This year saw the deaths of people who shifted culture through prose, pragmatism and persistence. U.S. Rep. Elijah E. Cummings was a sharecropper's son who rose to become one of the nation's most influential voices. U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens was a Republican who went on to lead the court's liberal wing. Writer Toni Morrison brought to light stories overshadowed by prejudice. Entertainers like actor Luke Perry, Chewbacca actor Peter Mayhew, Broadway star Carol Channing and rapper Nipsey Hussle also died in 2019.
