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When presented with the opportunity to hear him speak, audiences prepare their minds, hearts, and ears for a sermon-like offering from Dr. Dudley Flood. As he approaches the microphone, a silence falls upon the room, until a poised yet thunderous voice commands the atmosphere.
Flood’s remarks are known to include a hefty serving of anecdotes, generously sprinkled with humor and well-seasoned with wisdom. According to his fraternity brother John Milner, “Some people have dubbed him as an ‘edutainer’” due to Flood’s extensive background in education, intertwined with a storytelling ability that captivates listeners.
“That’s just to catch you,” Milner continued. “Once he’s got you, he’ll keep you with the real stuff.”
In early May, Flood’s acceptance speech for his Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award proved to be no exception. Community members gathered to celebrate Flood’s unwavering dedication to service and leadership in North Carolina and beyond. In return, Flood gifted the crowd with select lessons from his decades of experience, one of which derived from his younger days of milking a cow.
Now approaching the age of 94 years young, here are insights for how Flood says that he has honored the commitment to education — something he describes as “more than a tour of duty.”
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Lesson 1: ‘Keep it simple‘
Born September 13, 1932, Flood was raised in the town of Winton in Hertford County. Since childhood, Flood indulged in what’s considered to be “America’s pastime” — baseball.
Flood is among the people quoted in an excerpt from the book, “They Called Us the Cornfield Boys,” co-written by Raymond Whitehead and E. Frank Stephenson. It offers a glimpse into the world and dynamic history of local eastern North Carolina teams such as the Chowan Bees and Como Eagles — teams that Flood is noted to have been a part of.
It was through baseball that Flood interacted with Major League Baseball hall of famer Willie Mays.
“The first thing I have to do is I have to give Willie Mays credit for my education,” Flood joked.
As an 18 year-old center fielder trying out for the team formerly known as the New York Giants, after just one game playing against Mays, Flood lightheartedly recalled saying to himself, “Boy, you need to go to school.”
When inquiring about how to improve his skills as a ball player, Flood received the following advice from Mays: “If they throw it, you hit it. If they hit it, you catch it.”
Flood understood this to mean, “Keep it simple.” Since that moment in his freshman year of college, Flood said this lesson has influenced his approach to life.
“Find out what is important. Focus on that. Don’t worry about all the other fancy stuff. Just focus on that,” he concluded.
Lesson 2: ‘Be in it for the duration‘
One particular conversation with Flood’s older brother shaped his mindset on long-term commitments in any aspect of life.
Flood entered the Korean War with the understanding that it was a 21-month tour of duty. Yet, Flood recalled his brother articulating a different mindset when entering World War II.
“I went in for the duration,” he recounted his brother saying. “We were going to be there until the war was over.”
This exchange stuck with Flood.
“I don’t go into anything for a tour a duty,” he said. “I will go into it for the duration.”
One example is Flood’s lifelong commitment to embodying and upholding his fraternity’s motto, “Culture For Service and Service For Humanity.” Founded in 1914, Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. (PBS) is one of nine Greek letter organizations that make up the National Pan-Hellenic Council, also known as the Divine Nine.
Flood encountered several leaders doing similar work in his community, many of whom were revealed to be brothers of PBS.
“They were doing the kind of things I believe in. They were doing public service,” he stated.
Since he joined PBS in 1980 through the Eta Sigma graduate chapter in Raleigh, Flood recalls only missing around three fraternity meetings.
“I knew that if I committed myself to any organization, Sigma or any other, I was gonna be there until I couldn’t — until I physically or intellectually couldn’t,” he said.
“When he says he’s going to do something, he does it. He has done a lot to help North Carolina to be where it is today. And had it not been for him, a lot of people like myself from eastern North Carolina would not have made it out of eastern North Carolina to college or anywhere else.”
— William G. Smith, brother of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc.
For Flood, the same mindset applied to the covenant that he made with his late wife, Barbara Thomas Flood. He informed his wife that “if I come home and you’re packing your bags to go somewhere, all I’m going to do is pack me a bag and follow you.”
