continues to grow. sobering statistics, and yet i said to the speaker, my god, what would the country be in if it was not for the election of president obama, making sure that great cities like san francisco continue to move forward. the crowd erupted in applause, because they realize how severe the condition has been. mary rogerds would remind us of those realities. she would remind us that last year was the conclusion of redevelpoment in the fillmore, and remind us of the prospective new beginnings of redevelopment in the southeast sector.

she would remind us to remain vigilant and true to the vision of what it means to make this city prosperous for all and do all we can to prevent the hemorraghing of the community. with so much progress happening in the southeast, considering the progress we have seen in the fillmore, we have not had the hazards we had seen years before. the lowest crime rates in san francisco are in the fillmore, and that has to do with the

collective work of police and community leaders in making sure we take back our streets. that prompts the kind of vitalization we want to see. mary helen would say, hey, maybe we should bring juneteeth back to fillmore, or bring them together alternating each year for the celebration. thank you. [applause] >> thank you, supervisor mirkarimi. as usual, right on point. i just had someone who works in housing in bayview tell me that since 2009, there has been about 1400 foreclosures in bayview. we'd like to think that doesn't

touch us in san francisco because property is so expensive. that is not the case, and we have to quit ignoring that fact. it is our responsibility. i would like to introduce -- it is interesting, because someone said to me yesterday, man, how i miss mary rodgers, and i said i miss her too, because her being gone is one of the reasons i have to work so hard in my community. she is not here, and everyone is having to step up. with juneneeth, the next speaker, lou garrett, took over the presidency, and juneteenth

has not missed a beat. they do this every year. this is still america, and they don't do it with all the resources so many other festivals you see happen in san francisco have. there are folks who give money to other places, and to be honest with you, they won't give money to juneteenth. they don't see it as important. for these people to do the job they do with the resources they have is monumental, and i want to thank them for their hard work. i will point a few out to you. let me present to our sponsors those people who do hang in with us, support us, who think juneteenth is important.

we want to thank them publicly right now. mr. garett is going to do that now. give him a hand. [applause] >> what he keeps forgetting to remind us of, we were at state college together many years ago, and we have been doing the same thing for many years together, starting in 1971. so thank you for your support. i want to thank supporters. i would ask sponsors to come up, and i want to offer them a certificate of appreciation. at & t. [applause]

>> good morning. rather, good afternoon. on behalf of at & t, let's give applause and congratulations to the juneteenth committee. one of the things i think we should celebrate is the people who have a vision in san francisco know that juneteenth is a whole weekend, and you will have activities throughout the city that are educational as well as fun, teaching you about health. we think it is awesome, and we are happy we got the call from supervisors maxwell and dufty

so we can continue to show you we are in your neighborhood and we care. if anybody's looked at our new ads, there is something called "rethink possible." i would like to think we share the spirit, to refresh the desire to achieve for all. let's have a good time, and thank you again to the committee. [applause] >> another strong sponsor, comcast. [applause]

>> good afternoon. i am glad to be here to give you a greeting. we are proud to be a sponsor this year. we believe in investing in comunities where our sponsors live and work, so this is part of that. juneteenth is certainly a celebration to rejoice in how far we have come, to remember those who got us where we are today, and a moment to reflect on how much further there is to go and how much more work there is to be done. i am proud to say that comcast will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with us to get that quality. thank you so much for having me here today.

thank you. >> this year, we would like to remember linda for all the work she has done with comcast supporting us. there is strong support of juneteenth for linda, but she is under the weather and was not able to come. but i want to thank her for her support over many, many years. >> ucsf medical center. [applause] >> thank you for letting us be a

part of the celebration. >> wells fargo. [applause] >> it is a pleasure to be here today with all of you. this reflects the beginning of indepndence. independence to become an entrepreneur, obtain financial security, and i am proud to work for a bank that supports my community and me in my career

aspirations at wells fargo. on behalf of the 1800 team members in the bay area, wells fargo wishes you all a healthy, wealthy, and properous juneteenth. thanlk you very much. happy juneteenth. >> medical center. [applause] >> i've been working with california medical center for some time, and reverend dyson has been working with juneteenth. she wanted to send her regards, that she would love to be here,

but she went to a graduation. >> i will be brief, because i hear you get more applause that way. i am vp operations at cpmc and i would like to congratulate everyone and wish you a happy juneteenth. take care. [applause] >> another strong supporter, someone here from lennar. where are you? oh. [applause] >> in the spirit of the day, i want to thank the committee. i want to thhank the supervisor

for 10 years of working in bayview-hunter's point. i appreciate you. we are pleased to have been part of this celebration. thank you. >> another strong supporter, p g & e. [applause] >> i would like to say this is not the first time i have sang an entire black national anthem, but it is the first time i have seen it signed, so i thank the organizers for making sure

everyone can appreciate the celebration. we understand how important it is to the african-american community. that is why we have stepped up again this year and will continue to support the community. and thank you to the organizers, everyone who has put in hard work. thank you. [applause] >> i am going to say goodbye, because my beautiful daughter is here, and she came home from ucla to ride in the aids ride, so i will go and take her for some medical support so she can do this ride.

anybody having a birthday today? this week? uh-oh. i see you pointing to her. this is for you, sweetie. anybodyx is for you. anybody else having a birthday this week? yes, sir, please, not. [applause] >> ok, dr. williams, thank you very much. next would be safeway. they are not here. [applause]

bart. [applause] someone representing part -- bart? >> good afternoon, everyone. on behalf of bart and its board of directors, i want to say it has been an honor to be part of the celebration for the last number of years, and i'm looking forward to bart's continued participation with this juneteenth festival. one thing i want to emphasize is shelly tatum does a wonderful job with the comedy, but it is not well attended, and the comedy is great, so i just want to encourage everyone here.

you cannot get a better, the show for the price other than the one happening here on the 17th, so thank you all and enjoy juneteenth. [applause] >> this is the quietest juneteenth kick off i have ever heard. we have one black married couple over here. can we show them out? amen.

