Dr. Andree` Nicola Mclaughlin

Andree Nicola McLaughlin was born on February 12, 1948 to the late Joseph Lee McLaughlin and the late Willie Mae Newman McLaughlin in White Plains, NY. As the eldest of three siblings, Andree honed her leadership skills early on and instilled it her brother and sister.

Andree received her elementary and secondary education from the White Plains public school system, graduating in 1966. She excelled both athletically and academically. Andree was elected president of her junior high school class with the winning slogan, "Your best bet is Andre for President." Andree was captain of the twirling squad, played on the high school basketball team. She was elected A1- President of her senior class, was elected to membership in the White Plains chapter of the National Honor Society. She was selected as a finalist in the National Achievement Scholarship Program for Negro students.

Andree came of age during the modern Civil Rights Movement (1954 1968). She derived her affection for the spoken and written word from her Southern-born parents: Joseph Lee who composed, sang and played the Blues and Willie Mae who encouraged her children's love of reading. Higher Education Andree's scholastic achievements garnered recruitments from many colleges and universities throughout the United States. Andree attended Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, on a four-year academic scholarship. She earned a B.S. in Science Education from Cornell University. She went on to earn a masters and doctorate, in Education, from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. In the 1970's, amid racial tensions, black students boycotted White Plains High School. Andree, along with local churches aided in the development of a Black History curriculum for the Freedom Schools.

Andree was an avid reader and writer. She discovered her profound creative well, poetry, in high school. She was invited by the local newspaper, The Reporter Dispatch, to explore the possibility of starting a teen-ager's page to be published periodically as part of the newspaper's Saturday edition.

Of all of her many accomplishments, the one that Andree treasured and valued most were her childhood friends and their formation of "The Egyptorials". A club that remains active to this day.

Higher Education

Andree's scholastic achievements garnered recruitments from many colleges and universities throughout the United States. Andree attended Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, on a four-year academic scholarship. She earned a B.S. in Science Education from Cornell University. She went on to earn a masters and doctorate, in Education, from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. In the 1970's, amid racial tensions, black students boycotted White Plains High School. Andree, along with local churches aided in the development of a Black History curriculum for the Freedom Schools.

Medgar Evers College

Andree joined the Medgar Evers College's faculty in 1974, as an Assistant Professor and Field Internship Coordinator, Division of Teacher Education. She remained there in various capacities from Dean of Administration to a tenured Professor over the next 35 years.

While at Medgar Evers College she co-edited, the award-winning anthology, "Wild Women in the Whirlwind: Afra-American Literature and the Contemporary Literary Renaissance." She also held distinguished academic appointments at the University of London Institute of Education and Hamilton College (USA); Editor's Choice Award for Outstanding Achievement in Poetry presented by poetry.com and the International Library of Poetry; appeared as a guest on United Nations Television (UNTV) and in diverse international media for her global perspectives. .Andree-Nicola McLaughlin was recipient of awards from the Organization of Women Writers of Africa (OWWA) and the international Congress of Black Women for her long-term commitment to women's rights.

The International Cross Cultural Black Women's Study Institute

Dr. McLaughlin was the founding international coordinator of the International, Cross-Cultural Black Women’s Studies Institute, a twenty-five-year-old global network which has organized and convened nine world conferences and various international forums in New York, Great Britain, Zimbabwe, New Zealand, Germany, Venezuela, South Africa, Hawaii, Russia, Costa Rica, Trinidad and Tobago and other nations.

Women & Communications; Women & The Politics of Food; Black People and the European Community; The Black Women: Five Centuries of Resistance; Pacific Women: Culture, Identity & Self-Determination; Women's Empowerment were conference topics.

It was important to Dr. McLaughlin to expose her students to foreign lands and various cultures. Her student focus study tours include:

Panama City, Panama - "Making the Invisible Visible: Afrodescendants & Indigenous Peoples of Panama"

Tokyo, Kyoto and Hiroshima, Japan - "Human Rights & Cultural Diversity in Modern Japan"

Trinidad & Tobago - "African Culture and Black Resistance into the Future" Placeholder Text

Puerto Limon, Costa Rica - "The Status of Afro-Latin American Women & Men"

Moscow and St. Petersburg Russia - "Pushkin Bicentennial Symposium & Study Tour"

The Shabazz Conversations

Dr. McLaughlin was appointed the first holder of the Dr. Betty Shabazz Distinguished Chair in Social Justice at Medgar Evers College.

The Dr. Betty Shabazz Distinguished Chair in Social Justice commemorates the life and legacy of the late Dr. Betty Shabazz, wife of the late Malcolm X. It supports an internationally recognized scholar to teach, conduct research and initiate public and professional activities with the international community to promote social justice in the contemporary world. The Dr. Betty Shabazz Distinguished Chair in Social Justice is endowed by the New York State Legislature.

Starting In 2002 through 2006, Dr. McLaughlin hosted "The Shabazz Conversations", A Social Justice series co-sponsored by the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture

For more than three decades, Dr. McLaughlin has traveled worldwide, lecturing, researching, writing and organizing in effort to improve the human condition. Dr. McLaughlin’s award-winning scholarship and poetry, as well as her speeches and international initiatives, give voice and visibility to diverse struggles for social justice.

Dr. McLaughlin lived by the 'Six Guiding Principles" of the Tuskegee Airmen:

Aim High
Be Ready To Go
Believe In Yourself
Use Your Brain
Never Quit
Expect To Win

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The Entire Staff of Lee's Funeral Home, LLC respects that Dr. Andree` Nicola McLaughlin & family entrusted her care & the care of their loved one to us, and that she & they value the level of service & attention our funeral home provides. We are honored, in turn, to provide comfort, assistance and service to the McLaughlin Family during their time of bereavement.

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A Private Memorial Service was held May 24, 2025. Please still download & read her attached Program, and still leave written condolences now herein on the Memory Wall to express your sorrow, share your memories, and as an expression of sympathy & way to communicate with/offer comfort to the family, that they and others may see, and may be a lasting tribute in her honor.

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As private services have already been held, NO flowers should be sent to the funeral home. In LIEU of flowers, & as a lasting tribute, she & the family appreciate/prefers a contribution be made in her name/memory/honor to: Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, 515 Malcolm X Boulevard, New York, NY 10037, #1-212-491-2220 and/or Medgar Evers College Women's Studies Program, 1650 Bedford Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11225, #1-718-270-4989 or 4987 (may be done on your own to listed info, or simply done through the donation tabs/links here in website at the bottom of this page). You may also choose to plant a tree, and/or a contribution may be made in her name/memory/honor as listed above. The Family Thanks You!