More Reflections for “Mr. Brooklyn”

Dr. John L. Flateau (Feb. 24, 1950-Dec. 30, 2023)

“Thank you to a giant!”
Hon Jumaane D. Williams
The People’s Advocate
for The City of New York

Death is something else. It is something else. What do you say when the people who are hurting most just want their loved one back, and we cannot bring them back?
Maybe, we can, for a moment, talk about life, because life is awesome, and it’s stunning. I hope everybody reads the bio. This is all one person. This is all one person. Phenomenal. Amazing. It stunned everyone that our brother is now an ancestor. Man, I never got to thank him. I saw him just a few months ago, doing the work at Medgar Evers: I didn’t say thank you.
One of the lessons I hope we learn is that we don’t know what’s happening tomorrow. Can we just say thank you to the giants while they’re here?
We talked about Al Vann. We talked about Jitu. We talked about so many people. Thank you. I am very clear whether politics-aligned or not, I didn’t get here by myself. It was God. The ancestors. The people who answered the call to a guy who wanted them: Thank you, Annette Robinson. Thank you, Velmanette Montgomery. Esmeralda Simmons, thank you for the work that you did. Thank you, Herbert Daughtry. Thank you to the giants who came and paved the way. .I would not be here without you doing what I do. I’m not confused about that at all.
This man’s work reverberates throughout Central Brooklyn, New York City, the State and the entire country. The work that he did right here reverberates. He was still doing the job on the Redistricting Commission, making sure that the gains that we got were not lost. To that end, he did the work.
Thank you to the family, because I know what it takes for someone who’s doing the work to be away from their family over and over again. And to you, he was dad, brother, husband, family member. To us, he was a giant, Dr. John Flateau.
It’s even more amazing because he didn’t have the titles that many of us have. As the Mayor said, all he did was give and create people who can get those titles.
Sometimes when you come up here, you make up stuff to say. How amazing it is to have a Black man who lived the way he lived, and we don’t have enough time to say thank you for all the works and good things that he did during his lifetime.
The people behind the scenes who create the power are fascinating. Family, I want to make sure you understand that I understand and so many other people understand that we would not be talking about the power we have as Black people in Central Brooklyn, New York City State, in this country… had it not been for John Flateau.
I can only imagine what he’s going to do for us as an ancestor based on what he did while he was here.

“Mr. Brooklyn: Always There
for the People He Loved”
Hon. Frank Seddio
Former Chair,
Kings County Democratic Party

A lot of accolades have been given to John, today, and all well-deserved.
Of all the titles you have heard and read about in his biography the one that hasn’t been said is the one that was the most important and that was Friend. John Flateau was a great friend. I had the pleasure of meeting John back in the early ‘90s when Mayor Dinkins formed the committee which was to see if we can get the Democratic Convention in 1992, to come here, in New York City.
As the chief of staff, John and I and a number of other people from city agencies joined together and we were quite successful. That was the last convention that we had in New York City from the Democratic Party. It was a wonderful time. We nominated Bill Clinton at the time, and we have continued our friendship over the years.
I had the chance once again to deal with John on a number of occasions when they were doing reapportionment. As a matter of fact, scriptures speak of the time to live and the time to die. It’s not about how long you live but how well you live, and we all know that John lived a life that was well and suited for all of us.
As a matter of fact, if I’m guessing right, God started rearranging heaven and needed somebody to do the reapportionment work, and he brought John up there to do it. By the way, Reverend, I heard you mention the crowd earlier. I have to believe it’s killing you that you can’t make a collection today here in the church. This would be really a good one.
Ironically, a few months ago, John, Lorraine and I were talking about some of the necessities of life and some of the things that you look forward to in old age. It’s hard to believe that only these few months later, we’re standing here celebrating his role and his homecoming.
John, I can only tell you this, in all the time I’ve shared with you, both as my Commissioner at the Board of Elections and while I was County Leader, and all the times that we spoke about reapportionment and changes in the lines, I was always selfish. I wanted to make sure my Districts were taken care of. Now, we still look at you not only as a friend but as someone who was always there for the people he loved, always there for the country that he loved, always there for our borough of Brooklyn.
If there was greatly a man who could be called Mr. Brooklyn, I think they would give that honor to John Flateau.

“He Left an Indelible Mark”
Hon. Zellnor Y. Myrie
Senator
State of New York

On behalf of the majority leader of the New York State Senate, Andrea Stewart-Cousins; my colleagues in the State Senate, and every constituent in my district, we offer our deep, deep condolences to the family at the transitioning of a legend, a titan, a giant amongst men.
Dr. Flateau represented the best of what this country — not just Brooklyn, not just this city, but what this country has to offer. He was a perfecter of our democracy.
I chair the Elections Committee in the Senate and my sister Latrice Walker does so in the Assembly. Again, not possible without Dr. Flateau. He was a perfecter of our democracy.
We know that the history of this country has given lip service to democracy. We have written that all men are created equal, but we have never lived up to that ideal.
It was only because black people stood up and said, “This is our country, too. We built this country, as well.” But every time the franchise was expanded, we saw retrenchment as well.
After the Civil War, we saw Reconstruction but then came Jim Crow. We had people fighting, fighting, fighting. We got the Civil Rights Act in 1960. Then we saw retrenchment after this country elected its first Black president. We live in a period that is perilous for our democracy.
We need Dr. Flateau more than ever, but what he has left is you, what he has left is in this room. He has left an indelible mark, not just on our local politics, but on the country’s politics. We have more work to do. If you know John, he’s probably up in heaven talking to the other John Lewis, going over district maps, saying, “So, how are we looking in Michigan? We want to make sure that we’re doing things the right way.”
We’re going to continue to honor that legacy by doing the work right here. Just this past week, the New York State Senate passed a resolution unanimously on a bipartisan basis, honoring the life of Dr. Flateau.
I want my colleagues both here and, in the Senate, and the Assembly, to stand up. We have a bill and the legislature to create an Elections and Voting Database and Academic Center — that would, in part. be at Medgar Evers College. We have renamed that bill The Dr. Flateau Elections and Voting Center. We are going to get that passed and we’re going to live up to his legacy and we are going to get there together. Amen. (To be continued)