and the economy.