The Cincinnati NAACP Annual Freedom Fund Dinner is a long-standing tradition that brings together NAACP members and community supporters to raise funds to support the operations of our local Branch. At the level where we have been working diligently to eliminate discrimination and inequalities for over a decade, since 1915, in 52 neighborhoods and our surrounding communities.

Our initiatives are needed as much now as they ever were. Every day we focus on these key areas: voter education and empowerment, criminal justice reform, public safety, racial health disparities, and economic inclusion, among other aspects. We couldn’t do this work, and accomplish our goals, without the generous support of our community, and monetary support of our mission by our allies and partners.

Hakeem Jeffries represents the diverse Eighth Congressional District of New York and is serving his sixth term in the United States Congress.

Rep. Jeffries is the Democratic Leader, having been elected to that position by his colleagues in November 2022. In that capacity, he is the highest-ranking Democrat in the House of Representatives.  He has served as a House Impeachment Manager in the Senate trial of former President Trump, the former Chair of the Democratic Caucus, Whip of the Congressional Black Caucus and previously co-chaired the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee where he helped develop the For The People agenda.

In Congress, Rep. Jeffries is a tireless advocate for social and economic justice. He has worked hard to help residents recover from the devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic, reform our criminal justice system, improve the economy for everyday Americans and protect our healthcare from right-wing attacks.

Since President Biden took office in January 2021, Rep. Jeffries has been instrumental in House Democratic efforts to put people over politics by lowering costs, creating better-paying jobs and fighting for safer communities. Over the past two years Democrats have passed the American Rescue Plan, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the CHIPS and Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act.

Last Congress, Rep. Jeffries was one of the most effective legislators, passing multiple bills through the House of Representatives and into law with substantial bipartisan and stakeholder support.  Such bills included measures to ensure veterans and their families have access to benefits information (H.R. 2093, Public Law No. 117-62), to measure the progress of recovery and efforts to address corruption, rule of law and media freedoms in Haiti (H.R. 2471, Public Law No. 117-103), to protect attorney-client privilege for incarcerated individuals corresponding electronically with their legal representatives (H.R. 546) and to eliminate the federal sentencing disparity between drug offenses involving crack cocaine and powder cocaine once and for all (H.R. 1693).

In the 115th Congress, Rep. Jeffries worked across the aisle as the lead Democratic sponsor of the FIRST STEP Act (S. 756, Public Law No. 115-391), a strong, bipartisan criminal justice reform bill that the President signed into law in December 2018.  Rep. Jeffries partnered with Congressman Doug Collins, a conservative Republican from rural Georgia, on the legislation, which is widely viewed as the most meaningful criminal justice reform effort in a generation.

While he remains committed to working diligently in Washington on behalf of New York’s Eighth Congressional District, Rep. Jeffries also works tirelessly to keep in close contact with constituents. In January, the Congressman begins each year with annual remarks to the district. During the spring and summer, he holds “Congress on Your Corner” outdoor office hours throughout the district. At each stop, the Congressman sets up a table in front of a local post office or on neighborhood corners where constituents are able to meet with him one-on-one.

Rep. Jeffries was born in Brooklyn Hospital, raised in Crown Heights and is a product of New York City’s public school system, having graduated from Midwood High School. He lives in Prospect Heights with his family.