Since their wedding day, Flood has believed that “if it comes to disagreement, we got to work that out.” As a result, the two remained together for over 55 years.
“I don’t go into anything for a tour of duty, I go into it for the duration,” he repeated, a mentality that he carried into a career as a lifelong educator.
Lesson 3: The next day, do it again
Dr. Eboné Lockett, founder and executive director of Harvesting Humanity, served as the keynote speaker for Flood’s lifetime achievement award ceremony. In her speech, she emphasized the significance of holding “reverence, respect, regard and sacred space for those whose shoulders not only did we stand on, but whose backs may have bent from our weight, but they never broke.”
The evening centered on celebrating the living legacy of Flood, who Lockett identified as a North Carolina homegrown hero.
Following his undergraduate experience at North Carolina Central University, Flood began his career as an eighth grade teacher. In subsequent years, he taught and coached at the high school level, served as a principal, and fulfilled various roles with the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.
Importantly, Flood committed to the crucial responsibility of traveling statewide in pursuit of desegregating North Carolina public schools. Now, at the age of 93, Flood is still an active speaker and advocate in the education and social justice landscape.
He is the namesake of both the Flood Group and the Dudley Flood Center for Educational Equity and Opportunity (Flood Center). In the words of Dr. Deanna Townsend-Smith, senior director of the Flood Center, “He models for us to continue to push to achieve every day these things: transformation, growth, and to keep instilling.”
Flood’s longstanding dedication and service has resulted in over 350 awards and recognitions throughout his career. Some of the acknowledgements include the Friday Medal from the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation and the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, North Carolina’s highest civic distinction.
On May 15, Dr. Regina Williams-Rehkamp and Dr. Donna Corbett presented Flood with the Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award on behalf of the former Biden-Harris administration. An excerpt from the award presentation read as follows:
“We’re living in a moment that calls for hope, light, and love: Hope for our futures, light to see our way, and love for one another. Through your service, you are providing all three. On behalf of the American people, I extend my heartfelt appreciation to you for your volunteer leadership, and I encourage you, Dr. Flood, to continue to answer the call to serve.
The country is counting on you,
President Joe R. Biden.“
In his acceptance speech, Dr. Flood offered special thanks to three people. Flood thanked his wife, crediting her with teaching him how to be a good human being. Flood thanked his father for teaching him the principle of being a man of his word.
Flood also thanked his mother, who was one of his biggest influences for going into education. He described his family as “country folk,” recounting his earlier years on the farm. At that time, young Dudley was responsible for milking the cows.
Flood recounted thinking to himself one day, “On Friday, I’m going to milk this cow so well that I can play baseball Saturday and Sunday.” However, to Flood’s disappointment, he learned that no matter how well the cow was milked the day before, the next day, he had to do it again.
Thus, as he received the award, the story served as a message to those committed to the work of education:
“I thank you for the honor, but I’ve got enough sense to know that it don’t matter what I’ve done, I’ve got to come right back and do it over, and over, and over, and over again,” he asserted.
Flood’s nearly 70 years in education have been a testament to that belief system.
The power of 94
In celebration of Flood’s upcoming 94th birthday, the Flood Center has launched the 94 Years Strong Campaign.
According to their website, the center “envisions an education system that provides every student in North Carolina with access to equitable, culturally responsive, and high-quality educational opportunities that lead to success in college, career, and citizenship.”
In her remarks at the award ceremony, Townsend-Smith reminded audience members that equity isn’t just a goal, how much one gives or receives, but rather, “We must be intentional about what is given, how it is delivered, and who receives that giving, in this case, the Flood Center and Flood Group.”
Thus, supporters and stakeholders were invited to honor and continue Flood’s work and legacy by making a gift in an increment of 94 — whether it’s $94, $940, or more.
“Our children suffer when we place limits on their potential, and the same applies when we place limits on how much we invest in work that directly impacts their futures,” Townsend-Smith said.
Click here for more information about the 94 Years Strong Campaign.
