We learned only today of the passing earlier this month of Birmingham Pledge Foundation executive director (and a longtime friend of this website) Wade Black at age 66.

The organization’s offices on Second Avenue North are currently closed, with black ribbons visible on the doors and in the window and signs providing information about two public gatherings currently set for Thursday, February 13. The first is a community memorial service scheduled for 11 a.m. at Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, followed by a reception in the community room at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute from 12 – 1 p.m.

Black authored a piece for us in 2011 shortly after the death of Fred Shuttlesworth. His advice and availability were always appreciated and he will be missed by many throughout greater Birmingham, and the state of Alabama – as evidenced by this post visible on the business page maintained by the Alabama Center for Law and Civic Education on Facebook last week.