July 9, 2024 • 24 mins
Liz sits down with Hakeem Jeffries, House Democratic Leader and Representative of New York's eighth district. They delve into Jeffries' groundbreaking role in Congress, the rich cultural diversity of his district, and the power of bipartisan cooperation. From personal stories of resilience to the unifying joy of sports, this conversation sheds light on the humanity behind political leadership and the importance of staying connected to community roots. Join us for a cup of coffee and a deep dive into the heart and humanity that drives one of America's most influential political figures.
Key Highlights and Takeaways:
Diversity as Strength: Jeffries highlights the incredible diversity of New York's eighth district, emphasizing the unity found within its mosaic of cultures.
Bipartisan Efforts: The discussion reveals how bipartisan cooperation, especially during crises, showcases the potential for unity in American politics.
The Importance of Family: Jeffries credits his family's influence and the sacrifices of public servants' families as foundational to his success.
Resilience Through Adversity: Sharing personal anecdotes, Jeffries discusses the importance of calm and resilience in the face of challenges.
Joy in Unity: The conversation touches on the joy found in community events, particularly sports, as a unifying force.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Music.
(00:11):
I'm Liz Hirsh-Naftali, and welcome to the Capital Coffee Connection podcast.
And on this podcast, I am speaking with diverse leaders about their hearts,
their humanity, their home, and their hopes.
And we are trying to transcend political divides and really just talk to real
people about their titles, their jobs, and who they are.
(00:31):
So today I'm super excited because I get to speak with Hakeem Jeffries,
who's been the House Democratic leader since 2023.
Hakeem is the first person of color to lead a major U.S. party in the Congress.
And I know you're not the last, but you are the first. And so on that,
I just want to say welcome and thank you for taking time to talk with me today.
(00:52):
Thank you, Liz. Great to be with you.
So, Hakeem, you are from New York's 8th Congressional District.
Who do you represent there? So it's New York's 8th Congressional District,
which is anchored in Brooklyn, represent an incredibly diverse district,
one of the most diverse in the nation.
As a matter of fact, it historically has been the ninth most African-American
(01:14):
district in the country and the 16th most Jewish.
My good friend Leon Goldenberg tells me all the time, Hakeem,
you got the best of both worlds.
It's an incredibly diverse district anchored in the African-American community
and the Jewish community.
And as a matter of fact, the entire spectrum of a gorgeous mosaic in the context
of the Jewish community.
That's the secular Jewish community, the reformed Jewish community,
(01:37):
the conservative Jewish community, the orthodox Jewish community,
the modern orthodox Jewish community, the ultra-orthodox Jewish community.
And one of the things that is incredibly important about this district is that
because I represent present the Coney Island Peninsula and the neighborhood of Brighton Beach.
I actually serve more Russian-speaking Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet
(02:04):
Union than any other member of Congress in the country.
I mean, this is an only in America situation, and it's the beauty of the 8th
Congressional District.
And I'll just add that my son lives in your district too, so that even makes it more beautiful.
And just because I think sometimes people don't understand what is the leader?
How did you become the leader?
I think it's important for people to understand how things work.
(02:26):
And sometimes people are scared to like, oh, what does it really mean?
So, you know, in the Congress, as we are loosely organized, Democrats on one
side of the aisle, Republicans on the other side of the aisle,
but all Americans, you know, here to serve the people that we're privileged to represent.
But in the context of that bipartisan dynamic With Republicans and Democrats
(02:48):
on the Democratic side, when we're in the majority, the top Democrat in the
Congress is the speaker.
And then there is Democratic majority leader, the Democratic whip. That's two and three.
The Democratic chair, which would be for chair of the House Democratic Caucus,
and then the Democratic vice chair. That's sort of how Democrats organize themselves.
(03:11):
Republican situation is pretty similar. When we're in the minority,
which is the case right now, of course, the speaker who holds the gavel is on
the other side of the aisle.
So then the top Democratic leader in the structure is known as the minority
leader or the House Democratic leader.
(03:32):
And so I have the honor of holding that position now, having succeeded a legendary
leader, Speaker Nancy D'Alessandro Pelosi,
when she decided to step out of the leadership after 20 years of,
you know, just iconic, heroic representation and leadership on behalf of the
(03:52):
American people, sometimes as a leader, sometimes as a speaker.
And now to stand on her broad shoulders, along with some of the other new House
Democratic leaders, Catherine Clark and Pete Aguilar and Ted Lieu,
all of whom you know very well.
It's an interesting piece, and I think it's for people to get to understand how the system works.
So thank you. And one of the other things before we dive into like your beginnings
(04:14):
that I just wanted to share is that, you know, one of the things that I have
seen over the last eight months is that Republicans and Democrats do work together.
Sometimes we just hear in the
press only the disasters, but there's a lot of work that does get done.
