Representative Hakeem Jeffries
Credit: © lev radin/Shutterstock

On Tuesday, January 3, 2023, Hakeem Jeffries became the first Black person to lead a party in the United States Congress. As the leader of the Democratic Party in Congress, Jeffries will fill the role formerly held by Representative Nancy Pelosi, who was speaker and minority leader of the House of Representatives since 2003. His success was overshadowed by the dramatic chaos of Republican Representative Kevin McCarthy’s campaign to be elected Speaker of the House, which continued for days for the first time in a century. In 2022, the Democratic Caucus of the House of Representatives elected Jeffries minority leader. Jeffries became a member of the House in 2013. He represents a district of New York that includes the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens.

A Brooklyn native, Hakeem Sekou Jeffries was born on Aug. 4, 1970. His father was a substance abuse counselor, and his mother was a social worker. Jeffries graduated from New York’s Binghamton University in 1992 with a bachelor’s degree in political science. He continued his studies, earning a master’s degree in public policy at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Jeffries returned to New York City to enroll in the New York University School of Law, graduating with honors in 1997.

After law school, Jeffries clerked for Judge Harold Baer, Jr., of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. He then practiced law at a private firm. He later served as litigation counsel for the media companies Viacom Inc. and CBS. Jeffries ran for the New York State Assembly in 2000 and 2002, losing to the incumbent Roger Green. When Green vacated the post in 2006, Jeffries ran and won the election, serving in the role for three terms.

In 2012, Jeffries was elected to his first term in the U.S. House of Representatives. He served on the House Judiciary Committee and the House Budget Committee. In 2018, Jeffries was appointed to serve as the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus for the 116th Congress. In 2020, he served as impeachment manager for the Senate trial of former President Donald Trump. Jeffries’s political priorities include criminal justice reform and economic and health care security.

For the first time in 233 years, Native American, Native Alaskan, and Native Hawaiian all in U.S. House. From left to right: Reps. Kaialiʻi Kahele, Mary Peltola and Sharice Davids.
Credit: Congressman Kaialiʻi Kahele via Twitter

People in the United States observe Native American Heritage Month each year in November. During this period, many Native tribes celebrate their cultures, histories, and traditions. It is also a time to raise awareness of the challenges Indigenous people have faced in the past and today, along with their contributions to the United States as its first inhabitants.

Representation is important. For centuries, Indigenous Americans have not been represented in powerful positions in the United States government. This fall, that changed. When Representative Mary Peltola was elected as representative for Alaska. Peltola became the first woman and first native Alaskan to serve in the role. She joined the ranks of seven Indigenous Americans in Congress. This session also marks the first time a native Hawaiian, Native American, and Native Alaskan have served together. Representative Kaiali‘i Kahele a native Hawaiian for Hawaii, Representative Sharice Davids of the Ho-Chunk nation for Kansas, and Peltola celebrated the monumental accomplishment with a photo together.

Four years ago, Sharice Davids and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland became the first two Indigenous women elected to Congress. The recent increase in representation will allow issues affecting the Indigenous communities more airtime in front of Congress, a path to better solutions.

For example, Congress members will have the power to voice concerns regarding how the federal government interacts with Indigenous Americans day to day. The Supreme Court met to debate a case involving the Indian Child Welfare Act, a law that requires the government to notify tribes if an Indigenous child is removed from a home and give preference to tribe members for foster placement of the child. Also in the news, the Cherokee nation is asking Congress to fulfill a 187-year-old promise of seating a Cherokee delegate permanently in Congress. The promise was made in the Treaty of New Echota signed in 1835.

The other Indigenous Americans currently serving in Congress include Representative Tom Cole of the Chickasaw nation for Oklahoma, Representative Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan for the Northern Mariana Islands, Representative Markwayne Mullin of the Cherokee nation for Oklahoma, Representative Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen for American Samoa, and Yvette Herrell of the Cherokee nation for New Mexico.

British politician Rishi Sunak
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Today, Tuesday, October 25, 2022, Rishi Sunak, the former Chancellor of the Exchequer, has become the 57th prime minister of the United Kingdom. Sunak was the only candidate for the Conservative party following former Prime Minister Liz Truss’ resignation after only seven weeks in office. Sunak pushed for the removal of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson from office this past summer. Sunak made history as the first prime minister of color for the United Kingdom. As a son of Indian parents who moved to the United Kingdom from East Africa in the 1960’s, Sunak is also the first Hindu and first British Indian to serve in the role. At 42 years old, he is also the youngest person to become prime minister since 1812.

