Mayor Eric Adams paid tribute to legendary activist Dr. Hazel N. Dukes at her homegoing service, hailing her as a fearless fighter who poured every last drop of her energy into uplifting Harlem and the civil rights movement. Recalling her unwavering support during his toughest moments, Adams called her a guiding force whose legacy will live on. “Feel the heat of Mama Dukes,” he urged, reminding mourners that while her physical presence is gone, her spirit and impact remain. With Harlem’s greats by her side in the afterlife, Dukes’ influence continues to shape the future.
Mayor Eric Adams: Ma Dukes, and all her chillens. You know, life is about routines, and there’s a routine that I reflected on when I was speaking with David Paterson yesterday when we were together. I would start my morning, you know how you do these simple things in the morning, and it sets off your whole day. I would start my morning with a bowl of oatmeal, put just enough milk in it so it could be creamy enough.
I remember one day sitting down at the table and having this level of anxiety because I forgot to buy some milk. I went to the fridge and opened it and there was a carton sitting there. Temporarily smiled, sat down at the table, and I shook it, and it was half full. And as we always do, I looked at the expiration date, and it expired. It’s an analogy to who we are right now.
We all have an expiration date, no matter who we are. And the question becomes, are we going to finish this journey we call life that has no guarantee of immortality, but we are mortal? Are we going to be half full? Are we going to leave the best that we have in the carton? Ma Dukes was good to the last drop. To the last drop.
She put drops in the Head Start program, drops in the NAACP, drops in uplifting young people, drops in making sure Harlem remains strong, drops in all of us. She put an ounce in me. And I think about, I don’t know if he’s here, but I think about Brian Benjamin, the former lieutenant governor, sitting down with her last year and having her fret over the concern of those bogus charges that were brought on him. And she called me and celebrated.
And I think about the day I was indicted. Mommy was gone. All I had was a photograph that I carried around all the time, and Dr. Dukes, when the notice came down, Dr. Dukes, she was in the doctor’s office. She said, “Baby, you stand strong.” When I walked down the stairs from Gracie Mansion with Reverend Herbert Daughtry and went to the lower parlor level, who was sitting there? Dr. Dukes. She said, “Baby, I’m going to stand by you.”
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. You will bless the Lord at all times. His words of praise will continuously be in your mouth. And as we think of her life and what she has done for all of us, what she has inspired us to do, I’ve come to this point in life after losing Mommy, going from the physical to the spiritual, that I have a greater appreciation for the continuation of the energy of life.
Life is not this thing that ends once we leave this earthly body. If you could just think for a moment and burn a piece of paper, that transformation of that paper turns into the heat that you feel. It is still there. And that is who and what we are. Energy never dies. It can never be destroyed. It just transforms. So feel the heat of Mama Dukes when you are in a low place. Feel the heat of Mama Dukes when you have a level of uncertainty. Feel the heat and warmth of Mama Dukes when you’re trying to make these difficult decisions. And if you still look for her in her original form, you’re losing the beauty of our existence, both in the spiritual and the physical. Absence from the body is present in the spirit.
Look for her in the wind. Look for her in the noise. Look for her in the voice you hear inside you. Look for her when you stand tall and firm and when you’re righteous and you’re true to who you are. That’s why I see her. Her expiration date on March 1st, 2025, meant her temporary existence here on earth, put her in a more lofty position.
But our Lord and Savior and some of the greats that we’ve lost, the wife of Congressman Charles Rangel, the wife of David Paterson’s father and mother, and so many greats that came from the village of Harlem, I’m 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. Now is our time to live out the work and the deeds of Dr. Dukes. I’m going to do the best I can. May God bless her and her family.
March 12, 2025 New York City Hall Manhattan
Sources: NYC.gov , Midtown Tribune
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