National civil rights leader and New York City political fixture Hazel Dukes has died. She was 92. She died in her home in Harlem this morning, according to her son Ronald Dukes.
Dukes was president of New York state’s NAACP Conference and previously served as the head of the national association in the early 1990s. In a statement, NAACP Chairman of the Board Leon Russell says Dukes was “a living embodiment of the NAACP.” Born in Montgomery, Alabama and later moving to New York in the 1940’s, Dukes became heavily involved in the movement for racial equity in healthcare, education, and housing, before being selected by President Lyndon B. Johnson to the Head Start program.
In a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, Former New York Governor David Paterson, the state’s first African American governor, said Dukes broke barriers for people of color and women. Dukes also made history being the first civilian in the U.S. to administer the oath of office to Governor Kathy Hochul in 2023.
