By Kede Aihie
Hakeem Jeffries becomes the first Black Speaker of the House of Representatives in the United States. After Democrats flipped Republican majority
Hakeem Sekou Jeffries is an African American attorney and politician born on August 4, 1970 in Brooklyn, New York, where he was raised in Crown Heights. His family heritage includes African American roots and Cape Verdean ancestry through his maternal great-grandfather, Manuel Gomes, who immigrated to the United States from Fogo, Cape Verde, an island nation off the coast of West Africa with a Creole heritage. He identifies as Black and is widely recognized as the first Black person to lead a major party in the United States Congress.
Jeffries was educated at Binghamton University where he earned a B.A. in Political Science, Georgetown University where he earned an M.A. in Public Policy, and New York University School of Law where he earned his J.D. Prior to entering elected office, he practiced law as a corporate litigator at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison.
His political career began in the New York State Assembly, where he represented the 57th District in Brooklyn from 2007 to 2012. Since 2013, he has represented New York’s 8th Congressional District, covering parts of Brooklyn and Queens, in the U.S. House of Representatives. He served as Chair of the House Democratic Caucus from 2019 to 2023, and in 2023 was elected Leader of the House Democratic Caucus following Nancy Pelosi, serving as House Minority Leader. During his time in Congress he has served on the House Judiciary and Budget Committees.
Politically, Jeffries is a member of the Democratic Party and generally aligns with mainstream Democratic positions on healthcare, voting rights, criminal justice reform and economic policy. He is noted for a disciplined and procedural leadership style with an emphasis on party unity. On a personal level, he is married to Kennisandra Arciniegas-Jeffries, a social worker, they have two sons and live in Brooklyn, and he is a Baptist.
