Because the world was about to say goodbye to 2023 and usher in a brand new yr, the Caribbean neighborhood in New York on Saturday bid farewell to Dr. John Flateau, described, amongst different superlatives, as “a cerebral big, acclaimed educator and devoted public servant”, who died instantly Saturday morning at his house within the Bedford-Stuyvesant part of Brooklyn, his household mentioned. He was 73.
Dr. Flateau – a former dean at Brooklyn’s Medgar Evers School’s (MEC) Faculty of Enterprise and Workplace of Exterior Relations – was a long-standing professor within the Division of Public Administration and director of the Dubois Bunche Middle for Public Coverage on the Crown Heights faculty.
Lawyer Gregorio Mayers, a Panamanian-born Affiliate Professor at MEC, advised Caribbean Life solely on Monday that he had established a “long-standing relationship and friendship” with Dr. Flateau since 1989, when Mayers was a scholar chief at MEC.
“John and I obtained related within the late Nineteen Eighties, whereas he was engaged on the Dinkins election marketing campaign; he was the marketing campaign strategist,” Prof. Mayers mentioned. “He was the one who inspired me to reside in Bedford-Stuyvesant, shifting from Flatbush, once I completed legislation college (on the Metropolis College of New York Faculty of Regulation in 1994). He suggested and mentored me.”
Dr. Flateau was chief-of-staff to David N. Dinkins, the late first Black Mayor of the Metropolis of New York.
“He had a imaginative and prescient to get youthful Black and Latino individuals within the metropolis within the govt department,” added, disclosing that he served, underneath Dr. Flateau, as deputy director on the Dubois Bunche Middle,” Prof. Mayers mentioned. “We labored on each political marketing campaign. He was the architect on redistricting. He was the one who taught me elections’ technique. His ardour was constructing a powerful technique.
“We lived not too far other than one another (in Bedford-Stuyvesant),” he added. “The connection goes past somebody working collectively. He wrote the e book, ‘Black Brooklyn: The Politics of Ethnicity, Class, and Gender’.
“He was a pacesetter the place all of the politicians will come to him as a sounding board,” Prof. Mayers continued. “He was often known as a knowledge analyst man. He was an enormous in our neighborhood. He was a really family-oriented man, devoted to constructing the neighborhood. We’re grateful for his service and contribution to our neighborhood and metropolis.”
Guyanese-born Dr. Clinton Crawford, a Professor Emeritus in Artwork at MEC, additionally advised Caribbean Life on Monday that he and Dr. Flateau joined the predominantly Black faculty, with an awesome focus of Caribbean college students, on the similar time.
“’Jay Flat’, as I known as him, had an early compulsion towards addressing the jail industrial complicated,” mentioned Dr. Crawford, a Brooklyn resident. “John was additionally instrumental within the founding of the Ralph Bunche DuBois Middle. He was remarkably quiet till one raised a query round city coverage and polity usually.
“John’s passing is unquestionably a web page faraway from the bodily annals of Medgar Evers School,” he added. “Happily, we’ve got his contribution and works. One other ancestor has taken his place within the illustrious pantheon of MEC greats. Ase.”
Dr. Zulema Blair, the Jamaican-American chair in MEC’s Division of Public Administration, mentioned Dr. Flateau was her first supervisor at MEC.
“You’re a true warrior. Black Brooklyn, NYC, NYS, and past has misplaced a real legend,” she mentioned. “You’ll not be forgotten.”
US Home of Representatives Minority Chief, Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, who represents the 8th Congressional District, encompassing elements of Brooklyn and Queens, mentioned he was “deeply saddened by the passing of Dr. John Flateau, an excellent strategist, electoral tactician, scholar and neighborhood chief.
“An essential a part of a robust motion led by the late, nice Al Vann, Dr. Flateau helped to usher in an period of Black political empowerment in Central Brooklyn within the Nineteen Eighties and Nineteen Nineties that positively remodeled the neighborhood and lives on to at the present time,” he mentioned. “Could Dr. Flateau ceaselessly relaxation in energy.”
Shortly after Dr. Flateau’s passing, New York Metropolis Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, the son of Grenadian immigrants, advised Caribbean Life on Saturday that he was “extraordinarily saddened” about his demise, describing him as “a cerebral big, acclaimed educator and devoted public servant for the town and state of New York.
“His lengthy tenure as a professor, administrator and dean at Medgar Evers helped form the lives of numerous college students, and his work in each the town and state authorities helped advance justice and fairness for communities throughout New York,” he mentioned. “As a former commissioner of the NYC (New York Metropolis) Districting Fee, he helped guarantee our districts precisely mirror the inhabitants and demographic adjustments of our metropolis.
