this lawn, i look at the railings around the murals. i look at the restoration and i think, yeah, i had something to do with that. learning the lessons, thank you, landmarks meet landmarks. the current situation at pioneer park and coit tower is really based in public and private partnership. it was the citizens who came together to buy the land to keep it from being developed. it was lily hitchcock coit to give money to the city to beautify the city she loved of the park project worked to develop this south side and still that's the basis of our future project to address the north side.

>> thank you, everybody, for joining us tonight in this historic event. i'm an intern with the mayor's office of neighborhood services, and i have been fortunate enough to work with many of you -- not all of you -- so let's get this started. i have not slept in 48 hours, so please excuse me if i'm a little out of it. the director of the mayor's office of naval good services. thank you.

[applause] -- mayors office of neighborhood services. he'll be directing the event tonight. as you just heard from the beautiful music on some, gives them an round of applause, please. [applause] they are actually a part of a larger organization, which is the san francisco's premier arabic musical ensemble. i'm really glad we had them here tonight to perform. thank you. a lot of people have been asking, and we have been getting a lot of questions on how this came forward. it did not really need to come forth because as you can see, arab-americans have played a strategic and very important role in the fabric of san francisco. a typical day for a san franciscan would be hanging out in dolores park, getting a bite

to eat it in place -- at ike's place. these businesses and these individuals have contributed significantly to the lifestyle and to the fabric, which makes san francisco the unique city that it is. the reason why i'm actually of here, thanks to america and -- thanks to major gaps in -- thanks to mayor gavin newsom because he appointed me. so i thank him personally for giving me the opportunity to be engaged and represent my community inside city hall. i have to look at the program. that is just the kickoff. mike is going to say a few words as well. thank you. [applause] >> what a turnout.

thank you very much for coming today to the first arab heritage month in city hall in the city and county of san francisco. [applause] all over the world, people came from the arab world to the united states. we celebrate today our heritage as immigrants. they brought with them many religions, our food, our culture, our history, our literature, and changed the united states forever and also change san francisco forever. we would be huddled masses yearning to be free, and still they come. still, many immigrants from the arab world come to try to find their little piece of the american dream. the contributions to san francisco have been immense, and the stories are often told in the media or the press. we have contributed business, medicine. we are teachers, police

officers, firefighters. you name it, we are doing it, and yet, our stories are not told. next year, when we celebrate their heritage month, hopefully, we will choose to on a specific individuals or community organizations that have done great work for our community -- we will choose to honor specific individuals or community organizations. there are some people here are wanted to acknowledge, and i'm going to get a little off program -- oh, the mayor is here. with that, i'm going to introduce to you -- no? ok. >> alright, what you just heard was the musical prelude from the group, and now, you will hear the full musical ensembles. -- the full musical ensemble. [applause]

[applause] >> thank you for your music. it is such an important part of our culture and our history, and i show glad you share that with

us today. one of the reasons we do this is to give us an opportunity to hear from our public officials, and one of the elected public officials here today is supervisor david campos. supervisor campos: thank you. good afternoon. i will be very brief. i was told to come to the center. it is not the first time i hear that. [laughter] i represent district 9, and as a latino man in san francisco, i am here to honor and celebrate the arab-american community and the many contributions you have made. you are an important fabric of this city and this country, and as a representative of district 9, there are so many people in my district.

i'm really proud to be here, and the thing about san francisco is that we're all connected. we come here in search of a better life, and i'm honored to be here, and thank you very much, and congratulations. [applause] >> thank you, supervisor composts -- campos. now, it is time that i introduced the 42nd mayor of san francisco. mayor gavin newsom. [applause] mayor newsom: thank you guys. thank you very much. happy arab heritage month for san francisco. thank you for coming out. we appreciate it. this guy -- everywhere i have gone in this city in the last

six months, this young man appears handing out fliers for this event. i kid you not. i have been the east part of town, south part of town, day and night, so congratulations, and thank you for your outstanding work in putting all this together. no one deserves more credit than he does. unbelievable. superstar. and i'm not going to say superstar in the making. he is a superstar at the moment. again, i just want to express that, and of course, to my old friend, my former chief of staff when i was a san francisco supervisor, special adviser to the mayor, and the head of the mayor's office of neighborhood services for his outstanding work as well. thank you, mike, for all your hard work and leadership.

