Prisons in the United States are something of a disaster—both in terms of justice and the budget. Some background: Roughly 1,000 California inmates may be released this year before they complete their sentences because of a court order based on severe overcrowding in the state’s prisons. At the same time, in Louisiana, a federal judge is looking at whether […]

Thirty of some of the most influential black New Yorkers for 2013-2014 – as recommended by a committee consisting of representatives from the NAACP, 100 Black Men, the Delta’s, New York State Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus, New York City Council Black Latino and Asian Caucus, New York Urban League, Association of […]

Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), the second-ranked Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives, is leading fellow Democrats on a tour of Israel funded by AIPAC’s educational affiliate. Two freshmen, Reps. Lois Frankel (D-Fla.) and Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) announced they were joining this week’s tour, which will include meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders as well […]

Brooklyn has a fairly stable population, not too young, not too old – but varying greatly in ethnic background. One can reach these conclusions by reading reports from the Census Bureau’s recently releasedAmerican Community Survey, which is now online. The survey is organized by congressional district(C.D.), of which Brooklyn has six. Of these six, two […]

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Following the lead of President Obama, who spoke candidly last week about the realities of racial discrimination, members of the Congressional Black Caucus on Monday night held an emotional and rare discussion on racial inequality in America. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, who led the conversation, said the goal was to guarantee every person, regardless of race, […]

  [[{“fid”:”482″,”view_mode”:”full”,”type”:”media”,”link_text”:null,”attributes”:{“height”:”308″,”width”:”551″,”title”:”NY1 Farm Bill”,”class”:”media-element file-full”}}]] The Road to City Hall's Errol Louis discussed the congressional farm bill that eliminates funding for food stamps with Joel Berg, the executive director of New York City's Coalition Against Hunger, and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, who represents parts of Brooklyn and Queens. Click on the image above to watch the […]

Nearly a week after George Zimmerman was acquitted of killing Trayvon Martin, President Barack Obama made his feelings about the situation clear: race and racism had a lot to do with Martin’s death, and the country needs to start grappling with what that means. In arguably the most direct and personal comments about race he’s […]

[[{“fid”:”481″,”view_mode”:”full”,”type”:”media”,”link_text”:null,”attributes”:{“height”:”337″,”width”:”664″,”alt”:”MSNBC HS Chief”,”class”:”media-element file-full”}}]] Click on the image above to watch the interview. President Obama spoke favorably about New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly as a potential future Department of Homeland Security chief. Chris Hayes and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., explain why they believe Kelly is the wrong choice.  

It was no surprise that during interviews with Univision and other Spanish-language stations that aired this week, immigration reform was the most discussed issue for President Obama. With the U.S. Senate and House in disagreement over provisions of an overhaul, and Democrats and Republicans vying for the votes of a growing demographic, that was expected. But while […]