Lifelong New York civil rights advocate and NAACP leader Hazel Dukes dies at 92

Hazel Dukes, the president of the New York State chapter of the NAACP and lifelong civil rights advocate, died Saturday at the age of 92.

Dukes peacefully passed away in her New York City home surrounded by family, her son, Ronald Dukes, said in a statement.

Dukes, who led the New York State NAACP for nearly five decades, fought tirelessly for voting rights, economic development, fair housing and education through her career. Even in her 90s, she spoke out against police brutality and for adequate health care in underserved neighborhoods, the NAACP's New York State chapter said in a statement.

In 2023, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton presented Dukes with the NAACP’s highest honor — the Spingarn Medal.

“I'm not tired yet,” Dukes said in her acceptance speech for the award. She added that she would continue her advocacy and empower the next generation of NAACP leaders.

Dukes helped lay the foundation for Black women to ascend to the nation’s highest offices. In 1972, she took the stage at the Democratic National Convention to second the presidential candidacy of Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman to run for the party’s nomination.

Dukes was instrumental in former President Joe Biden’s decision to choose a Black woman as his 2020 running mate, she noted in an interview with CBS last year. Her career-long fight was bookended by former Vice President Kamala Harris’ 2024 bid for the presidency.

In a post in X Saturday, Harris called Dukes one of the heroes “upon whose broad shoulders we stand.”

“I’m just proud of Kamala. I’m just excited if I can live to see this happen. It would be the joy of my life,” Dukes said in the CBS interview.

Dukes was the president of her own consulting firm. She also served as the member of the NAACP National Board of Directors. Leaders of the NAACP said in a statement Saturday that Dukes was a “living embodiment” of the NAACP and that her legacy has touched every aspect of the movement.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams ordered flags to be lowered at half-staff as a tribute to Dukes.