Transformation of Letitia James, NY's First Black Woman Elected Statewide, in 30+ Pics

A quiet, bookish girl from Brooklyn who once dreamed of carrying a briefcase on the subway would grow into one of the most formidable legal figures in New York history.

More than three decades later, Letitia "Tish" James' transformation, personal, political, and visual, tells the story of a woman who keeps stepping into rooms few imagined she would enter.

That journey begins in Brooklyn, New York, where a childhood shaped by family, scarcity, and quiet observation planted the earliest seeds of her ambition.

From Brooklyn Roots to a Historic Rise

James was born and raised in Brooklyn. She grew up in Park Slope with seven brothers and sisters, sharing one television in a household where money was tight but ambition quietly simmered.

Her mother worked as a maintenance woman before securing a job at AT&T, while her father served as a superintendent at several Harlem properties. As a child, James spent much of her time in libraries, absorbed in fairy tales rather than politics. "We weren't aware of that," she once said of the broader Civil Rights movement. "We were more interested in jumping rope."

Her upbringing, however, was profoundly shaped by watching systems fail people who looked like her. As a teenager, James spent countless days inside courtrooms watching her brother fight a false bike theft accusation. The defendants resembled her. The lawyers did not. That contrast would change her life.

"I was a tomboy and into sports. I was into books. I was not interested in getting married," James said in another interview. She would later defy her father's wishes, choosing law school over domestic expectations by becoming a lawyer instead of marrying a plumber.

Those early observations would eventually harden into a sense of purpose and a decision to pursue the law.

Becoming a Lawyer and a Fighter

James paid her way through college and enrolled at Howard University School of Law. After graduating, she became a public defender, while one of her sisters joined the NYPD. At home, the joke was that her sister would lock people up, and James would get them out.

Her first attempt at elected office came in 2001, when she ran unsuccessfully for Brooklyn City Council. Two years later, the man who defeated her was shot and killed by a political rival. James ran again, won the vacant seat, and served on the council for nearly a decade.

In 2014, she became New York City's public advocate, the city's second-highest elected office, and a watchdog for residents. James pushed the limits of her office, filing a record number of lawsuits on behalf of tenants, seniors, students with disabilities, and foster children, sometimes clashing with then-Mayor Bill de Blasio.

That steady climb through local politics soon placed James on the edge of history.

Making History in New York

James first made history in 2013 as the first Black woman elected to a citywide office in New York City as public advocate. In 2018, she shattered another ceiling, becoming the first woman of color elected to statewide office as attorney general.

"She was that trailblazer we were looking for in our lifetime. "Tish was the rising black woman that we all looked up to," said New York State Assemblywoman Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, who compared James to Shirley Chisholm.

James remains understated about her ascent. "I put my head down every day and I go to work," she said. However, with the statewide office came investigations that would reshape New York politics.

The Cuomo Investigation that Changed Albany

In 2021, James' office released the results of its investigation into sexual harassment allegations against then-Governor. Andrew Cuomo.

The report found evidence that Cuomo harassed multiple women and fostered a workplace defined by "fear," "intimidation," and "retaliation," calling the executive chamber a "hostile work environment."

It would not be the last time James aimed her office at one of the state’s most powerful figures.

Taking on Donald Trump

James' national profile surged after her office filed a civil lawsuit alleging Donald Trump and his family engaged in "numerous acts of fraud and misrepresentations," using more than 200 false asset valuations over a decade.

The lawsuit seeks $250 million and a ban on the Trumps leading New York companies. "We found that Mr. Trump, his children, and the corporation used more than 200 false asset valuations over a ten year period," James said.

"I'm on his enemies list. Partly because we brought a case against him after a two-year investigation following a congressional hearing," James told CBS News New York's political reporter, Marcia Kramer.

But James' aggressive legal posture has also recently placed her squarely under scrutiny.

Now Facing Allegations of Her Own

In 2025, James was referred for potential federal criminal prosecution over alleged mortgage fraud involving a Virginia home and a New York property.

FHFA Director William Pulte alleged James "has, in multiple instances, falsified bank documents and property records to acquire government-backed assistance and loans and more favorable loan terms."

James' office responded by saying, "Attorney General James is focused every single day on protecting New Yorkers, especially as this Administration weaponizes the federal government against the rule of law and the Constitution. She will not be intimidated by bullies — no matter who they are."

Away from the courtroom drama and political crossfire, James' personal world remains markedly quieter and largely unseen.

A Private Life Behind a Public Powerhouse

James begins her day around 7 a.m., reading newspapers, watching "NY1," and drinking a chai latte. She calls herself a "huge fangirl" of Rachel Maddow, and in between briefs, she's reading "The Rage of Innocence: How America Criminalizes Black Youth." She has never been married and does not live with a partner.

"I was socially isolated," she recalled during COVID. "But nonetheless, I've got neighbors, we check on our neighbors, I'm directly across the street from my church."

From a Brooklyn tomboy to New York's most powerful law enforcement officer, James’ transformation is etched not only in policy wins, but in photographs that chart a steady climb through history.

And as debates swirl around her record and new challenges emerge, the through line of her life remains strikingly consistent: a woman who saw injustice early, chose law over expectation, and kept moving forward anyway.