Hazel Dukes, New York civil rights chief, dies at 92

Dr. Hazel Dukes, an iconic civil rights chief and president of the NAACP New York State Convention, has died at age 92. 

Dukes died peacefully Saturday morning, her son, Ronald Dukes, stated in a press release to CBS Information New York. 

“Mother was a dedicated civil rights chief in New York Metropolis and the nation and labored tirelessly on the frontlines nearly to the tip. We discover consolation in figuring out that whereas she’s not with us bodily, however resting within the bosom of Jesus,” his assertion stated.

Dukes’ household says funeral service plans are quickly to be introduced.

A trailblazing civil rights chief in New York

Dukes was higher often known as “Queen Mom” or “Ma Dukes” to advocates who’ve adopted within the path of advocacy she blazed in her greater than seven many years in civil rights activism.

She was born in Montgomery, Alabama – the birthplace of the civil rights motion – then moved to Roslyn in North Hempstead, Lengthy Island in 1956, the place she advocated for housing fairness and have become the primary Black lady to work for the Nassau County legal professional’s workplace.

“My dad was actually a civil rights advocate with out figuring out it. He was all the time speaking about issues that was not proper,” Dukes stated in an interview with CUNY in 2018.

She was certainly one of few ladies to function nationwide president of the NAACP and presided over its New York Convention beginning in 1977. The group says, “Regardless of her many titles and distinctions, she typically described herself merely as a servant of the folks.”

Dukes served as nationwide president of the NAACP in 1989, however misplaced reelection within the ’90s after pleading responsible to embezzling cash from the checking account of Velma McLaughlin, a lady who suffered from leukemia who had given Dukes energy of legal professional. Dukes valiantly defended herself.

“I am nonetheless worthy of all of the issues that I’ve completed and I’m doing,” Dukes stated on the time.

She was then faraway from the NAACP’s nationwide board of administrators, however in 1999, turned president of the NAACP’s New York State Convention.

Dukes was lively in politics till her dying, supporting Vice President Kamala Harris within the 2024 presidential election and administering the oath of workplace to Gov. Kathy Hochul, the primary lady elected governor of New York, in 2023.

One in all Dukes’ final public appearances was in September 2024, when she shouted down hecklers whereas saying her assist for New York Metropolis Mayor Eric Adams by his indictment on federal corruption costs.

Activists like Jamie Bland, with NAN, say it is nearly providential that Dukes died on the primary day of Ladies’s Historical past Month.

“She was NAACP,” Bland stated, “and she’s going to all the time be right here in spirit.”

SUNY awards the Dr. Hazel Dukes Fellowship annually to a pupil who embodies the values that outlined her life and profession.   

Hazel Dukes remembered throughout New York

There was an outpouring of tributes from lawmakers, activists and different public figures all through the day Saturday.

Rev. Al Sharpton, founder and president of the Nationwide Motion Community, knew Dukes for over 40 years and known as her a “true good friend” and “sister.”

“She was a power of nature for justice and an activist of the very best order. She made a distinction, and we are going to perpetually be indebted to her. I spoke to her by cellphone simply two days in the past. She was weak and considerably conclusive that her work was completed,” Sharpton stated. “We are going to by no means have one other Hazel Dukes, however I’m grateful that we had this one.”

Sharpton stated Dukes would typically come to NAN’s Home of Justice, generally even unannounced.

“She got here right here a few months in the past. She had a walker, and I by no means noticed her in a walker, and she or he had a nurse along with her,” he stated. “There’ll all the time be a lacking seat for Hazel Dukes.”

“For over 40 years, Ma Dukes has been an unwavering presence in my life — a trusted advisor, a cherished good friend, and a guiding mild throughout a few of my most difficult instances. Ma Dukes was a real trailblazer who devoted her life to uplifting our group. Because the longtime chief of the NAACP New York State Convention, she fought tirelessly for civil rights, schooling fairness, and financial justice. Her fearless advocacy opened doorways for numerous New Yorkers — together with myself — and helped form our metropolis and state into what it’s at the moment,” Mayor Eric Adams stated in a press release. “Her legacy lives on within the numerous lives she touched and the adjustments she helped create in our metropolis and our nation. New York Metropolis has misplaced a large, however heaven has gained a warrior.”

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul directed state flags to be lowered at half employees.

“The management, braveness and bravado of Hazel Dukes reworked New York for the higher,” Hochul stated in a press release. “Her unwavering dedication to the battle for civil rights reworked lives and uplifted our communities. New York is perpetually indebted to her for the braveness, power, and love she introduced to each battle.” 

Nassau County Govt Bruce Blakeman additionally issued a press release ordering flags to be lowered in her honor. 

“Our honest condolences to the household of longtime Nassau resident Hazel Dukes. Hazel Dukes was an internationally recognized Civil Rights chief and held necessary positions in Nassau County Authorities. I’m ordering flags in Nassau County to be lowered to half employees beginning Monday March third till burial as a memorial to a terrific chief,” Blakeman stated.

“She has fought laborious, and now she will get her relaxation, however she’ll by no means be forgotten in our group or in our nation,” Hempstead Mayor Waylyn Hobbs stated.