supervisor campos, and to all the many commissioners that are assembled here and department heads that i see, welcome. we have been meaning to do this for a long time. i do not know what has taken us this long, but we are finally here, so in the spirit of looking forward, not looking back, let me welcome you to what i hope becomes an annual festivity an annual event that gets bigger and bigger each and every year. [applause] i think -- i was in the back for some time now, so i had a chance to listen in, and here the expressions of the importance of this event. let me just underscore and stayed the same. one of the things i am most proud of as a san franciscan, and i have had the beneficiary

of having been here all my life, having grown up in san francisco and around the bay area, having a father and grandfather and great- grandfather that have all grown up here in this city and county of san francisco, is to become part of the fabric of the values of this city, the values that transcend time, that go back to the beginning and the origins of this great city. you think back at the history of san francisco. we were a very small, very modest bill which, primarily a fishing village, and the sort of early part of the 1800's, until the discovery of gold, and the subsequent realization of the opportunity to mine silver. it was from there, literally almost overnight, san francisco with just 15,000 or so people just overnight turned into an international destination where

people came from every point of the globe for riches and new beginnings, where people literally descended upon san francisco and builds san francisco and so much of it was literally build on what is left behind as people came on ships large and small and literally left them out on the bay only to later become our waterfront and the landfill that is identified with some of the most beautiful parts of our waterfront, but it was from those origins that we became an international destination, where people, by definition, had to figure out a way to live together and advance together and prosper together across their differences. do not get me wrong -- it is not as if we always got it right. the city went through a lot of difficult periods in its history where we were hardly a model of integration, hardly a model of independents or at least a model that reconcile those differences, but each and

every decade, we got a little bit better, and we learned from decades past until we continue the march to become the city that we are today, one of the most diverse cities in the most diverse region in one of the most diverse states in the world's most diverse democracy. here we are in san francisco celebrating -- not tolerating -- our diversity, and i am indeed very proud of that and how that you are all here in that light. [applause] that is the spirit of this celebration. i want to just repeat that and underscore it. the notion of not tolerate an hour the adversity but celebrating our diversity -- the notion of not tolerate and our diversity but celebrating our diversity. celebrating all our differences. those are being showcased and celebrated tonight, but fundamentally reconciling those differences by focusing on the things that bind us together.

that web of mutuality that dr. king talked so elegantly about, the fact that we are literally 99.5% the same -- literally 99.5% the same. we know this since the human genome was mapped. ninety nine 0.95% sign -- excuse me, i said 99.5. 99.95% the same period for those of you that thought you were so different from your neighbor. it is right that we remind ourselves of this, particularly in a world where so many people are focused on their differences, that have obviously fuelled so much of what is wrong, people that are focused on their racial differences, their ethnic differences, their religious differences, their gender differences, their orientation of every considerable light, and here in san francisco, we try to

pride ourselves on focusing on these things, so it is in that spirit that i'm here. it is in that spirit i think we all need to be reminded. it is in that spirit that we look forward to welcoming you back, not just on an annual basis, but every day, this is your house. this is san francisco's city hall. you are part of the fabric of this extraordinary community, the great city and county of san francisco. i just want to thank each and everyone of you for making this city what it is today, such a special place, and a beacon, i think, of hope and light for so many others. in that spirit, in that state, and with that let, let me recognize formally today -- in perpetuity, i hope that i will not be the last major to be setting forth these proclamations for decades and decades to come, but mike, why don't you come up on behalf of the community just to recognize today in san francisco the city and san -- the city and county

of san francisco with the wonderful list of contributions and a congressman is that i will spare you but are nonetheless are part of this proclamation, and recognize today, october 8, 2009, will forever be known as arab heritage month in our great city. thank you all very much. [applause] >> so today is the first day of arab heritage month. i want to remind people that i have calendars. we have a calendar that prints out cultural events that are happening all over san francisco over the course of the month. please support our artists, our cultural institutions, the discussions that will be happening all over the city at san francisco state, at the

commonwealth club, and many other places that are important, that people understand who we are and what we represent. we already introduced the supervisor, but we have representatives as well from supervisor tom amiano's office. the duration and? thank you very much for coming out today. [applause] katie ferrac, a representative some congressman jack e. spier's office. -- jackie spier's office. i wanted to take this opportunity to thank some of the sponsors that helped today. for their work and time and effort and all of you are giving to us, thank you very much. [applause] levon, are you here?

great, please stand. thank you very much for all of your work. and gus, thank you very much for all of your help with this even. it would not have happened without their help. >> so now, as we have the first day of arab heritage month, we will now be having a musical scores. i know the founder and director, and they have been working very hard to put together an amazing program tonight. [applause] thank you. so the program is not over. we will be continuing after their musical performance, so without any further ado, please.

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