By NAN Staff Writer
News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Weds. Jan. 12, 2021: The US Caribbean Diaspora in New York has lost two stalwart leaders within days of each other.
Colin A. Moore, prominent Guyanese-born attorney, civil rights advocate, and political and community activist, and Dr. Waldaba Stewart, an economist, political scientist, educator and community leader, have both passed away, News Americas has learnt.
Moore who is best known for the role he played as a lawyer in defending the so-called 1989 Central Park Joggers case, died after an illness. He was 80 years old and passed away on January 9th.
Moore was admitted to the New York State Bar in February 1979. He graduated from the University of West Indies with a Bachelor of Science degree (Honors) in economics. On his return to Guyana, he was appointed executive director of the National History and Culture Council in 1964, and helped to create the foundations of a national culture in Guyana.
Moore migrated to New York in 1970, attended Brooklyn Law School in September 1975 and graduated in June 1978, with the degree of Jurist Doctor (JD). He was preceded in death by his first wife and only daughter and is survived by his second wife. No funeral arrangements were known at press time.
Stewart passed away on Jan. 1st. He was born on January 1936 in the Panama Canal Zone in Panama. He graduated with an Associate of Arts degree from the Canal Zone Junior College in 1955, and thereafter studied Government Science at Panama National University. As a young adult, he migrated to Brooklyn, New York and completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in Languages from Pace University, and a degree in Education from Hunter College.
During those years while pursuing higher education, he was employed nights at Bathe & Co., a brokerage firm. Subsequently, Dr. Stewart also received a Ph. D in Economics from Union Institute and University.
He taught in the NYC Department of Education, 1957 – 1966 and in 1968, was elected by a landslide to the New York State Senate, where he served for 4 years. As a New York State Senator, Dr. Stewart served as New York State Chairman of the first National Black Political Convention held in Gary, Indiana during 1972.
Based on his advocacy and community activism, he created and developed the Mid Brooklyn Health Association Inc., and the Mid Brooklyn Health Society committing himself to his community through public service; geared to the delivery of health care services to benefit communities across Brooklyn (Bedford Stuyvesant, Crown Heights, Fort Greene, and Williamsburg.
Stewart sponsored legislation in health for the improvement of quality care for the poor and underserved communities throughout Brooklyn. With a budget of $100 million for restoration and modernization his efforts transformed Kings County Hospital. In addition, he was a founding member of the corporation that converted the Brooklyn Navy Yard into a commercial center and industrial park.
He later became an adjunct professor at Medgar Evers College of the City University of New York. In 1996, he co-founded the Southern Diaspora Research and Development Coalition where he served as the chairman, alongside his late wife Esmeralda Brown Stewart, who served as its president.
Dr. Stewart is survived by his daughter, Zulane Stewart, as well as several siblings and grandchildren. A celebration of his life is set for tomorrow, Jan. 13th at the St. George’s Episcopal Church, 800 Marcy Avenue, at the corner of Gates Avenue, in Brooklyn, NY from 5 p.m.