>> on behalf of the of cake, the san francisco housing development corp. -- okay. on behalf of [inaudible] i guess you guys know that that is the owners proud daughter. for those that have supported juneteenth, i'd like to thank you very much and come out to the activities we will be having on june 19 and 20. we start with june 18, a comedy show at the african-american culture center. that will start about 7:30. following that at 11:00 on saturday a.m., we will start the parade. the parade will be on fillmore,

down fillmore to mcallister, mcallister into the civic center. at the civic center, we will have outstanding entertainment for the two days. we will have a health care, and housing corporation, an exhibit, and we are going to have some outstanding entertainment. one of the entertainers that will be on the program i see is here now. he is one of the entertainers, so many other entertainers will be there. i want to thank you very much for coming out. [applause] >> also, let me remind you that the san francisco black film festival that lady montague started in build up to be internationally recognized, that will be june 17 through 20, and we just want to encourage you all to attend that as well. we are so excited and grateful to all of you for coming out. let me say very briefly that there are some people here who

do not ever move to get their names mentioned, but i'm going to mention some of them right now. duane garrett, camille dawkins from the mayor's office, just as an outstanding job of helping and supporting on putting this together. mr. leroy king, keith jackson, reverend is male birch. fisher burch was here somewhere. he works with putting a parade together. the young lady who came out and accepted for kpoo. that is rachel townsend, my child. shelly tatum who just does outstanding work. montana jennings, tell helps raise money and he is a guy who does not mind raising money or doing groundwork, either, as all of these people are. raymond brown. janet bonds, and janet sits at

the table right there. she helps on every aspect. the jordan group, and ms. collins. all of you. we thank you for doing such an outstanding job, and let me say this, that every year they are accepting volunteers, so any of you looking for something to get involved in, there are a lot of good things to do. this is one of the many that you can get involved with and support. now, let me give you the very important direction -- there is food over on the other side. please help yourself. hang out with us a little while longer. god bless you. go in peace. thank you.

>> the mayor, the office of workforce development, kick off a new program which is to engage some of the artists in reinvigorating the streetscapes. organized in partnership with

neighborhood based economic development organizations, the art in storefronts taps into the incredible creativity of the artist community to help improve the quality of life and the business climate in poor neighborhoods. the tenderloin, central market, they view, and the mission's 24 st.. at the launch party, the mayor released the first of 13 projects located on taylor and market street. we were there to capture the celebration and to get a closer look at the newly transformed storefront. >> we have an analyst at saying, you know what, we get it. if we close out and we put some plywood, we know it will have graffiti on it. we know that people will not respect this space. they are opening up their businesses, their buildings and they are saying, let's invite young artists in and let's have

these artists go at it in great very visually stunning storefronts. >> this is a pilot project that was started by the mayor as part of his local stimulus plan in partnership with the mayor's office of economic and work- force development. we carried this space in the mission. we were hired to curate this project. we have been the ones that have been handling all of the day to day working with the artists helping to secure their locations. >> we are doing projects in central market, the tenderloin, the bayview, and the 24th street corridor. >> we are looking at the history of the neighborhood and their ability to translate a the kind of things that go on on a day- to-day basis. >> we have over 200 applicants.

it was wonderful to see how many people participated. these people clearly understand the neighborhood. >> this is a very unique neighborhood. it has always been involved in the arts from early on. of they have seen a lot of the art and what it has done to the neighborhoods. i think that they will still connected to it. they will actually embrace it. i think it will be a good thing for all of us. >> if you are walking in the tenderloin, you'll be able to see this piece that is in front of the original [inaudible] which is a restaurant that has a lot of history. there are exciting projects on market streets. there are two gorgeous minerals as well as six different

installations. they are making huge figures that they will be able to see. >> there is a definite level of appropriateness of stuff i am using. a lot of businesses died in 2009. >> i think i'm trying to deal with the maximum out of space possible. that is surging right now. everyone is doing what they can with what they have. sometimes that introduces a lot of interesting things. there is nothing that inspires quite like this. >> the project benefits both the property owner, the neighborhood, and the artists, all of whom have been effected by the economic downturn.

>> this is brand new work. >> we chose artists that had a diverse array of media from home video to coulter, paintings. >> when people walk around these neighborhoods, they will be able to see works that deal with the history of the neighborhood. they will see works that deal with movement and the works that celebrate some locations. they will be able to see works of that deal with new projects like the san francisco film museum which is a small organization that is starting. this is their first presentation to the public. >> this has introduced us to different organizations. they are building our portfolio.

our project centers on a film that was found in 1906. shortly afterwards, the earthquake destroyed the majority of the market street area. that is what we want to focus on. this is dedicated to film and san francisco history. >> we are having a support network now, this enhances our mission and what we are trying to do it and it will protect us forward. >> i hope that we continue. there are storefronts all over the city. we have been approached by many of them. it is about getting the resources together. >> this calley is working with the san francisco arts commission and building a tool kit. >> this will be an open source body of information. people can download the different things that we had to

do with the artists. negotiations with the property owners. there is also the artist selection. people can take it in their own hands to put art in the storefront.