By Shawna Mizelle, CNN/StyleMagazine.com Newswire

Hakeem Jeffries made history as the first Black lawmaker to lead a party in Congress, addressing the 118th Congress for the first time in the early hours of Saturday morning.

"As John Lewis would sometimes remind us on this floor, we may have come over on different ships but we're all in the same boat now," Jeffries said, referencing the late civil rights legend and longtime congressman.

"We are White. We are Black. We are Latino. We are Asian. We are Native American. We are Christian. We are Jewish. We are Muslim. We are Hindu. We are religious. We are secular. We are gay. We are straight. We are young. We are older. We are women. We are men. We are citizens. We are dreamers," he continued. "Out of many we are one. That's what makes America a great country. And no matter what kind of haters are trying to divide us, we're not going to let anyone take that away from us. Not now. Not ever."

"This is the United States of America, a land of opportunity. The fact that I'm able to stand up here today is another data point in that narrative."

The New York Democrat now leads the minority party in the US House of Representatives, succeeding Rep. Nancy Pelosi, who served as speaker in the prior session of Congress when Democrats held the majority. In addition to being the first Black lawmaker to attain such a position, he is also the first person elected to lead House Democrats to be born after the end of World War II.

Jeffries' position was made official after the conclusion of a prolonged floor fight for House speaker. California Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy ultimately secured the powerful position leading the GOP majority in the chamber following days of painstaking negotiations and failed votes.

Jeffries told the Congress that he also wanted to "make clear" that Democrats "will never compromise (their) principles."

"House Democrats," he said, "will always put American values over autocracy, benevolence over bigotry, the Constitution over the cult, democracy over demagogues, economic opportunity over extremism, freedom over facism, governing over gaslighting, hopefulness over hatred, inclusion over isolation, justice over judicial overreach, knowledge over kangaroo courts, liberty over limitation, maturity over Mar-a-Lago, normalcy over negativity, opportunity over obstruction, people over politics, quality of life issues over QAnon, reason over racism, substance over slander, triumph over tyranny, understanding over ugliness, voting rights over voter suppression, working families over the well-connected, xenial over xenophobia, 'yes, we can' over 'you can do it,' and zealous representation over zero-sum confrontation."

For Democrats, Saturday officially marked the end of an era -- and the start of a new one -- as Jeffries, at 52, takes up his new position after Pelosi and top-ranking Democrats Steny Hoyer and Jim Clyburn announced they would be stepping down from their leadership positions. Clyburn is expected to become assistant leader in the new Congress.

Jeffries addressed Pelosi in his remarks, thanking the California Democrat "for all that (she has) done."

"It's an honor to stand on your broad shoulders," he said, "as well -- as well as the shoulders of the great Steny Hoyer and the great Jim Clyburn, two consequential leaders in their own right."

House Democrats selected Jeffries to helm their party during a closed-door election in November. He ran unopposed, and Democrats have united around him following Pelosi's exit from leadership after two decades helming the party. Jeffries will likely be at the forefront of the House Democratic minority for the next two years with Republicans holding a slim majority in the chamber.