As the world was about to say goodbye to 2023 and usher in a new year, the Caribbean community in New York on Saturday bid farewell to Dr. John Flateau, described, among other superlatives, as “a cerebral giant, acclaimed educator and dedicated public servant”, who died suddenly Saturday morning at his home in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, his family said. He was 73.
Dr. Flateau – a former dean at Brooklyn’s Medgar Evers College’s (MEC) School of Business and Office of External Relations – was a long-standing professor in the Department of Public Administration and director of the Dubois Bunche Center for Public Policy at the Crown Heights college.
Attorney Gregorio Mayers, a Panamanian-born Associate Professor at MEC, told Caribbean Life exclusively on Monday that he had established a “long-standing relationship and friendship” with Dr. Flateau since 1989, when Mayers was a student leader at MEC.
“John and I got connected in the late 1980s, while he was working on the Dinkins election campaign; he was the campaign strategist,” Prof. Mayers said. “He was the one who encouraged me to live in Bedford-Stuyvesant, moving from Flatbush, when I finished law school (at the City University of New York School of Law in 1994). He advised and mentored me.”
Dr. Flateau was chief-of-staff to David N. Dinkins, the late first Black Mayor of the City of New York.
“He had a vision to get younger Black and Latino people in the city in the executive branch,” added, disclosing that he served, under Dr. Flateau, as deputy director at the Dubois Bunche Center,” Prof. Mayers said. “We worked on every political campaign. He was the architect on redistricting. He was the one who taught me elections’ strategy. His passion was building a strong strategy.
“We lived not too far apart from each other (in Bedford-Stuyvesant),” he added. “The relationship goes beyond someone working together. He wrote the book, ‘Black Brooklyn: The Politics of Ethnicity, Class, and Gender’.
“He was a leader where all the politicians will come to him as a sounding board,” Prof. Mayers continued. “He was also known as a data analyst guy. He was a giant in our community. He was a very family-oriented guy, dedicated to building the community. We are thankful for his service and contribution to our community and city.”
Guyanese-born Dr. Clinton Crawford, a Professor Emeritus in Art at MEC, also told Caribbean Life on Monday that he and Dr. Flateau joined the predominantly Black college, with an overwhelming concentration of Caribbean students, at the same time.
“’Jay Flat’, as I called him, had an early compulsion toward addressing the prison industrial complex,” said Dr. Crawford, a Brooklyn resident. “John was also instrumental in the founding of the Ralph Bunche DuBois Center. He was remarkably quiet until one raised a question around urban policy and polity in general.
“John’s passing is definitely a page removed from the physical annals of Medgar Evers College,” he added. “Fortunately, we have his contribution and works. Another ancestor has taken his place in the illustrious pantheon of MEC greats. Ase.”
Dr. Zulema Blair, the Jamaican-American chair in MEC’s Department of Public Administration, said Dr. Flateau was her first supervisor at MEC.
“You are a true warrior. Black Brooklyn, NYC, NYS, and beyond has lost a true legend,” she said. “You will not be forgotten.”
US House of Representatives Minority Leader, Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, who represents the 8th Congressional District, encompassing parts of Brooklyn and Queens, said he was “deeply saddened by the passing of Dr. John Flateau, a brilliant strategist, electoral tactician, scholar and community leader.
“An important part of a powerful movement led by the late, great Al Vann, Dr. Flateau helped to usher in an era of Black political empowerment in Central Brooklyn in the 1980s and 1990s that positively transformed the community and lives on to this day,” he said. “May Dr. Flateau forever rest in power.”
Shortly after Dr. Flateau’s passing, New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, the son of Grenadian immigrants, told Caribbean Life on Saturday that he was “extremely saddened” about his demise, describing him as “a cerebral giant, acclaimed educator and dedicated public servant for the city and state of New York.
“His long tenure as a professor, administrator and dean at Medgar Evers helped shape the lives of countless students, and his work in both the city and state government helped advance justice and equity for communities across New York,” he said. “As a former commissioner of the NYC (New York City) Districting Commission, he helped ensure our districts accurately reflect the population and demographic changes of our city.