But one of the things that I wanted just to talk about for a minute was that,
you know, on October 7th, when my great niece, Abigail, was taken as a hostage
(04:36):
by Hamas terrorists to Gaza, I found myself on the Hill here pretty much like a week and a half after.
And I met you. And I also met Congressman Steve Scalise, two very different leaders.
But one of the things and then many others and I was here to in a position of
needing so much help to get Abigail free and 240 hostages free and.
(05:00):
More and more people started to come. But one of the things that has been consistent
is that Democrats and Republicans have been together, united for these hostages.
And we saw at the State of the Union when President Biden spoke,
the Republicans joined the Democrats in rising two times, one for John Lewis,
and the second when he talked about the hostages.
And I just say, you know, as an American and having been put in this position
(05:25):
that I celebrate in the midst of all this tragedy and this horror and that we're still living with,
that both the Republican side and the Democratic side have come together.
So I just wanted to say thank you because I know that that's part of leadership
on both sides to make that happen. That's been incredibly important.
And your leadership in that regard has been so meaningful, so authentic,
(05:47):
so heartfelt at a very searing moment for you, your family, Abigail,
and of course, the hostage families in Israel,
in America, and every person of decency and goodwill, regardless of what their
ideological perspective is on a wide variety of issues, both domestic and national security.
(06:11):
Should, from the standpoint of humanity, recognize the trauma that has been
inflicted on the hostages and their families.
And for that matter, the Israeli people, and work in a bipartisan way,
to stand with the families, make it clear that we stand with the hostages and
(06:32):
are prepared to do everything possible to bring them home.
And I'll just add to that, you know, one of the messages that I have been as
a hostage family member and Abigail and 109 women and children were released
at the end of October, November, 2023 in a week.
And one of the things that I have always talked about going back to that humanity
is that, yes, you need to release least these hostages.
(06:55):
They are innocent people that were kidnapped and stolen.
You need to find a way to stop the fighting. And we need to help the people,
the Palestinians who are living in Gaza.
And I think that that's my personal message.
But I think it goes back to like, we need to take care of each other as people.
And that's, you know, part of the reason why I started this podcast before everything
(07:16):
was to really talk about the heart and humanity, because I realize and recognize
in our leaders, there is a lot of heart and humanity, but it It doesn't always
get past the two minutes you get on a news show.
Yeah. No, I appreciate that. And I think there should be some core principles that bring us together.
Hamas clearly has to be decisively defeated.
That's a core principle. The hostages must be returned.
(07:39):
That's a core principle. They've been kidnapped and held in horrific conditions for months. Yeah.
Torn away from their families in the most horrific of circumstances.
Circumstances and we also must surge humanitarian
assistance into Gaza so we
can be there for Palestinian civilians who are in harm's
way in a theater of war through no
(08:02):
fault of their own and we can find the space
to recognize that these are some
core principles that we can all lean into and then build from there to get to
a place where we can find a path forward and I'm I'm thankful for the leadership
of President Biden toward a just and lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinian people.
(08:25):
Yeah. Well, thank you. And I think it's an important conversation.
And I usually don't go down that.
But I know that we have you're one of the first people that I did come with
a group to meet with. So thank you.
Having talked about that, the family, because, again, this is about family.
What we've been discussing, you have an interesting family and you come from
Brooklyn, so you never left. That's right.
Could you talk a little bit about growing up in Brooklyn, about your parents
(08:48):
and what they did and what they gave to you as a young person that got you here today?
Yeah. You know, I grew up in central Brooklyn, Crown Heights,
working class neighborhood.
Grew up in a union household. Both my parents were public employees throughout their entire lives.
My mom was a caseworker for the Human Resources Administration.
(09:09):
My father was a substance abuse social worker who...
Was in the community during some challenging times, which also include the heroin
explosion of the 1970s and the crack cocaine epidemic of the mid 80s into the early 90s.
So my younger brother and I grew up in that household.
(09:31):
We were raised in the Cornerstone Baptist Church. We were both born in Brooklyn Hospital.
And it's been an incredible journey.
Those were very trying times in the neighborhood and in the community.
The next day, the next week, the next month in that type of neighborhood at
that time was never entirely promised,
(09:52):
but I'm thankful to family, to my parents, to the community to have been raised
in a nurturing environment and eventually to make it to college and the grad
school and the law school,
start a career in the law, and
then ultimately have an opportunity to be elected to the state assembly.
(10:14):
Family where I served for six years.
And then about 12 years ago to the United States Congress.
And in that time, did you have a teacher or teachers that are still in your
life or said things or did things that got to you where you are?
Because a lot of leaders have really specific memories of their teachers and
(10:34):
their words and their influence.
Yeah. Well, I think there were probably three people who were pretty influential
influential beyond my parents and my grandmother, who we affectionately refer to as Grandma Nano.
