Political bigwigs and customary neighborhood people crammed a Harlem church on Wednesday to bid a rousing farewell to civil rights icon Hazel Dukes, 92, the longtime NAACP chief who died earlier this month with out ever taking a break from the wrestle.
Proper up till the tip, speaker after speaker stated, Dukes was on the entrance line, enthusiastically preventing for every part from reasonably priced housing to political inclusion to the rights of migrant staff.
Hazel Dukes
Bryan Smith For New York Day by day Information
NAACP New York State Convention President Hazel Dukes.
“We’re living in times of uncertainty, discord, difficulty, tough times ahead and it seems especially cruel that we would lose a trusted friend and a leader and a voice,” former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton instructed a standing-room-only crowd at Mom A.M.E. Zion Church on W. 137th St.
“We have made and lived history together, and I will always be grateful for her wisdom, her humor and her grace.”
Hillary Clinton speaks at Hazel Dukes’ funeral at Mom A.M.E. Zion Church in Harlem on Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (Barry Williams/ New York Day by day Information)
Clinton, who stated she first met Dukes in 1992 when her husband, Invoice, was operating for president, stated Dukes was the one who inspired her to run for Senate in New York.
“When I ran for president in 2016 against he-who-shall-not-be-named, there she was again — as fierce, as focused, as smart as ever,” Clinton stated.
Hillary Clinton speaks at Hazel Dukes’ funeral at Mom A.M.E. Zion Church in Harlem on Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (Barry Williams/ New York Day by day Information)
Clinton recalled presenting Dukes with the NAACP’s highest honor, the Spingarn Medal, in 2023, after which the freedom-fighting trailblazer vowed to maintain urgent on.
“With every breath in my body, I will continue to advocate and do the work necessary to stop those trying to turn back the hands of time,” Dukes stated then.
Barry Williams/New York Day by day Information
Friends, together with quite a few political VIPs, packed Hazel Dukes’ funeral at Mom A.M.E. Zion Church in Harlem. (Barry Williams/ New York Day by day Information)
Dukes, who died March 1, was the nationwide president of the NAACP from 1989 to 1992. She was additionally president of the group’s New York State convention from 1977 till her loss of life.
One after the other, audio system paid tribute, recalling tales of braveness and management.
“She and I have gone to jail together, and to the White House together,” the Rev. Al Sharpton, president of the Nationwide Motion Community, stated earlier than getting into the service. “We are here to salute someone who is the glue to civil rights in New York.”
The Rev. Al Sharpton speaks at Hazel Dukes’ funeral at Mom A.M.E. Zion Church in Harlem. (Barry Williams/ New York Day by day Information)
Later, Sharpton joked about her political activism, and her affect on devotees who are actually operating towards one another in New York Metropolis’s race for mayor.
He stated Dukes thought of Mayor Adams, Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and former Governor Andrew Cuomo her “children.”
“Well, since everybody is her child,” Sharpton stated. “I guess we’re gonna have a family feud.”
Mourners on the historic home of worship, the oldest Black church in New York State, included Gov. Hochul, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, former Gov. David Paterson and Lawyer Basic Letitia James.
Gov. Kathy Hochul speaks at Hazel Dukes’ funeral in Harlem on Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (Barry Williams/ New York Day by day Information)
Mourners started lining up outdoors the church earlier than the solar got here up. Those that couldn’t match within the cavernous sanctuary watched the service remotely within the church’s basement. There they heard Mayor Adams thank Dukes for her unwavering assist, even within the face of scandal.
“She said, ‘Baby, I’m going to stand by you,’” Adams stated. “She was the type of woman that walked in the room when everybody walked out. She held my hand, and she prayed with me and she said, ‘You never surrender.’ I am so proud to have been one of her children. She meant so much to me, and I know she meant so much to all of you.”
Mayor Eric Adams speaks at Hazel Dukes’ funeral. (Barry Williams/ New York Day by day Information)
Cuomo stated Dukes was there for him, too.
“She used to say she was my second mother,” Cuomo recalled. “On a personal level, there’s a hole in my heart. Whenever there was trouble, she was the first one to be there. Whenever there was a setback, she was the first one to be there to give me a hug and a kiss.”
Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is acknowledged at Hazel Dukes’ funeral at Mom A.M.E. Zion Church. (Barry Williams/ New York Day by day Information)
Dukes administered the oath of workplace when Hochul was sworn in as the primary lady elected governor of New York in 2023. Hochul stated she noticed Dukes simply two days earlier than she died.
“She says, ‘You be strong and you don’t give up the fight. You cannot,’” Hochul stated. “I will carry on that fight. I will be your voice.”
Initially Printed: March 12, 2025 at 5:25 PM EDT
