Vernard Gray (July 7, 1941 - January 19, 2020), who was instrumental and an active aid to the success of many, passed while in Cuba living his latest of many passions Sunday, January 19. “He passed away suddenly in Cuba doing what he loved, curating a jazz event for a group of tourists who traveled there from DC.,” one of his daughters Jacinta told Port Of Harlem.

Gray, who recently talked with Port Of Harlem on preserving one’s legacy, was cremated in Cuba, per his wishes. Another of his three daughters N'Dieye was with him during his transition and brought his remains back to the States.

A memorial celebrating his life and contributions to society takes place Sunday, July 12 at THEARC Theater; 1901 Mississippi Ave, SE in Washington, DC from, 1p-4p. The family moved the date “because of the COVID-19 crisis,” confirmed Jacinta. There is plenty of off-street parking.

Gray, as owner of the African-centered Miya Gallery (1976-2001), was one of our very first advertisers – which translated into the economic foundation we needed to grow and remain in business. However, most importantly, with the advent of the Internet, it was Gray who offered us the vision to use the Internet for publication when print was still strong and Internet publication was in its toddler stage.

Though I was less than 15 minutes away from where Gray was using his computer, he trained me via the telephone on how to use Netscape to create web pages - - while we were still expanding the now retired print version. His dedication to our empowerment lives on as we use the same spirit and training technique with our associates eight flight hours away in The Gambia through the Port Of Harlem Gambian Education Partnership using Facebook and WhatsApp.

Over the years Gray would freely share visions and advice to our publication as we bumped into him at events, online, on the phone, or at his mother’s annual birthday party. His last collaboration with the magazine started as we left a meeting at the DC Humanities Council and Gray expressed his concern of preserving his history.

Being a pragmatist, he looked at his age and concluded he did not have much time. He talked about moving forward with his jazz projects and looking backwards to see what he had that was worth preserving for the next generation. Ironically, he was one of three Port Of Harlem readers who expressed such interests in a few months, so we created How to Preserve Your Legacy program in November 2018 at the Alexandria Black History Museum.

Dr. Ida Jones, University Archivist at Morgan State University, who led the program said of Gray upon his transition,  “The fleeting nature of life makes one pause to think about legacy. Vernard was clear about his legacy and concerned about his documentary history such as photographs and an oral history of the changing landscape of Washington, DC. It was an informative session that I believe put his collection in priority and definitively communicated his desired intentions to family and colleagues.”

I am not sure how much he was able to preserve of what he wanted, but much of what he accomplished by sharing comes to you ever other week via Internet in the form of Port Of Harlem.

Gray is survived by his daughters Jacinta M. Gray and N'Dieye Gray Danavall of Atlanta, and daughter Miya R. Gray and sister Louise V. Gray of Washington, DC. Also, he is survived by three grandchildren, twin granddaughters Aminyata and Damali Danavall and grandson Damien Danavall of Atlanta. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made via PayPal (Jacinta M. Gray paypal.me/ForVernard) or CashApp ($ForVernard)