Where’s Brian? I Took Time To Heal.

Last week, I announced my intention to run for the NYS Assembly to represent the 43rd Assembly District in Brooklyn. This is the community in which I was born and raised, where I was educated, and where I met and married the love of my life. For me, this neighborhood is more than a collection of blocks. It shaped my personal values, solidified my political identity, and developed my resilience.

In the last few days, some of you have asked me directly — and others have whispered–: “Where have you been?”

I’m not one to dodge questions, but sometimes my response isn’t just about me. This story involves making sure that other people are okay with telling their truths too.

Now that I have their blessing, let’s talk about it…

In 2017, after losing our hard fought battle for the New York City Council, my wife, Stephanie, and I had a lot of healing to do. Campaigns can be tough on families, so we committed ourselves to getting back to us. We also began exploring the idea of growing our family. Through that journey, we discovered my wife had stage 4 endometriosis. At the time, we didn’t know what it was and we had no idea how many women experience this knowingly and unknowingly.

Because of how advanced the condition was, my wife had laparoscopic surgery to remove as much of it as possible and save her uterus. During surgery, we not only found that endometriosis had ravaged her reproductive system but that she also had two ovarian cysts the size of golf balls on each of her fallopian tubes.

Our healing journey began moments after surgery. Stephanie spent weeks recovering from the procedure and many more months recovering from the mental and emotional weight of the procedure.

Despite trying to heal in real time, we continued to show up for our community. I discovered that my trauma response was to consume my time with work and service, and my career path was shifted from campaigning for political office to now working to end the broken, racist, and inhumane criminal justice system while reducing violence in our communities.

In the early months of 2018, I began working as a nonprofit leader at the Center for Court Innovation as the Project Director for Save our Streets Brooklyn, a cure violence program in Crown Heights and Bedford Stuyvesant. This is a community-based effort to end gun violence in neighborhoods by utilizing conflict mediation, youth programs, and providing resources for underserved communities.

Although we were showing up professionally and making an impact in our community, we were still fighting to have a family. 2020 was a perfect storm.While I was working with an incredible team at Hawkfish to make sure Donald Trump was a one-term President, Stephanie also had another laparoscopic surgery, lost an embryo, and Covid-19 changed life as we knew it. I made the hard decision to drop out of the City Council race, but I happily endorsed now-Council Member Rita Joseph and did everything I could to help her get elected.

Our personal challenges allowed us an opportunity to begin to take a step back from the public eye, but not public service; focusing on our emotional, physical, and spiritual health. With my wife’s persistence, I began to see a therapist.

Many leaders, if they’re honest, will tell you they often lead through pain and reject the notion that it’s important to step back and take time to find new practices to heal. This is a detrimental practice that often proves to be destructive — and a practice I am grateful to have left behind.

Over the last year, things have gotten better. I have been working for a national criminal justice reform organization to do two things: reform our unjust criminal justice system, and reduce violence in communities all across the country.

So that’s where I’ve been. But what I’m most concerned with now is where I’m going.

I’m running to go to Albany to make sure that when we talk about healthcare, that doesn’t mean giving someone a healthcare card, but healthcare access. I’m going to Albany to support teachers, medical professionals, and essential workers who have been asked to do more with less; and students who are asked to work in a hybrid environment without high speed Internet access. I’m going all out to make sure we have meaningful reform to our justice system, while protecting victims of violent crimes. I’m running to make sure we are not only creating affordable rentals, but ensuring people have the opportunity to buy their first home in the community in which they were born and raised — so that they too can live and grow with the community that has shaped them.

Now, you know where I have been and where I am going. And bringing the cries for reform from people all over my community with me. Everywhere I go, I bring the values I gained growing up here and, if you will allow me to, I’ll bring these values to be your advocate, amplify your voices, and advance your change.

Thank you.