Sunak is tasked with cleaning up the British economy after the plan proposed by Truss sparked panic across the country. Sunak is experienced in finance as former Chancellor of the Exchequer. The Exchequer is a department in the Treasury of the United Kingdom. It collects, manages, and spends government funds. The department is controlled by the Treasury Board, which is composed of the prime minister (called the first lord of the treasury), the chancellor of the exchequer, and five junior lords. The chancellor is the minister of finance, and is always a Cabinet member. The chancellor prepares the annual budget. The budget contains proposed government expenditures and a program for raising money to meet these expenditures.

Britain is currently in a financial whirlwind after former Prime Minister Liz Truss reversed plans to cut taxes by 45 billion pounds, after the proposal upset lawmakers and caused the British pound to plummet. Sunak addressed the instability and proposed spending cuts to battle the highest inflation Britain has seen in 40 years.

After meeting with King Charles III at Buckingham Palace, Sunak formally became Britain’s fifth prime minister in six years. He vowed to bring economic stability and confidence to the British government. Since Sunak became prime minister after the resignation, he did not detail his policy plans in campaigns. He secured the premier position without formally addressing his stance on the war in Ukraine, Britain’s relationship with the European Union after Brexit, immigration, or climate change.

Ketanji Brown Jackson
Credit: U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

Today, on April 7, 2022, Ketanji Brown Jackson became the first Black woman to serve on the United States Supreme Court. Jackson became an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States in 2022. President Joe Biden appointed Jackson to fill a vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Stephen Breyer.

Ketanji Onyika Brown was born on Sept. 14, 1970, in Washington, D.C. Brown’s family later relocated to Miami, Florida. Brown studied at Harvard University, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in government in 1992. She worked as a reporter and researcher for Time magazine from 1992 to 1993. Brown attended Harvard Law School, where she worked as an editor of the Harvard Law Review. She graduated from law school in 1996. The same year, she married the American surgeon Patrick Jackson.

From 1996 to 1998, Jackson served as a law clerk in the United States District Court of Massachusetts and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit. In 1999, she served as a law clerk to Justice Breyer. Jackson worked as an associate at several law firms and as a federal assistant public defender. In 2010, Jackson served as the vice chair of the U.S. Sentencing Commission, having been nominated to that position by President Barack Obama. On the commission, Jackson worked to decrease federal sentencing for certain charges. In 2012, Obama nominated Jackson to serve as a judge for the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia, a position she held from 2013 to 2021. In 2021, Biden nominated Jackson to serve as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia circuit.

Smoke rises from the National Assembly building of the South African Parliament in Cape Town, on Jan. 2, 2022. 
Credit: © Lyu Tianran, Xinhua/Alamy Images

South Africa’s Houses of Parliament in Cape Town caught fire on Sunday, Jan. 2, 2022. The flames started in a building next to the National Assembly and spread from there. More than 60 firefighters quickly responded to tame the flames. But the fire burned for hours. Strong winds reignited the flames on a roof on Monday, continuing the blaze into Tuesday morning.

The National Assembly chamber burned down and the roof of one building collapsed. The buildings were empty because Parliament was not in session. No one was injured.

Other parts of parliament were damaged severely by smoke and by water used to put out the fire. Offices of the African National Congress and National Freedom Party were destroyed. The buildings will not be habitable for some time. Parliament will meet in an alternative location, such as the city council chamber.

Security arrested Zandile Christmas Mafe on Sunday for starting the fire. He was charged with arson, housebreaking, theft, and possession of explosives in connection with the blaze.

South Africa’s Parliament consists of the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces. The South African Parliament meets in Cape Town, the country’s legislative capital. The National Assembly has at least 350 and no more than 400 members.

The National Council of Provinces is the upper house of South Africa’s Parliament, representing provincial interests at the national level. The National Council has 90 members.

Ben N. Campbell was a member of the United States Senate from 1993 to 2005. Campbell, a Republican, represented Colorado. Before becoming a senator, Campbell had served in the Colorado House of Representatives and the U.S. House of Representatives.
U.S. Senate

People in the United States observe Native American Heritage Month each year in November. During this period, many Native tribes celebrate their cultures, histories, and traditions. It is also a time to raise awareness of the challenges Indigenous people have faced in the past and today, along with their contributions to the United States as its first inhabitants.

