Dr. Hazel Nell Dukes, civil rights activist and leader in the ranks of the New York and National Board of the NAACP, has passed away in New York, the NAACP announced Saturday. She was 92.

“She was a warrior in the truest sense of the word and activist extraordinaire,”  said the Rev. Al Sharpton, who worked closely with Dukes in New York. 

Just two weeks ago, Dukes was using a  wheelchair but bound and present to perform her duty as NAACP election supervisory chair certifying the elections of the group’s board members. 

Dr. Ben Chavis, elected in 1993 as the 7th executive director and CEO of the  NAACP, spoke on the life of Dukes: “The transformative leadership legacy of freedom fighter Hazel Dukes will now be enshrined with the greatest honor and respect as a leader of the NAACP in America and throughout the world.”

Leon W. Russell, chairman of the NAACP National Board of Directors, said Dukes Dukes led the NAACP New York Conference for 50 years. “Her work has helped ensure that the 116-year-old NAACP could remain relevant and continue its work throughout the years. She has been consistent in her work and her support as a member and a leader,” Russell stated.

Sharpton says he has known Dukes for almost 50 years since he was a teen. “There never was an issue that she was not out front. We’ve gone to jail together and to the White House together,” he said.

Dukes was “authentic, committed and concerned,” the civil rights leader and TV host added. “We will never have another Hazel Dukes; But thank God we had this one.”

Dukes’ family notified the NAACP Board of her death early Saturday morning.

“Colleagues, it is with a heavy heart and a profound sense of sadness that I inform you that our sister, Momma Dukes, went to be with the ancestors at 6:20 a.m. today. Her transition was officially recorded and announced at 6:38 a.m. Please lift her up in prayer and continue to pray for her son Ronald and all of her extended family,” a correspondence to the organization read. “It is always hard to send a message like this but as Hazel would say, she is in God’s hands now.”  

Russell called Dukes a true warrior for civil rights and social justice. “Her voice and her influence at our table will be missed, but we will all continue to be influenced by that same voice as we continue to fight for that same cause.”