“Without his work, I’m not sure I would be where I am today,” added Williams, stating that Dr. Flateau was “a tremendous leader that uplifted and inspired his community, and his enormous contributions will have a lasting impact for many years to come.”
He continued that Dr. Flateau’s work was “indelible in the fight for equity, in particular for Black NYers.
“So many Black electeds, including myself, likely wouldn’t have had our voices heard without people like John Flateau,” said the Public Advocate, disclosing that he saw Dr. Flateau “just a few months ago at a housing event at Medgar Evers College (MEC), “of course, still doing the work.”
“I wish I said more,” Williams lamented. “His transition is also a reminder that we must give our giants their flowers when they can still smell them. Rest in power; job well done.”
New York State Assemblywoman Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, the Haitian-American chair of the Brooklyn Democratic Party, told Caribbean Life on Sunday that the party is “dismayed by the loss of Dr. John Flateau, an ardent community advocate whose profound public service uplifted Brooklyn.
“Dr. Flateau significantly impacted civil rights,” said the representative for the 42nd Assembly District in Brooklyn. “He will be greatly missed, and his legacy will be felt for generations. We’re praying for his loved ones.”
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 Industry (CACCI), expressed “deepest heartfelt condolences” to Adele Flateau, Dr. Flateau’s sister, and the Flateau family.
She said Dr. Flateau, who had a “brilliant mind”, was “always an amazing resource.”
“He will be truly missed, but all his lessons, lectures, presentations and his unwavering love for his community will forever be remembered,” Hastick-Motes said.
In announcing Dr. Flateau’s passing, his sister, Adele Flateau, said on Saturday that Dr. Flateau’s wife, “Lorraine, sons Marcus and Jonathan, and their families are completely shaken by the loss of their devoted loving husband, father and grandpa.”
Adele Flateau also said that Dr. Flateau’s siblings, including her, Anne, Alice and Richard, “are crushed and devastated to lose another sibling within six months – our sister Andrea, as well as Anne’s husband.”
She described her brother as “a tireless community activist, political strategist and brilliant professor at Medgar Evers College.”
“We know his loss will be felt deeply, far and wide,” said Adele Flateau, thanking “in advance for your love, support, prayers and understanding.”
MEC described Dr. Flateau on its website as a “beloved professor, lifelong public servant, community activist, political strategist and a dedicated mentor throughout his decades-long career” at MEC.
“We are heartbroken to learn of Dr. Flateau’s passing, and send our deepest love and sympathies to his family, friends, colleagues and former students,” said Dr. Patricia Ramsey, MEC’s president. “His impact on not just the Medgar Evers College community, but the greater Brooklyn and New York communities, is profound and unparalleled.”
Dr. Ramsey said that, in response to a congratulatory email that she had sent him for being honored by the Vanguard Independent Democratic Association (VIDA), he had replied: “‘Thank you President Ramsey! Holding up the banner for Medgar!’”
Dr. Ramsey said Dr. Flateau’s “level of dedication to this campus is unmatched, and our Medgar Evers College family is better because of his perspective on the world.
“I am blessed to have known him for the less than three years that I have served as president, and will miss his encouraging words and regular emails, keeping me abreast of local, state and national matters,” she said.
MEC said Dr. Flateau was “a lifelong learner”, who “led by example when it came to his students, earning a Ph. D in Political Science, Public Policy and American Politics from CUNY (City University of New York), while also obtaining Masters degrees in Philosophy in Political Science, Public Administration and Political Science, Urban Policy.”
MEC said Dr. Flateau “secured” his Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature from New York University’s Washington Square College.
“But it was what he did with this education that made Dr. Flateau a community pillar — for students or even those looking to run for Congress,” the college said.
Funeral service will take place on Wednesday, Jan. 10, at Bridge St. AWME Church, 277 Stuyvesant Ave., corner of Jefferson Avenue, Brooklyn, from 10:00 a.m. Visitation will be held from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.