Ben Nighthorse Campbell, a Northern Cheyenne chief, was a member of the United States Senate from 1993 to 2005. He represented Colorado. When he was elected, Campbell became the first Native American person since the late 1920′s to hold a U.S. Senate seat. Charles Curtis, whose mother was part Native American, served in the Senate from 1907 to 1913 and again from 1915 to 1929. Campbell was elected as a Democrat. In 1995, he switched to the Republican Party.

As a senator, Campbell focused on such issues as water conservation and environmental preservation. He worked to protect Colorado’s water resources.

Campbell was born on April 13, 1933, in Auburn, California. His father was Northern Cheyenne, and his mother was of Portuguese descent. Campbell served in the U.S. Air Force from 1951 to 1953. He earned a bachelor’s degree from San José State University in 1957. He also attended Meiji University in Tokyo. Campbell became a judo expert and was a member of the U.S. judo team in the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo. During the late 1960′s and the 1970′s, he built a successful business as a jewelry designer and jewelry maker and became a resident of Colorado.

Campbell was elected to the Colorado House of Representatives in 1982. He served from 1983 until 1986, when he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. He won reelection to the U.S. House in 1988 and 1990. In 1992, he was elected to the U.S. Senate, and he took office in 1993. He was reelected in 1998.

In 2004, Campbell announced that because of concerns about his health he would not seek reelection that year to the Senate. His final term as senator ended in January 2005.

Air Force troops in the Afghan mountains
Credit: U.S. Air Force

President Joe Biden stuck to a deadline of Aug. 31, 2021, for the withdrawal of the remaining United States troops from Afghanistan. The withdrawal brought the 20-year Afghanistan War to a close and completed a rapid retaking of the country by the Taliban, a militant Sunni Islamic political group.

As U.S. and NATO troops began their withdrawal earlier in the year, Taliban attacks aimed at expanding the group’s control over additional territory increased. Hundreds of thousands of Afghans fled. The Afghan National Security Forces eventually collapsed before the advance, despite years of support and training by NATO and U.S. forces. In August, Taliban forces took over additional territory, including several major cities. On August 15, they entered and took control of the capital, Kabul. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled the country.

The United States quickly sent additional troops to Kabul. They were to secure and oversee the operation of the city’s airport during the evacuation of U.S. and NATO personnel, along with Afghan allies and their families. On August 26, a suicide bombing and gunfire attack killed at least 170 people in the large crowd waiting to enter the airport. The victims also included 13 U.S. troops. The militant group ISIS-K (Islamic State Khorason—a branch of the Islamic State terrorist organization) claimed responsibility for the attack. Nevertheless, the evacuations continued. About 123,000 civilians were evacuated on U.S. and coalition flights before the United States completed the withdrawal of its last military troops on August 30.

The Afghanistan War began in 2001. It started as a short but intense war in which the United States and its allies battled the Taliban. International forces overthrew the Taliban regime and helped establish a new government in Afghanistan.

The conflict persisted in the years that followed, however, as the United States and its allies struggled to establish stability in the country. The war eventually became the longest deployment of American combat troops in U.S. history. Since the beginning of the Afghanistan War, more than 3,500 coalition soldiers, mostly Americans, have died in Afghanistan.

In 2013, international troops shifted into a supporting role. Nearly 10,000 U.S. troops remained in such noncombat roles as training Afghan soldiers, advising Afghan army units, and helping maintain equipment. In 2014, NATO and the United States formally ended their combat missions in Afghanistan. However, the Taliban increased their presence in the following years, and security forces continued to battle the insurgents. An additional 3,000 U.S. troops were sent in 2017 on combat duty.

In 2018, U.S. and Taliban representatives began negotiating the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. They signed an agreement in 2020. The Taliban agreed not to allow such terrorist organizations as al-Qa`ida and the Islamic State (ISIS) to operate from bases in Afghanistan, and the United States agreed to a gradual withdrawal of the approximately 13,000 troops it had in the country at that time. Several thousand NATO troops also remained in the country, providing noncombat assistance to Afghan security forces. Nevertheless, fighting between Afghan government forces and the Taliban continued, leading up to the U.S. withdrawal and the government’s collapse.

