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Mr. Wilkins, left; his daughter Amy; and his uncle, Roy Wilkins, the executive director of the N.A.A.C.P., with President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1966.
United Press International; thumbnail, Sigrid Estrada
Roger Wilkins
Died on March 26, 2017 at age 85
Mr. Wilkins championed civil rights for black Americans for five decades as an official in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, a foundation executive, a journalist, an author and a university professor.
Notable Deaths 2017
Remembering Mary Tyler Moore, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lewis, David Rockefeller, Trisha Brown, Glen Campbell, Dick Gregory, Edith Windsor, Sam Shepard, Tom Petty and many others who died this year.