Dr. Hazel N. Dukes passed away on March 1. The death of the New York state Conference president and organizational leader, was mourned nationally. Dr. Dukes was also a member of the NAACP National Board of Directors, the Executive Committee and an active member of various Board of Directors sub-committees. She also served as President of the Hazel N. Dukes & Associates Consultant Firm and held several leadership positions within her New York community.
NAACP Chairman of the Board, Leon W. Russell, NAACP Vice Chair of the Board, Karen Boykin Towns, and NAACP President & CEO, Derrick Johnson, released the following joint statement on March 1: “No words can convey the devastation that this loss brings upon us as individuals, and the NAACP as an organization. Dr. Hazel N. Dukes, known to many as ‘Ma’ was a living embodiment of the NAACP. She led with conviction, always put her community first, and stood up to those who tried to bring us down. From leading our National organization to carrying our New York State Conference, serving as a passionate voice on our National Board of Directors, and mentoring our youth, there is no corner of the movement that has been untouched by Dr. Dukes’ legacy.
“While she may have passed on, hers is a legacy that will outlive us all. The NAACP is proud to have served as a home, and our members and fellow leaders an extended family for a force of nature, and source of light as bright as Dr. Dukes. Our hearts are with the Dukes family as we hold her memory close to our hearts while carrying the torch she lit.”
Dr. Dukes received the Association’s highest honor, the Spingarn Medal, at the 114th National Convention in Boston, Massachusetts. The medal was presented by Hillary Rodham Clinton, who commended Dr. Dukes for her many decades of service to the people of New York and her dedication to bettering the lives of Black Americans across the country.
A daughter of the South turned Harlem legacy, Hazel was born in Montgomery, Alabama, where her father taught her to question racial segregation, and her community showed her the power of organizing, according to the NAACP. After her family’s migration to New York in the 1940s, Dr. Dukes got involved in the movement for racial equity across healthcare, education and housing, the NAACP stated, and was ultimately selected by President Lyndon B. Johnson to the Head Start program.
Dr. Dukes began her leadership at the NAACP in the 1990s, and has been a leading voice in the organization for nearly 40 years, the NAACP said, but her list of accomplishments runs long. Most recently, she made history by becoming the first civilian person in the United States to administer the oath of office to a governor – Kathy Hochul.