Who was wise, you know, beyond her years, always took the time for my brother, for myself,
(10:55):
to give her thoughts, her insight, her perspective on staying the course,
you know, how to grow up and be a responsible young person, a family-oriented
person, you know, someone who looks out for the community.
So Nano, as we call them, Grandma Nano was an incredibly important influence.
Professionally, there were probably three people who were very important to me along my journey.
(11:24):
One would certainly be Professor Randy Hertz,
who was a professor of mine at NYU Law School in the juvenile rights clinic,
which I had the opportunity to participate in, in my third year,
one of the most popular professors at NYU law school,
very social justice oriented.
(11:45):
And, you know, he was just a wonderful figure throughout my law school journey.
And up until this very day.
I grew up in the Cornerstone Baptist Church, as I mentioned,
and I've had three different pastors throughout that period of time.
But for 21 years, during my most formative years, it was the Reverend Dr.
Harry Starks Wright, who is a legendary Baptist preacher, but just such a fundamentally
(12:10):
good man who always took out the time to nurture and develop myself,
my younger a brother in all the young people in the church.
And thankfully, in his 90s, he's still with us and had the opportunity to spend
a little time with him last year.
But he's been an incredibly important influence in my life.
(12:31):
And then I practiced law, as you know, at the Fort Weiss Rifkin Morton and Garrison
Law Firm, great law firm.
I was in the litigation department, got a wonderful opportunity to learn the
art and science of the law through some of the great litigators in the country and in the world.
One of them is pretty prominent attorney named Ted Wells, who has become an
(12:54):
incredible mentor and supporter throughout my professional journey.
So it's been, it's been a wonderful thing to have people who've taken an interest in me along the way.
And I've tried to return that as I now find myself in a more seasoned.
Stage of life.
(13:41):
Yeah, there's no doubt about it that when someone serves, In office,
or when you serve in Congress, we have a view that the entire family serves.
The entire family sacrifices in that regard.
Throughout the year, most of the weeks, we are gone.
We leave home at the beginning of the week. We come to Washington to represent
the people that we're privileged to serve.
(14:02):
And we leave our families behind in those districts.
And so we're thankful for our spouses. You know, and in my case,
my wife is a social worker.
And so I come from a family of social workers.
I'm not sure what happened to me. Although part of what we try to do is bring
the compassion of a social worker to our constituent service.
(14:24):
And so I've certainly learned that.
But we're thankful for our families, for our spouses, for our partners,
because it is a sacrifice,
a wonderful honor to be able to be in the position to represent your constituents
in the great tradition of the House of Representatives,
(14:45):
anchored in this principle of representative government. government,
but we're appreciative.
And I think every opportunity that we have as members of Congress to articulate
that appreciation is important.
Many of us are preparing for the annual White House Congressional Picnic,
where you'll see children here in the Congress and eventually at the White House.
(15:09):
I'm scheduled to talk to some of the families a little later on,
One, I'm going to make the point that we appreciate them giving us the ability
to do the work that we do, and it could not be done without them.
Yeah, no, it's true. And you mentioned one other thing, which I think is also
important for people to understand is like your constituents.
Like you are here in DC, but you spend a lot of time in your community as do all the leaders.
(15:33):
And that's a big part of it is like helping the people. So when you talk about
social work, while you're not a social worker, there is a huge social component,
which is the relationships with your community.
Yeah, the key to the best social worker is compassion and understanding.
And that's also key if you're going to be an effective representative member of Congress,
(15:57):
particularly in the House, where we pride ourselves in being part of an institution
that the framers viewed as the institution that would would be the closest to the American people.
And to reflect the hopes, the dreams, the aspirations, the fears,
the concerns, the anxieties, or in the words of the framers,
(16:18):
the passions of the American people.
This is what the House was designed to be.
It's the reason, as you know, Liz, that the House has two-year terms as opposed
to the presidency, four-year term.
The United States Senate, six-year term. Right. Imagine that must be nice. Yeah.
Or the Supreme Court, life tenure. Yeah. We're the institution that is designed
(16:43):
to constantly be refreshed so that we stay close to the American people that
we're privileged to represent.
And that does require making sure that you're present on the ground to your
question when you are back home interacting with the people.
Yeah. We're going to go to my last part, which is rapid questions.
(17:03):
You can answer rapidly or slowly, but just ways for people to get to know who you are.
Yeah. Because at the end of the day, all that we've been talking about,
it comes down to like, who are you also?
What do you like or what don't you like? What is your favorite sound?
Sound of waves crashing in the ocean. Yeah. Favorite color?
(17:23):
Blue. Favorite smell? Roses. Who is your biggest cheerleader?
My mom. What is your favorite ice cream flavor?
