Hakeem Jeffries Makes History as the First Black Lawmaker to Lead a Party In Congress

Hakeem Jeffries

“There’s nothing more unifying than being in the minority and having a clear-eyed objective and goal of getting back into the majority”

— Hakeem Jeffries

By: Adonis Armstrong

Meet the Brooklyn native and the first Black Lawmaker to lead a party in Congress, Hakeem Jeffries. He is 52 years old which also makes him the first leader of the House of Representatives to be born after the end of World War II. He graduated in 1992 from Binghamton University with a Bachelors Degree in Arts with honors and also received a Masters of Public Policy from Georgetown University in 1994 He then attended New York University School of Law, where he received a Juris Degree in 1997, while being a member of the New York University Law Review.

After being chosen to the House of Representatives in 2012, Jeffries’ had a quick rise to top as more seniors gave up holding out for Pelosi and leaving for new occupations. To get there, he hand to face a former Black Panther then serving as a city councilman in the primary which he won easily.

Jeffries sponsored bills centered on criminal justice reform, drug policy, affordable medication access. He announced he has three major operating principles, “empowering every member, prioritizing security, and reclaiming the majority.”

Mr Jeffries has a passion for Hip Hop as he stated in a interview in 2021. “A substantial part of my upbringing related to my coming of age in the midst of the golden era of hip-hop music,” Jeffries stated at his yearly Hip Hop on the Hill event. Which is a different spin on Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson’s yearly catfish from the Delta.

The United States Representative is definitely down with the culture as he quotes some of Hip Hop's legends in his speeches at the House. This is just another stepping stone for what is more to come from people of color in positions of power.

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