Mark Hanna
In 2017, I was spurred into direct action by Trump’s “Muslim Ban” and spent days at JFK helping with Habeas petitions and collecting affidavits from people who were detained. I saw how an arbitrary and capricious political act could immediately harm my neighbors and my community and so I became an organizer in my neighborhood.
Through my law practice, I have helped people from the community pro-bono with family court matters, bankruptcies and foreclosure defense. As an activist and organizer, I’ve helped organize protests, voter registration efforts, and been part of local political campaigns. Working with the Father Khader El-Yateem City Council campaign, we were able to politically engage the neighborhood’s underserved minority groups in a way that has had a lasting effect for years. To continue that movement, I helped organize Yalla Brooklyn, a nonprofit social welfare organization and I have also served on the board of that organization.
I continue to be involved in organizing work and will remain an organizer through the District Leader role. I will push our party to be more transparent and inclusive and create space to organize politically and not merely be gatekeepers to the electoral process.
I have seen first hand through my work as both an attorney and activist how the personal is political. I want people to have a window into how the legislative and judicial systems affect them and how they can have a say in it.
What is a District Leader?
District Leaders are elected, volunteer leaders of the Brooklyn Democratic Party. Every two years, each of the 21 Assembly Districts in Brooklyn elect a male and female District Leader to represent their district.
Role of District Leaders?
District Leaders are representatives of their Assembly Districts in the Democratic Party. They have roles in both engaging the people in their districts to be involved in the electoral process and also promote their district’s interests in guiding the leadership and direction of the Party itself.
District Leaders vote on Democratic Party leadership, influence and vote on the rules and procedures that govern the entire party, review and endorse Democratic candidates for Judgeship, organize poll sites, participate as members of the State Democratic Party and select Democratic National Committee Members.
District Leaders are also a bridge between the communities in their Assembly District and their elected officials. They are advocates for the needs of their communities and have the power to promote and amplify the voices of these communities through the electoral system.