Vanilla. If you had one meal that you could only have, what would it be?
I would say sea bass. Okay.
Sounds good. With some seasoned vegetables and a baked potato.
(17:44):
Very healthy, but also good. Very healthy.
Also some good flavor. Yeah. I like it.
I have a question. What did you want to be when you grew up?
Did you have something that you thought you were going to be?
I think when I was in high school, I had two aspirations.
Point guard for the New York Knicks. Yes. Hip hop artists.
Neither necessarily worked out. I did land in a pretty amazing place in the
(18:08):
United States Congress.
But I think like most kids growing up in Brooklyn, coming of age in the mid 20s,
80s, early 90s, you know, those were aspirations.
Yeah. Do you still have time to work out? I have to lean in to working out.
I'm, you know, I'm not able to play as much basketball as I've,
(18:28):
you know, had in my twenties or thirties or even in to my early forties, but I've.
Over the last several months with intentionality, you know, tried to carve out
the space to be active, particularly with all of the anxiety and the intensity of the job.
Do you have music you listen to that just to disconnect?
That's very easy. 90s hip-hop into early 2000s hip-hop. What's your favorite household chore?
(18:53):
Myself, as well as my sons, have been conferred the responsibility of making
sure that the sink is always kept clean and tidy.
Okay, so that may not be your favorite, but you have a job. It's not my favorite,
but it's the one that I better get done. Yes, okay, good. And what is your superpower?
What is Hakeem Jeffries' superpower? Well, one of the things I've learned
(19:14):
in this job where we're
faced with a series of unprecedented events is that
calm is an intentional decision and that we can't change the fact that we're
living in an unprecedented era of great challenge and crisis that hopefully
(19:37):
we will work our way out of.
And we have no option other than to work our way out of it.
But when you're in it and there's this flood of intense events.
The only thing that you can control as a threshold matter is staying calm when
the unprecedented events occur.
And then in doing so, trying to arrive at a decision that's serious,
(20:04):
sober, and substantive.
But I've learned in this job in particular, over the last 18 months, that,
calm is an intentional decision. Yeah. And an important one.
Did anybody ever along the way give you some really good advice or really bad advice?
Well, one of the things that I've learned along the way is that,
(20:28):
you know, adversity is a, is an important, necessary, inescapable part of life.
And, you know, something that I think I learned in high school when,
you know, I lost my subway pass, which high school students receive.
And in those days, if you lost your subway pass for the month,
(20:52):
you couldn't get a replacement one.
And I was terrified of having to tell my parents or Nana, my grandmother, what had happened.
And it was a moment of adversity that I had to confront, be honest in confronting it.
Somehow it worked out. I prayed and somehow showed up a day or two later.
(21:14):
And along the way, I've realized that, you know, confronting adversity is a
necessary part of life. Right.
And you are going to get knocked down, but that a knockdown is different than
a knockout. You can get up off the ground.
You can move forward. You can learn from whatever challenges that you've confronted
and move forward to create a brighter day.
(21:37):
Yeah. No, it's a good one. And it's interesting that that's something you still
remember, that moment of losing that card all these years later with everything
you've done, that that still sticks up because you had to confront your parents and your grandmother.
That's right. Pretty interesting. So this is my last question that I've asked
everybody, and I think the answers have been beautiful.
What is your definition of joy?
(21:59):
What brings you joy professionally, personally? And how, if you have joy as
a person, a leader, do you share that joy with others?
I think sports, in some ways, is such a unifying arena and series of events
for people to rally behind.
And I raise that because, most recently, over the last several decades,
(22:25):
it's not necessarily been joyful to be a Knick fan.
It's amazing to be a Knick fan, but not joyful. But you're reminded of the joy of it.
Of being connected to a sports team when every now and then in the case of the
New York Knicks, and we've seen the last few years, you know,
actually be filled with a lot more winning than has traditionally been the case
(22:47):
in the previous 20 years.
And their most recent season and their most recent playoff run was really joyful.
And it also creates some good hope and optimism in terms of what's to come in the next season.
And it was a particularly compelling team that fought through a lot of adversity
that represented the resilience, you know, of the city of New York.
(23:11):
And the city really comes together when the Knicks are good. We love the Yankees.
I love the Jets. City really comes together.
Every race, every religion, every ethnicity of all ages and did that when the
Knicks had their most recent run.
And it really did give me a lot of joy. Yeah. And it gave so many people a lot
(23:35):
of joy and it brought everyone together.
It didn't matter where you came from, who you were, how you vote,
what you do, you could come together.
And I think that is one of the special moments. And you also do come together
when they don't do as well, but it's a lot more joyful when they do well. That's right.
Anyways, listen, I appreciate your time and I know you have a lot to do, but thank you.
