Brooklyn Young Democrats (BYD) President Christina Das may be petite in stature but she’s a force to be reckoned with regarding plans to amplify the voices of women.
Das was elected president last week of the powerful BYD club as part of their reorganizational election and endorsement meeting held at the Cherry Tree Bar, 65 Fourth Avenue in Boerum Hill. She is the political club’s first South Asian woman president and in getting elected, relinquished her title as BYD Executive VP to Julia Elmaleh-Sachs.
When KCP caught up with Das, she expressed her experience as a first-generation CUNY law school student, campaign experience and first-generation immigrant as all reasons why she felt she was a great fit for her new role.
Das expressed further that she wants to take BYD to another level by having issue-based advocacy and roundtable discussions. She also wants to educate people more about ongoing legislation and policy issues and how they can benefit from it.
“I want elected officials to come and sit down with different people to connect and bridge the gap. I also want to amplify the voices of women and specifically women of color,” she said.
Expressing her disappointment with Elizabeth Warren having to drop out of the race due to a lack of support, Das has this to say about the importance of support among women, “We have to work twice, if not three times as hard especially for women of color so I am thankful to everyone who came together to create change and supported me. I’m also happy to announce that we will have for the first time ever, a dual women leadership team with myself and Julia.”
The meeting also saw Brooklyn’s new Democratic Party Chair Assemblywoman Rodneyse Bichotte (D-Flatbush, Ditmas Park) stopping by to show her support for the club and to accept BYD’s endorsement for her re-election as District Leader in the 42Assembly District.
The club also endorsed Stefani Zinerman who is running for the open 56th Assembly seat covering Bedford-Stuyvesant and Northern Crown Heights. Zinerman stressed how much she was able to work within her neighborhood to secure resources for her constituencies as a longtime community activist and former chief of staff for City Councilmember Robert Cornegy Jr.
Assemblyman Walter Mosley (D-Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Prospect Heights, Crown Heights) received the club’s endorsement for re-election. Democratic District Leader election endorsements went to Josue Pierre (42nd Assembly District); Doug Schneider and Lori Knipel (44th Assembly District); Kristina Naplatarski (50th Assembly District) and Jesse Pierce (52nd Assembly District).
The club also endorsed Stephen Burzio for Civil Court Judge, 3rd Municipal District.
