Caribbean community remembers
life of Charles B. Durham
By Nelson A. King
The Caribbean community in
New York on Sunday paid glowing
tributes to Charles B. Durham,
Jr., the long-time partner
of Brooklyn Democratic Congresswoman,
Yvette D. Clarke,
who died unexpectedly in Brooklyn
after shoveling snow on Jan.
29. He was 62.
In an emotional, two and onehalf
hour-long funeral service –
at St. Gabriel’s Episcopal Church
on Hawthorne Street in East
Flatbush, Brooklyn, where Clarke
and her mother, Jamaican-born,
former New York City Council
Member, Una S.T. Clarke worship
– mourners showed their last
respects to Durham in songs,
hymns, speeches, prayers, scriptures
and drumming, among
others, remembering him mostly
as a loving and faithful “servant
of the community.”
The service was presided over
by the church’s priest, Jamaican
born the Rev. Fr. Donovan
I. Leys, and assisted by the Rt.
Rev. Daniel Allotey, Bishop in
Residence, and the Rev. Canon
Edmund Alleyne, Cathedral of
the Incarnation.
Mourners at the packed
church, despite the snowy weather,
included other members of
the clergy in New York, politicians
and community activists.
Among the legislators were
US Senate Majority Leader,
Charles “Chuck” Schumer; Congressman
Caribbean Life, F 22 ebruary 18-24, 2022
Hakeem Jeffries; New
York Attorney General, Letitia
James; Brooklyn Democratic
Party Chair, Haitian American
New York State Assembly Member,
Rodneyse Bichotte-Hermelyn;
New York State Assembly
Member, Latrice Walker; New
York City Council Member, Haitian
born Mercedes Narcisse;
and former New York City Mayor,
Bill de Blasio and the former
First Lady Chirlane McCray, who
traces her roots to Barbados and
St. Lucia.
Walker, who represents the
55th Assembly District in Brooklyn,
read Letters of Condolence
from, among others, James;
Bichotte Hermelyn; President
Joe Biden; Vice President, Caribbean
American Kamala Harris;
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi;
Congressional Representatives
Sheila Jackson-Lee and Dr.
Alana S. Adams; New York Gov.
Kathy Hochul; New York State
Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli;
New York City Public Advocate
Jumaane Williams and New York
City Council Member, Haitian
American Farah N. Louis.
“Jill and I offer our heartfelt
condolences on the passing of
your beloved partner, Charles,”
said President Biden in his letter
to Congresswoman Clarke,
who represents the 9th Congressional
Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke (lRight) and Durham’s
best friend, Reggie Kelly. Photo by Nelson A. King
District in Brooklyn. “We
are keeping you and your family
in our prayers. I know that this
time must be difficult beyond
words, and you feel like there is a
hole in your heart.
“Though the grieving process
never quite ends, from experience,
I promise you the day
will come when the memory of
Charles will bring a smile to your
lips before it brings a tear to your
eye,” he added. “My prayer for
you and your family is that this
day comes sooner rather than
later.”
Harris said she was “saddened
to hear the news” of Charles’s
sudden passing.
“I am so grateful to have had
the chance to meet him and to
spend time with him this past
fall,” she said. “May the joy and
love that you shared through the
past 30 years carry you through
this difficult time. I will be keeping
you in my thoughts and
prayers.”
Pelosi said in her letter to
Clarke that it was her “solemn
honor “to join her in paying tribute
to Durham.
Charles B. Durham dead at
62. Jeanette Lenoir
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