And really thank you for your authenticity because at the end of the day,
(23:57):
I really do know that you and And many of your colleagues, both sides of the
aisle, have hearts in humanity.
But it's very rare that you have an opportunity in an interview,
30 minutes, not to have to sell something or tell what you voted on,
but really just have a conversation as if we were sitting in your living room,
but we're in your office and drinking coffee.
So thank you for giving me this opportunity and for everybody to get to know
(24:20):
really who Congressman Leader Hakeem Jeffries is.
Thank you. Well, thank you for the space to be able to do it.
Thank you for your incredible partnership. partnership, friendship.
Music.
And leadership. Thank you.
Music.
(00:11):
I'm Liz Hirsh-Naftali, and welcome to the Capital Coffee Connection podcast.
And on this podcast, I am speaking with diverse leaders about their hearts,
their humanity, their home, and their hopes.
And we are trying to transcend political divides and really just talk to real
people about their titles, their jobs, and who they are.
(00:31):
So today I'm super excited because I get to speak with Hakeem Jeffries,
who's been the House Democratic leader since 2023.
Hakeem is the first person of color to lead a major U.S. party in the Congress.
And I know you're not the last, but you are the first. And so on that,
I just want to say welcome and thank you for taking time to talk with me today.
(00:52):
Thank you, Liz. Great to be with you.
So, Hakeem, you are from New York's 8th Congressional District.
Who do you represent there? So it's New York's 8th Congressional District,
which is anchored in Brooklyn, represent an incredibly diverse district,
one of the most diverse in the nation.
As a matter of fact, it historically has been the ninth most African-American
(01:14):
district in the country and the 16th most Jewish.
My good friend Leon Goldenberg tells me all the time, Hakeem,
you got the best of both worlds.
It's an incredibly diverse district anchored in the African-American community
and the Jewish community.
And as a matter of fact, the entire spectrum of a gorgeous mosaic in the context
of the Jewish community.
That's the secular Jewish community, the reformed Jewish community,
(01:37):
the conservative Jewish community, the orthodox Jewish community,
the modern orthodox Jewish community, the ultra-orthodox Jewish community.
And one of the things that is incredibly important about this district is that
because I represent present the Coney Island Peninsula and the neighborhood of Brighton Beach.
I actually serve more Russian-speaking Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet
(02:04):
Union than any other member of Congress in the country.
I mean, this is an only in America situation, and it's the beauty of the 8th
Congressional District.
And I'll just add that my son lives in your district too, so that even makes it more beautiful.
And just because I think sometimes people don't understand what is the leader?
How did you become the leader?
I think it's important for people to understand how things work.
(02:26):
And sometimes people are scared to like, oh, what does it really mean?
So, you know, in the Congress, as we are loosely organized, Democrats on one
side of the aisle, Republicans on the other side of the aisle,
but all Americans, you know, here to serve the people that we're privileged to represent.
But in the context of that bipartisan dynamic With Republicans and Democrats
(02:48):
on the Democratic side, when we're in the majority, the top Democrat in the
Congress is the speaker.
And then there is Democratic majority leader, the Democratic whip. That's two and three.
The Democratic chair, which would be for chair of the House Democratic Caucus,
and then the Democratic vice chair. That's sort of how Democrats organize themselves.
(03:11):
Republican situation is pretty similar. When we're in the minority,
which is the case right now, of course, the speaker who holds the gavel is on
the other side of the aisle.
So then the top Democratic leader in the structure is known as the minority
leader or the House Democratic leader.
(03:32):
And so I have the honor of holding that position now, having succeeded a legendary
leader, Speaker Nancy D'Alessandro Pelosi,
when she decided to step out of the leadership after 20 years of,
you know, just iconic, heroic representation and leadership on behalf of the
(03:52):
American people, sometimes as a leader, sometimes as a speaker.
And now to stand on her broad shoulders, along with some of the other new House
Democratic leaders, Catherine Clark and Pete Aguilar and Ted Lieu,
all of whom you know very well.
It's an interesting piece, and I think it's for people to get to understand how the system works.
So thank you. And one of the other things before we dive into like your beginnings
(04:14):
that I just wanted to share is that, you know, one of the things that I have
seen over the last eight months is that Republicans and Democrats do work together.
Sometimes we just hear in the
press only the disasters, but there's a lot of work that does get done.
But one of the things that I wanted just to talk about for a minute was that,
you know, on October 7th, when my great niece, Abigail, was taken as a hostage
(04:36):
by Hamas terrorists to Gaza, I found myself on the Hill here pretty much like a week and a half after.
And I met you. And I also met Congressman Steve Scalise, two very different leaders.
But one of the things and then many others and I was here to in a position of
needing so much help to get Abigail free and 240 hostages free and.
(05:00):
More and more people started to come. But one of the things that has been consistent
is that Democrats and Republicans have been together, united for these hostages.