Kathy Hochul, governor of New York

Kathy Hochul became the first woman governor of New York state on Aug. 24, 2021. Hochul, a Democrat and the state’s former lieutenant governor, replaced Governor Andrew Cuomo, who resigned under investigation for sexual harassment. She has held a variety of local, state, and federal government positions.

Kathleen Courtney was born Aug. 27, 1958, in Buffalo, New York. She spent summer vacations volunteering for local politicians. She graduated from Syracuse University in 1980 with a bachelor of arts degree in political science. She completed a law degree from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., three years later. In 1984, she married the American lawyer William Hochul. Kathy Hochul spent nearly a decade working as a private practice attorney and legislative aide in Washington, D.C., before moving back to New York.

Hochul’s political career began in 1994, as a member of the town board for Hamburg, New York. After nine years on the board, she was appointed deputy clerk of Erie County. In 2007, she was appointed by Governor Eliot Spitzer to fill a vacancy as Erie County clerk. She was reelected to the office later that year, serving until 2011. In that year, she was elected U.S. representative for New York’s 26th Congressional District. She replaced Representative Christopher Lee, a Republican, following his resignation. Hochul’s win was unexpected in the traditionally Republican district.

Hochul served as representative from 2011 to 2013. She lost reelection in 2012 to Republican Chris Collins. Following her defeat, Hochul joined the private sector, serving as vice president for government relations at M&T Bank.

Hochul ran for lieutenant governor in 2014, eventually joining a ticket with Cuomo. During her time as lieutenant governor, Hochul spearheaded a campaign against sexual assaults on college campuses, under the slogan “Enough Is Enough.” She also was appointed by Cuomo to chair the state’s Heroin and Opioid Task Force, along with a number of regional investment councils.

Credit: © Manny DaCunha, Shutterstock

The Fourth of July is Independence Day in the United States. The day marks the nation’s birthday, July 4, 1776, when delegates to the Second Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, adopted the Declaration of Independence.

The delegates represented the 13 British colonies, which had come to resent the ever-increasing taxes and restrictions that King George III sought to impose on them. In April 1775, British troops had clashed with colonial militia at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts, in effect signaling the outbreak of the American Revolution. The Declaration of Independence explained the reasons for the colonists’ rejection of British rule, detailed the ways in which the British government had violated American rights, and declared the freedom of the American colonies from Britain. The American Revolution ended in 1783 when Britain recognized the independence of the United States.

July 4 is traditionally a day of patriotism and celebration, including a full menu of picnics or cookouts and fireworks, with popular side dishes of baseball, fairs, parades, and parties. Last year, public celebrations of the holiday were largely absent, as people followed social distancing measures intended to stem the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, with widespread vaccinations putting the disease in retreat in many areas, fireworks and other public displays have largely returned.

The Fourth of July isn’t just a day for celebration, however. It’s also a good time to reflect on the promise of freedom outlined in the Declaration of Independence and to think about how various groups are still struggling to achieve that freedom. In a year that followed worldwide protests over the killing of George Floyd, many people are choosing to make the Fourth not only a celebration of our nation’s history but a time of reflection and preparation for its future.

Dr. Rachel Levine.
Credit: © Daniel Shanken, Reuters/Alamy Images

June is LGBTQ+ Pride Month. All month long, Behind the Headlines will feature lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer or questioning pioneers in a variety of areas.

Summertime celebrates joy and growth; spring brings new beginnings. This spring, Rachel Levine made history when she became the first openly transgender person to be confirmed to a federal government position by the United States Senate. Transgender is a term for individuals whose identity or self-expression does not match their assigned gender. In January 2021, President Joe Biden nominated Levine, an American physician, for assistant secretary for health for the Department of Health and Human Services. Levine was confirmed on March 24, 2021.

Born Richard Levine in Melrose, Massachusetts, north of Boston, on Oct. 28, 1957, Levine was assigned male at birth. Levine grew up in nearby Wakefield, Massachusetts. After graduating from Harvard University with an undergraduate degree, Levine attended Tulane University School of Medicine. Levine moved to New York City to train in pediatrics and adolescent medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital. In 1993, Levine accepted a position at the Polyclinic Medical Center in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Three years later, in 1996, Levine began working at the Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center in Hershey. Around 2010, Levine began publicly presenting herself as a woman.

In 2015, Levine was named Pennsylvania’s physician general. Three years later, she was named Pennsylvania’s secretary of health. As a state official, Levine focused her efforts on maternal health, immunization, and the opioid drug-abuse crisis.