“With out his work, I’m undecided I’d be the place I’m in the present day,” added Williams, stating that Dr. Flateau was “an amazing chief that uplifted and impressed his neighborhood, and his monumental contributions can have an enduring affect for a few years to return.”
He continued that Dr. Flateau’s work was “indelible within the combat for fairness, specifically for Black NYers.
“So many Black electeds, together with myself, possible wouldn’t have had our voices heard with out individuals like John Flateau,” mentioned the Public Advocate, disclosing that he noticed Dr. Flateau “just some months in the past at a housing occasion at Medgar Evers School (MEC), “after all, nonetheless doing the work.”
“I want I mentioned extra,” Williams lamented. “His transition can be a reminder that we should give our giants their flowers after they can nonetheless odor them. Relaxation in energy; job effectively finished.”
New York State Assemblywoman Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, the Haitian-American chair of the Brooklyn Democratic Occasion, advised Caribbean Life on Sunday that the celebration is “dismayed by the lack of Dr. John Flateau, an ardent neighborhood advocate whose profound public service uplifted Brooklyn.
“Dr. Flateau considerably impacted civil rights,” mentioned the consultant for the 42nd Meeting District in Brooklyn. “He shall be vastly missed, and his legacy shall be felt for generations. We’re praying for his family members.”
Renee Hastick-Motes, the daughter of the Dr. Roy Hastick, the late founder and president of the Brooklyn-based Caribbean-American Chamber of Commerce and Business (CACCI), expressed “deepest heartfelt condolences” to Adele Flateau, Dr. Flateau’s sister, and the Flateau household.
She mentioned Dr. Flateau, who had a “good thoughts”, was “all the time a tremendous useful resource.”
“He shall be actually missed, however all his classes, lectures, shows and his unwavering love for his neighborhood will ceaselessly be remembered,” Hastick-Motes mentioned.
In saying Dr. Flateau’s passing, his sister, Adele Flateau, mentioned on Saturday that Dr. Flateau’s spouse, “Lorraine, sons Marcus and Jonathan, and their households are fully shaken by the lack of their devoted loving husband, father and grandpa.”
Adele Flateau additionally mentioned that Dr. Flateau’s siblings, together with her, Anne, Alice and Richard, “are crushed and devastated to lose one other sibling inside six months – our sister Andrea, in addition to Anne’s husband.”
She described her brother as “a tireless neighborhood activist, political strategist and good professor at Medgar Evers School.”
“We all know his loss shall be felt deeply, far and broad,” mentioned Adele Flateau, thanking “upfront in your love, help, prayers and understanding.”
MEC described Dr. Flateau on its web site as a “beloved professor, lifelong public servant, neighborhood activist, political strategist and a devoted mentor all through his decades-long profession” at MEC.
“We’re heartbroken to be taught of Dr. Flateau’s passing, and ship our deepest love and sympathies to his household, mates, colleagues and former college students,” mentioned Dr. Patricia Ramsey, MEC’s president. “His affect on not simply the Medgar Evers School neighborhood, however the better Brooklyn and New York communities, is profound and unparalleled.”
Dr. Ramsey mentioned that, in response to a congratulatory e-mail that she had despatched him for being honored by the Vanguard Impartial Democratic Affiliation (VIDA), he had replied: “‘Thanks President Ramsey! Holding up the banner for Medgar!’”
Dr. Ramsey mentioned Dr. Flateau’s “stage of dedication to this campus is unmatched, and our Medgar Evers School household is healthier due to his perspective on the world.
“I’m blessed to have identified him for the lower than three years that I’ve served as president, and can miss his encouraging phrases and common emails, maintaining me abreast of native, state and nationwide issues,” she mentioned.
MEC mentioned Dr. Flateau was “a lifelong learner”, who “led by instance when it got here to his college students, incomes a Ph. D in Political Science, Public Coverage and American Politics from CUNY (Metropolis College of New York), whereas additionally acquiring Masters levels in Philosophy in Political Science, Public Administration and Political Science, City Coverage.”
MEC mentioned Dr. Flateau “secured” his Bachelor of Arts diploma in English Literature from New York College’s Washington Sq. School.
“But it surely was what he did with this training that made Dr. Flateau a neighborhood pillar — for college kids and even these trying to run for Congress,” the school mentioned.
Funeral service will happen on Wednesday, Jan. 10, at Bridge St. AWME Church, 277 Stuyvesant Ave., nook of Jefferson Avenue, Brooklyn, from 10:00 a.m. Visitation shall be held from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.