And we saw at the State of the Union when President Biden spoke,
the Republicans joined the Democrats in rising two times, one for John Lewis,
and the second when he talked about the hostages.
And I just say, you know, as an American and having been put in this position
(05:25):
that I celebrate in the midst of all this tragedy and this horror and that we're still living with,
that both the Republican side and the Democratic side have come together.
So I just wanted to say thank you because I know that that's part of leadership
on both sides to make that happen. That's been incredibly important.
And your leadership in that regard has been so meaningful, so authentic,
(05:47):
so heartfelt at a very searing moment for you, your family, Abigail,
and of course, the hostage families in Israel,
in America, and every person of decency and goodwill, regardless of what their
ideological perspective is on a wide variety of issues, both domestic and national security.
(06:11):
Should, from the standpoint of humanity, recognize the trauma that has been
inflicted on the hostages and their families.
And for that matter, the Israeli people, and work in a bipartisan way,
to stand with the families, make it clear that we stand with the hostages and
(06:32):
are prepared to do everything possible to bring them home.
And I'll just add to that, you know, one of the messages that I have been as
a hostage family member and Abigail and 109 women and children were released
at the end of October, November, 2023 in a week.
And one of the things that I have always talked about going back to that humanity
is that, yes, you need to release least these hostages.
(06:55):
They are innocent people that were kidnapped and stolen.
You need to find a way to stop the fighting. And we need to help the people,
the Palestinians who are living in Gaza.
And I think that that's my personal message.
But I think it goes back to like, we need to take care of each other as people.
And that's, you know, part of the reason why I started this podcast before everything
(07:16):
was to really talk about the heart and humanity, because I realize and recognize
in our leaders, there is a lot of heart and humanity, but it It doesn't always
get past the two minutes you get on a news show.
Yeah. No, I appreciate that. And I think there should be some core principles that bring us together.
Hamas clearly has to be decisively defeated.
That's a core principle. The hostages must be returned.
(07:39):
That's a core principle. They've been kidnapped and held in horrific conditions for months. Yeah.
Torn away from their families in the most horrific of circumstances.
Circumstances and we also must surge humanitarian
assistance into Gaza so we
can be there for Palestinian civilians who are in harm's
way in a theater of war through no
(08:02):
fault of their own and we can find the space
to recognize that these are some
core principles that we can all lean into and then build from there to get to
a place where we can find a path forward and I'm I'm thankful for the leadership
of President Biden toward a just and lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinian people.
(08:25):
Yeah. Well, thank you. And I think it's an important conversation.
And I usually don't go down that.
But I know that we have you're one of the first people that I did come with
a group to meet with. So thank you.
Having talked about that, the family, because, again, this is about family.
What we've been discussing, you have an interesting family and you come from
Brooklyn, so you never left. That's right.
Could you talk a little bit about growing up in Brooklyn, about your parents
(08:48):
and what they did and what they gave to you as a young person that got you here today?
Yeah. You know, I grew up in central Brooklyn, Crown Heights,
working class neighborhood.
Grew up in a union household. Both my parents were public employees throughout their entire lives.
My mom was a caseworker for the Human Resources Administration.
(09:09):
My father was a substance abuse social worker who...
Was in the community during some challenging times, which also include the heroin
explosion of the 1970s and the crack cocaine epidemic of the mid 80s into the early 90s.
So my younger brother and I grew up in that household.
(09:31):
We were raised in the Cornerstone Baptist Church. We were both born in Brooklyn Hospital.
And it's been an incredible journey.
Those were very trying times in the neighborhood and in the community.
The next day, the next week, the next month in that type of neighborhood at
that time was never entirely promised,
(09:52):
but I'm thankful to family, to my parents, to the community to have been raised
in a nurturing environment and eventually to make it to college and the grad
school and the law school,
start a career in the law, and
then ultimately have an opportunity to be elected to the state assembly.
(10:14):
Family where I served for six years.
And then about 12 years ago to the United States Congress.
And in that time, did you have a teacher or teachers that are still in your
life or said things or did things that got to you where you are?
Because a lot of leaders have really specific memories of their teachers and
(10:34):
their words and their influence.
Yeah. Well, I think there were probably three people who were pretty influential
influential beyond my parents and my grandmother, who we affectionately refer to as Grandma Nano.
Who was wise, you know, beyond her years, always took the time for my brother, for myself,
(10:55):
to give her thoughts, her insight, her perspective on staying the course,
you know, how to grow up and be a responsible young person, a family-oriented
person, you know, someone who looks out for the community.
So Nano, as we call them, Grandma Nano was an incredibly important influence.
Professionally, there were probably three people who were very important to me along my journey.
