Brooklyn U.S. Representative Yvette Clarke was elected to chair the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) for the 119th Congress and was sworn in on Friday, Jan. 3.
The swearing-in ceremony kicked off early in the morning at the Anthem, a music venue and auditorium at the southwest waterfront of Washington, D.C. The event was attended by family, friends, racial justice advocates, and Black elected officials from all over the nation.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries thanked previous CBC Chair U.S. Rep. Steven Horsford for his tenure and enthusiastically welcomed his colleague from his hometown as the new chair.
“We’re grateful for your calm, cool, and courageous leadership during challenging times,” he said of Horsford, “and we know that Black America is in a better position today because of Steven’s leadership of the Congressional Black Caucus. Let me also congratulate Congresswoman Yvette Clarke, Her Excellency, my sister from Brooklyn — Yvette is an incredible leader who will serve as a catalyst for change and lead us forward unbought and unbossed.”
Clarke will serve for a two-year term and is the 10th woman to serve in the position. She previously served as first vice chair of the CBC, focusing on laws targeting disparities that harm underserved communities.
“It’s such an honor and a privilege to have 62 members in CBC strong, and 61 of those members elect me by acclamation,” said Clarke.
Contributed by Congressional Black Caucus Foundation
Group photo of Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) members at swearing-in on Friday, Jan. 3, 2025, in DC. 
Previous CBC Chair U.S. Rep. Steven Horsford (left), U.S. Rep. Yvette Clarke (center), Maryland Governor Westley Moore (right) Credit: Contributed by Congressional Black Caucus Foundation 
U.S. Rep. Yvette Clarke and other Black women members of the CBC at the swearing-in ceremony.
At the swearing-in ceremony, several speakers recounted the deep history of the CBC. During the late 1960s, Michigan Congressmember Charles Diggs created the Democracy Select Committee (DSC) in an effort to bring Black Congress members together. Diggs noticed that he and others often felt isolated, and wanted to create an informal space to discuss issues they shared. Initially, they had irregular meetings with no independent staff or budget.
This changed as the Civil Rights Movement continued into the early 1970s. The CBC was officially established in 1971 by 13 founding members, including New York Congressmembers Charles B. Rangel and Shirley A. Chisholm, to ensure that Black Americans and other marginalized communities in the U.S. were empowered and supported by the federal government. Former President Richard Nixon refused to meet with the group, prompting the CBC to boycott the 1971 State of the Union Address. Their battle gained national press coverage. By 1973, the CBC were among the first members of Congress to call for Nixon’s impeachment.
Combatting apartheid in South Africa was also a major concern for the founding members of the CBC at that time. California Congressmember Ronald Dellums introduced the CBC’s first anti-apartheid bill in 1972, earning the group the nickname the “Conscience of the Congress.” The Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act (CAAA) eventually passed in 1986.
“We stand here today on the shoulders of giants. We owe a tremendous debt to all the founding members of the CBC; and to everyone whose blood and sweat and tears made the growth of this organization possible,” said New York State Attorney General Letitia James, who facilitated the swearing in and took the members’ oath. “This historic event helps ensure that the CBC continues to excel and provide the leadership that our nation so desperately needs, especially now.”
For the 118th Congress, the CBC had 60 members in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. The current CBC has a record 62 members. This includes historic firsts of two Black women U.S. senators — Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland and Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware — and two Black House officials from Alabama — U.S. Reps. Terri Sewell and Shomari Figures.
Many members also spoke about maintaining the CBC’s goals in the face of newly elected Republican President Donald Trump and his congressional allies. Clarke said she wants to be laser-focused with the executive committee on negating any legislation and policies coming from the “extremist ideologies of Project 2025” over the next four years.
“It’s important to remember that the ugly reactionary forces and the racist white supremacist forces we face are nothing new,” Clarke said in her speech. “A hundred fifty years ago, there were others who tried to turn back the hands of time and undo the victories that had cost so many American lives, so many Black American lives. They espoused racist policies and enacted laws and taxes to force discrimination and inequality on our people.”
In her remarks, Clarke issued a call to action: “Our adversaries today have embraced similar measures: restricting voting rights, denying equal opportunity, selectively rewriting American history, banning Black history books, defunding the Department of Education,” she said. “You can all look this up — it’s in their odious manifesto called Project 2025. Well, 2025 is here, and we mean business. We don’t have time to play around. We don’t have time to shuck and jive. We have to be singularly focused on the liberation and the elevation of Black people.”
For her district back in Brooklyn, Clarke said she’s focused on assisting Black immigrants and assuaging concerns about Trump’s mass deportation agenda.