The Blackprint: NYSBPHA Caucus releases Black agenda

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The New York State Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic, and Asian Legislative Caucus (BPHA Caucus) unveiled its Empower Black New York Agenda this month. And during an annual conference in Albany, legislators and advocates came together in celebration and determination to uplift Black communities across the state.

The 54th Annual Legislative Conference in Albany, which is organized and hosted by the nonprofit New York State Association of Black Puerto Rican, Hispanic, and Asian Legislators, Inc., coincided with Valentine’s Day and Presidents Day weekend this year, with the theme of “We Are Bold.” That meant bold red colors, decor, food, culture, and music were in abundance.

But the conference was mostly about promoting even bolder legislation in the face of unprecedented adversity in the U.S political climate — especially during Black History Month.

“The Caucus has passed historic legislation on behalf of Black New Yorkers, from reparations to protections against deed theft, this body remains committed to closing the racial wealth gap and addressing the disparities Black communities continue to face,” said Assemblymember Michaelle Solages, deputy majority leader of the New York State Assembly and BPHA Caucus Chair.

The Caucus’ Black agenda includes budget and legislative priorities at the city and state levels in the areas of housing, wealth equity, business, workforce, healthcare, climate, transportation, mental health, education, civil rights, criminal justice reform, child and family wellbeing, and the immigrant community.

Their demands include $50 million in direct funding for Black-led community organizations focused on economic empowerment, workforce development, and social services; $250 million towards the Housing Access Voucher Program and $1 million to expand Cease & Desist zones to address gentrification; $1 billion to establish a full year youth and young adult employment immersion program, $30 million to support efforts to expand college access for incarcerated individuals, and $100 million to immigrants’ right to counsel.

Brooklyn Councilmember Crystal Hudson and Bronx Councilmember Althea Stevens, along with Queens Assemblymember Khaleel Anderson, were part of a panel at the conference discussing why a similar agenda hadn’t materialized when New York State has so many Black and Brown representatives. They pointedly said that plenty of their colleagues in government haven’t been unified in action and policies, and at times actively block progress.

“The task isn’t easy because one of the things that I found when I first got into council is saying ‘Black’ for some reason people hear that you’re anti something else,” said Stevens at the conference.

Stevens encouraged attendees and voters, especially the youth, to be civically engaged and hold Black electeds accountable. Alluding to the foothold Republicans have in the state, and the rise white nationalism across the country, Stevens said that Democrats were “asleep at the wheel” and unorganized last year. She hopes that a singular agenda will help create more unity in the future among Black electeds throughout the city and state. Part of Stevens’ inspiration for the document came from Hudson’s Black agenda, which she initially put out during her campaign for city council in 2021.

“One thing the public advocate always says is you can’t confuse Black persons doing well with Black people doing well,” said Hudson. “It is important to understand that while representation does matter, when we as a people and as a community are not seeing material changes then clearly something is not connecting. We’re missing something. And I think a lot of that has to do with political will.”

Fostering local support
In addition to creating a more unified front among Black electeds, advocates and lawyer groups at the conference spoke about what can be done to defend Black and Brown voters at the local level. The panel included New York Dems Voter Protection, the New York Democratic Lawyers Council (NYDLC), National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Generation Vote, and New Yorkers for Inclusive Democracy.

Lurie Daniel Favors, executive director of the Center for Law and Social Justice, said that the danger in not protecting democracy and the right to vote leads to a gutting of social safety nets, programs, and a blunt desegregation agenda as seen in Trump’s Project 2025 180-day playbook.

“What we’re really talking about is the dismantling of integration, and I need us to be clear about that because this has happened before,” said Favors, speaking about the country’s post-Reconstruction Era. “After that decade was concluded, as a result of political compromise, we saw the complete dismantling of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendment[s] as to [their] effectiveness for enslaved Africans to fully realize their participation in the body of politics.”

The panel advocated for legislation like same day voter registration, automatic voter registration, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act of New York (2022), the state’s Equal Rights Amendment, the Student Voter Empowerment Act, preclearance, access to ballots and poll sites, and voter protections for the incarcerated without convictions. But above all, they called attention to the need for civic organizing around the coming U.S. Senate and House midterms in 2026 as well as reinforcing the U.S. Census count in 2030.

The census in particular, which notoriously undercounts Black and immigrant neighborhoods, allocates funding based on population. Jeff Wice, fellow and distinguished adjunct professor of law at the New York Law School, concluded that there will likely be an attack around race and ethnicity and immigration status in the coming census count. He also suggested creating a census office within the state, a state census commission, and a grant program to conduct outreach and education well ahead of 2030.

“As we are watching DEI be eviscerated in Washington D.C.,” said Assemblywoman Latrice Walker, who sponsored the panel in her capacity as the Chair of the Association, in a statement. “We are seeing the attacks on our voting rights, we are watching as the attacks and the relitigation of our civil rights happen each and every day right before our eyes … But we must remain committed to our goals as a Caucus.”

Lastly, most speakers advocated for more innovative ways to bring in students and younger voters, promoting New York City’s Civics for All (CFA) curriculum for grades K through 12 throughout the state as a tool to spark substantive conversations around democracy outside of social platforms.

[updated with correction on Thursday, Feb. 27]