(11:24):
One would certainly be Professor Randy Hertz,
who was a professor of mine at NYU Law School in the juvenile rights clinic,
which I had the opportunity to participate in, in my third year,
one of the most popular professors at NYU law school,
very social justice oriented.
(11:45):
And, you know, he was just a wonderful figure throughout my law school journey.
And up until this very day.
I grew up in the Cornerstone Baptist Church, as I mentioned,
and I've had three different pastors throughout that period of time.
But for 21 years, during my most formative years, it was the Reverend Dr.
Harry Starks Wright, who is a legendary Baptist preacher, but just such a fundamentally
(12:10):
good man who always took out the time to nurture and develop myself,
my younger a brother in all the young people in the church.
And thankfully, in his 90s, he's still with us and had the opportunity to spend
a little time with him last year.
But he's been an incredibly important influence in my life.
(12:31):
And then I practiced law, as you know, at the Fort Weiss Rifkin Morton and Garrison
Law Firm, great law firm.
I was in the litigation department, got a wonderful opportunity to learn the
art and science of the law through some of the great litigators in the country and in the world.
One of them is pretty prominent attorney named Ted Wells, who has become an
(12:54):
incredible mentor and supporter throughout my professional journey.
So it's been, it's been a wonderful thing to have people who've taken an interest in me along the way.
And I've tried to return that as I now find myself in a more seasoned.
Stage of life.
(13:41):
Yeah, there's no doubt about it that when someone serves, In office,
or when you serve in Congress, we have a view that the entire family serves.
The entire family sacrifices in that regard.
Throughout the year, most of the weeks, we are gone.
We leave home at the beginning of the week. We come to Washington to represent
the people that we're privileged to serve.
(14:02):
And we leave our families behind in those districts.
And so we're thankful for our spouses. You know, and in my case,
my wife is a social worker.
And so I come from a family of social workers.
I'm not sure what happened to me. Although part of what we try to do is bring
the compassion of a social worker to our constituent service.
(14:24):
And so I've certainly learned that.
But we're thankful for our families, for our spouses, for our partners,
because it is a sacrifice,
a wonderful honor to be able to be in the position to represent your constituents
in the great tradition of the House of Representatives,
(14:45):
anchored in this principle of representative government. government,
but we're appreciative.
And I think every opportunity that we have as members of Congress to articulate
that appreciation is important.
Many of us are preparing for the annual White House Congressional Picnic,
where you'll see children here in the Congress and eventually at the White House.
(15:09):
I'm scheduled to talk to some of the families a little later on,
One, I'm going to make the point that we appreciate them giving us the ability
to do the work that we do, and it could not be done without them.
Yeah, no, it's true. And you mentioned one other thing, which I think is also
important for people to understand is like your constituents.
Like you are here in DC, but you spend a lot of time in your community as do all the leaders.
(15:33):
And that's a big part of it is like helping the people. So when you talk about
social work, while you're not a social worker, there is a huge social component,
which is the relationships with your community.
Yeah, the key to the best social worker is compassion and understanding.
And that's also key if you're going to be an effective representative member of Congress,
(15:57):
particularly in the House, where we pride ourselves in being part of an institution
that the framers viewed as the institution that would would be the closest to the American people.
And to reflect the hopes, the dreams, the aspirations, the fears,
the concerns, the anxieties, or in the words of the framers,
(16:18):
the passions of the American people.
This is what the House was designed to be.
It's the reason, as you know, Liz, that the House has two-year terms as opposed
to the presidency, four-year term.
The United States Senate, six-year term. Right. Imagine that must be nice. Yeah.
Or the Supreme Court, life tenure. Yeah. We're the institution that is designed
(16:43):
to constantly be refreshed so that we stay close to the American people that
we're privileged to represent.
And that does require making sure that you're present on the ground to your
question when you are back home interacting with the people.
Yeah. We're going to go to my last part, which is rapid questions.
(17:03):
You can answer rapidly or slowly, but just ways for people to get to know who you are.
Yeah. Because at the end of the day, all that we've been talking about,
it comes down to like, who are you also?
What do you like or what don't you like? What is your favorite sound?
Sound of waves crashing in the ocean. Yeah. Favorite color?
(17:23):
Blue. Favorite smell? Roses. Who is your biggest cheerleader?
My mom. What is your favorite ice cream flavor?
Vanilla. If you had one meal that you could only have, what would it be?
I would say sea bass. Okay.
Sounds good. With some seasoned vegetables and a baked potato.
(17:44):
Very healthy, but also good. Very healthy.
Also some good flavor. Yeah. I like it.
I have a question. What did you want to be when you grew up?
Did you have something that you thought you were going to be?
I think when I was in high school, I had two aspirations.
Point guard for the New York Knicks. Yes. Hip hop artists.
Neither necessarily worked out. I did land in a pretty amazing place in the
(18:08):
United States Congress.
