Hazel Dukes receives ERASE Racism's inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award

Civil rights icon Hazel Dukes, 92, was honored for her decades of advancing racial equality across Lakeview, Long Island and beyond.

“This is a woman who has literally spent her entire life,” said Laura Harding, ERASE Racism president, “advocating one, for Black people, but for all marginalized peoples.”

ERASE Racism, a leading advocacy organization dedicated to racial equity, honored Dukes at its 19th Annual Benefit on June 5 at the Garden City Hotel. The event, themed "Shine A Light: Illuminating Paths to Equity," recognized individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions to social and racial justice.

ERASE Racism is very intentional with whom they decide to honor, said Laura Harding, president of the organization. Their honorees are not just people who sign checks, she said, but people who truly provide services. The Lifetime Achievement award was created with Dukes in mind.

“We made sure to give honorees their flowers before they moved on,” Harding said. “Because far too often, we name our awards after people who have passed, but we don’t necessarily tell people thank you for the service that they’ve done while they’re here to hear how much we appreciate them.”

“We’re looking for someone who’s literally spent their entire lifetime on the front lines, and Dr. Dukes is one of those people,” Harding said, adding that Dukes has impacted every Black and brown politician across Long Island and the state. “Dr. Dukes is one of those people who spent a lot of time fighting for systemic impact, and an end to the way structural racism impacts everyone.”

Dukes helped desegregate housing in Roslyn, where a street was given the honorary title of “Dr. Hazel Dukes Way” in honor of her. She was the first Black office-holder in the Nassau County Attorney’s Office. She worked for president Lyndon B. Johnson’s “Head Start” program in the ‘60s, which supported early child care for low-income families. She’s not only president of the state National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, but also served as president of the national NAACP in the ‘90s, and is currently a member of the NAACP National Board of Directors and the Executive Committee. She worked closely with another civil rights icon, Scottie Coads, to advocate for Lakeview.

“She’s also personally made it her duty to take interest in the next generation, and develop them,” Harding said. “And to invest in them, and ensure that they themselves become social and racial justice warriors, because we understand that this fight will go on long after we’re gone.”

The ceremony on June 5 was also to step back and appreciate the successes that came from decades of advocacy . Activists are often so focused on what still needs to be done, Harding said, that it’s rare they take the time to appreciate their successes and the battles they’ve won along the way.

“It’s because of your shoulders,” Harding said of Dukes. “Because of who you are. You have given us a foundation upon which we can stand and move forward with this work.”

“There’s not a community, a population, that she hasn’t touched or her advocacy has not impacted.”