The Life and Times of Obanion Gordon: The Gleaner Celebrates the Life of One of its Own

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American playwright and screenwriter Arthur Miller once said, “A good newspaper is a nation talking to itself.” It is in this capacity, if no other, that the Gleaner may call itself a good newspaper. The writers, photographers, editors and eBoard at the Gleaner are all just ordinary Scarlet Raptors carving out some time out of their weeks working and studying in order to further campus journalism for their fellow students.

If the Gleaner is a good newspaper because it is the student body talking back to itself, then the source of any of the Gleaner’s goodness are the people that have kept it running over the years. It is at this time that no Alumnus of the paper embodies this idea better than the late and great Obanion Gordon. He passed away this summer in the company of family and friends. At this time the Gleaner wishes to express its gratitude to this seasoned community leader who contributed not just to our newspaper, but to the City of Camden and the surrounding communities.

Known affectionately to some as “Boobie,” Mr. Gordon was born in 1959 in the city that would come to define a large portion of his legacy, the city in which our campus sits. He attended grade school & high school right here in Camden before beginning his higher education at Rutgers. Always busy with his hands, he came to become known as a skilled woodworker whose pieces always carried with them his love of Africa and her people.

This love was not so small that it could be contained very easily, and Obanion kept himself busy expressing it in as many ways as he could. He was a staunch fighter in the ever-ongoing civil rights movement, whose aftershocks are always being felt in new ways in this country. From campus activism to marching to philanthropic work, Mr. Gordon was nothing if not hardworking. Obanion worked as part of many organizations like the All-African People’s Revolutionary Party, the African People’s Socialist Party, and a division of UNIA-ACL, the historic organization founded by Marcus Garvey. He marched in support of divestment of funds from South Africa and personally led the march from Camden to Philadelphia to raise awareness for jailed Black Panther Mumia Abu Jamal, and even was responsible for the creation of Rutgers Camden’s annual Kwanzaa festival, a practice aimed at uplifting the black families and businesses of the historic city. Of course, he was also featured in the Gleaner both as a subject and a writer various times as well.

His surviving friends, family, and network of comrades include his beloved partner Dianne Covington and his children Dejenaba, Ogbonna, Namdi, Koyaki, and even his pet kitten, Wendy.

His artful woodwork and legacy of tireless civil rights activism will ensure he is remembered fondly by his city for decades to come, and we here at the Gleaner can only express our most humble and profound gratitude to have such an extraordinary man in our lineage.