But I think like most kids growing up in Brooklyn, coming of age in the mid 20s,
80s, early 90s, you know, those were aspirations.
Yeah. Do you still have time to work out? I have to lean in to working out.
I'm, you know, I'm not able to play as much basketball as I've,
(18:28):
you know, had in my twenties or thirties or even in to my early forties, but I've.
Over the last several months with intentionality, you know, tried to carve out
the space to be active, particularly with all of the anxiety and the intensity of the job.
Do you have music you listen to that just to disconnect?
That's very easy. 90s hip-hop into early 2000s hip-hop. What's your favorite household chore?
(18:53):
Myself, as well as my sons, have been conferred the responsibility of making
sure that the sink is always kept clean and tidy.
Okay, so that may not be your favorite, but you have a job. It's not my favorite,
but it's the one that I better get done. Yes, okay, good. And what is your superpower?
What is Hakeem Jeffries' superpower? Well, one of the things I've learned
(19:14):
in this job where we're
faced with a series of unprecedented events is that
calm is an intentional decision and that we can't change the fact that we're
living in an unprecedented era of great challenge and crisis that hopefully
(19:37):
we will work our way out of.
And we have no option other than to work our way out of it.
But when you're in it and there's this flood of intense events.
The only thing that you can control as a threshold matter is staying calm when
the unprecedented events occur.
And then in doing so, trying to arrive at a decision that's serious,
(20:04):
sober, and substantive.
But I've learned in this job in particular, over the last 18 months, that,
calm is an intentional decision. Yeah. And an important one.
Did anybody ever along the way give you some really good advice or really bad advice?
Well, one of the things that I've learned along the way is that,
(20:28):
you know, adversity is a, is an important, necessary, inescapable part of life.
And, you know, something that I think I learned in high school when,
you know, I lost my subway pass, which high school students receive.
And in those days, if you lost your subway pass for the month,
(20:52):
you couldn't get a replacement one.
And I was terrified of having to tell my parents or Nana, my grandmother, what had happened.
And it was a moment of adversity that I had to confront, be honest in confronting it.
Somehow it worked out. I prayed and somehow showed up a day or two later.
(21:14):
And along the way, I've realized that, you know, confronting adversity is a
necessary part of life. Right.
And you are going to get knocked down, but that a knockdown is different than
a knockout. You can get up off the ground.
You can move forward. You can learn from whatever challenges that you've confronted
and move forward to create a brighter day.
(21:37):
Yeah. No, it's a good one. And it's interesting that that's something you still
remember, that moment of losing that card all these years later with everything
you've done, that that still sticks up because you had to confront your parents and your grandmother.
That's right. Pretty interesting. So this is my last question that I've asked
everybody, and I think the answers have been beautiful.
What is your definition of joy?
(21:59):
What brings you joy professionally, personally? And how, if you have joy as
a person, a leader, do you share that joy with others?
I think sports, in some ways, is such a unifying arena and series of events
for people to rally behind.
And I raise that because, most recently, over the last several decades,
(22:25):
it's not necessarily been joyful to be a Knick fan.
It's amazing to be a Knick fan, but not joyful. But you're reminded of the joy of it.
Of being connected to a sports team when every now and then in the case of the
New York Knicks, and we've seen the last few years, you know,
actually be filled with a lot more winning than has traditionally been the case
(22:47):
in the previous 20 years.
And their most recent season and their most recent playoff run was really joyful.
And it also creates some good hope and optimism in terms of what's to come in the next season.
And it was a particularly compelling team that fought through a lot of adversity
that represented the resilience, you know, of the city of New York.
(23:11):
And the city really comes together when the Knicks are good. We love the Yankees.
I love the Jets. City really comes together.
Every race, every religion, every ethnicity of all ages and did that when the
Knicks had their most recent run.
And it really did give me a lot of joy. Yeah. And it gave so many people a lot
(23:35):
of joy and it brought everyone together.
It didn't matter where you came from, who you were, how you vote,
what you do, you could come together.
And I think that is one of the special moments. And you also do come together
when they don't do as well, but it's a lot more joyful when they do well. That's right.
Anyways, listen, I appreciate your time and I know you have a lot to do, but thank you.
And really thank you for your authenticity because at the end of the day,
(23:57):
I really do know that you and And many of your colleagues, both sides of the
aisle, have hearts in humanity.
But it's very rare that you have an opportunity in an interview,
30 minutes, not to have to sell something or tell what you voted on,
but really just have a conversation as if we were sitting in your living room,
but we're in your office and drinking coffee.
So thank you for giving me this opportunity and for everybody to get to know
(24:20):
really who Congressman Leader Hakeem Jeffries is.
Thank you. Well, thank you for the space to be able to do it.
Thank you for your incredible partnership. partnership, friendship.
Music.
And leadership. Thank you.
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