(Some of) those who opposed oppression and injustice who died in 2017 (or died earlier, but whose deaths were recognized by sources in 2017).
Record 200 activists murdered globally for defending the environment as numbers grow year-on-year. Nearly four people were killed every week across 24 countries in 2016 Chloe Farand The Independent July 13, 2017
Roy Innis, black activist with a right-wing bent, dies at 82 Robert D. McFadden New York Times January 10, 2017
Former Russian lawmaker is killed in Ukraine Andrew Roth and Natalie Gryvnyak Washington Post March 23, 2017
Dick Gregory, cutting-edge satirist and uncompromising activist, dies at 84 T. Rees Shapiro Washington Post August 20, 2017
Kate Millett, ground-breaking feminist writer, is dead at 82 Parul Sehgal and Neil Genzlinger New York Times September 6, 2017
Syrian activist and journalist daughter ‘murdered’ in Istanbul BBC News September 22, 2017
Investigative journalist in Malta is killed in car bombing Sewell Chan New York Times October 16, 2017
Simeon Booker, pioneering reporter on race Issues, dies at 99 Robert D. McFadden New York Times December 10, 2017
At Least 6,700 Rohingya died in Myanmar crackdown, aid group says Hannah Beech New York Times December 15, 2017
Kazimierz Piechowski, early Auschwitz prisoner who led a risky escape by car, dies at 98 Harrison Smith Washington Post December 18, 2017
Recy Taylor, who fought for justice after a 1944 rape, dies at 97 Sewell Chan New York Times December 29, 2017
Journalists murdered in 2017 Committee to Protect Journalists December 31, 2017
The following obituaries are from the Washington Post.
Thomas J. Hudner Jr., military and civil rights hero of Korean War, dies at 93
Judy Martz, Montana’s first woman governor, dies at 74
Sima Wali, exiled champion of Afghan women, dies at 66
Armando Calderon Sol, first president to lead El Salvador after its civil war, dies at 69
Edith Windsor, who led fight for federal benefits for same-sex couples, dies at 88
Mamá Angélica,’ who searched for the dead and disappeared during Peruvian ‘dirty war, dies at 88
Simeon Wright, witness to the abduction of his cousin Emmett Till, dies at 74
Martha Ann Miller, who taught at one of Virginia’s first desegregated public schools, dies at 106
Fadwa Suleiman, Syrian actress who led resistance to Assad regime, dies
Virginia Bouvier, who worked for peace in Colombia, dies at 58
Margaret Bergmann Lambert, Jewish high jumper barred from the Berlin Olympics, dies at 103
Herbert L. Needleman, pediatrician who exposed dangers of lead poisoning, dies at 89
Liu Xiaobo, Nobel Peace Prize laureate imprisoned in China, dies at 61
Jack Shaheen, who worked to dismantle Arab stereotypes in media, dies at 81
Ketumile Masire, Botswana president known as model leader of model African nation, dies at 91
Andimba Toivo ya Toivo, Namibian independence leader imprisoned with Nelson Mandela, dies at 92
Arthur Jackson, Medal of Honor recipient for WWII ‘one-man assault’ at Peleliu, dies at 92
Thomas Melville, antiwar protester and one of the ‘Catonsville Nine,’ dies at 86
John Herbers, journalist on front lines of civil rights reporting, dies at 93
Wilburn Ross, who received Medal of Honor for heroism in WWII, dies at 94
Roger Wilkins, civil rights champion in government and journalism, dies at 85
Aileen Hernandez, former NOW president who fought for women’s and minority rights, dies at 90
Nat Hentoff, journalist who wrote on jazz and civil liberties, dies at 91
Mario Soares, Portuguese leader who restored democratic ideals, dies at 92