Assemblymember Diaz testifies in support of Resolution 142 on Center for Fatherhood Initiatives

When you hear your name, please come to the witness panel for the first panel.

And I believe the first panel is Assemblymember Diaz, who will be talking about a resolution we have today.

Thank you.

He's from Harlem.

I just want to let you know.

No, no, no.

The Bronx claims him.

He is from Harlem.

I just wanted to know.

I know his parents very well.

I'm from Harlem, too, but we the Bronx.

No, no, no.

Us Harlem people are in the Bronx, so please let her know.

Thank you.

I appreciate it.

We are.

I did just come from Harlem, so.

Enough of you, Lantana.

Enough.

First off, good afternoon to the council.

I want to say thank you for having me here.

I am speaking on behalf of Kevin Riley's resolution 142, which is for the Favorhood Initiative, which is in support of a bill that we have in Albany, which is Assembly Bill 89811, which is the Favorhood Initiative bill.

Myself and Senator Jamal Bailey, he has it in the Senate, sir.

Being a father is one of the greatest gifts I've ever had.

My two boys are actually with my father right now, visiting.

They just arrived in Atlanta to visit my older brother, their uncle, Lareek.

And my father and my older brother were two great examples that I've had in my life, what it means to be a father.

But I am, yes, you do know my parents very well.

But I am a very wealthy man because I have two great parents and a father that came from very little but had a foundation of love for my grandmother, and he bestowed that upon us.

What I do know is the young men in New York don't have that same wealth that I have when it comes to that.

The fatherhood initiative is to create.

create a resource center for the young men or the young fathers within the state of New York who need access.

And even with all the resources I had within my own family, I'll be the first person to say when my wife was pregnant, there wasn't a lot of resources for fathers.

I didn't know about postpartum depression.

I didn't know about preeclampsia, where if not for, for example, Hall of Fame tennis player Serena Williams'husband intervening when she was giving birth, we might have lost the greatest tennis player of all time

because her pleas of pain weren't being heard and the father of our children had to step in.

So I want to make sure that the young fathers within the state of New York have this knowledge, that they understand that what does a woman go through in those situations and how that they could be a better partner and a better father.

Even if they're not together, co-parenting is still key when it comes to New York.

We want to make sure that the young people and the children, the future of New York, have parents that have as much resources as possible.

As you had in the previous testimony, it's not just about fatherhood, but also making sure that they have workforce development programs and making sure that these young fathers have apprenticeship programs.

They can get into programs so they can provide.

for their children so that they can have housing and education and beacon programs and after school programs.

I was, I'll be the first to say that the Senate passed the fatherhood initiative and I'm still kind of dismayed on why we couldn't get it done in the assembly and I will go, I'll go at it again.

I've also had conversations with Commissioner Harris of OCFS, and she's in full support of it also, because there are young fathers who are currently in

juvenile centers that still need to be within their children's lives, and these resources could be used to help it.

To the chairwoman, I know her advocacy for young people is ever essence.

She works her tail off in our district in the Bronx where we overlap, but for all New York City families.

And I think the fatherhood initiative and this resolution is key.

I want to thank Kevin Riley for bringing this to the table.

But more importantly, I really hope that we can create a broad coalition across the political spectrum, across the boroughs, religions or whatever to.

Embrace this because I think strengthening young fathers across the state and New York City is how we create not just that's how we make New York better and stronger.

And I want to thank the council for hearing my testimony in this.

And I hope that we can count on you guys on creating a coalition to support our bill.

And I want to thank again for you guys for passing this resolution.

So thank you kindly.