>> oh, my god, thank you. i have menopause. i may have to pull this blanket off. oh, thank you. oh, my god. you know what? i'm going to lighten this up a little bit. when i first found out that i was -- when joan told me that i was nominated for local hero, my husband works in los angeles, he works out of town so when he called me, years ago my husband told me i was my biggest fan. and so i had the pleasure of telling him that not only am i my biggest fan but i have a lot of fans. i have a lot of fans out there. but, you know -- a lot of the

people that i love and care about and that i work with are right here in this room and i want to thank my inlaws, my mother and father-in-law came over here and they're in their upper 0s. i really appreciate them being here -- 80's. i really appreciate them being here. i would like to thank kqed. public television is for the people and by the people. i was remembering when i was in high school, i grew up in the 1950's and 1960's. 10th grade history class i got kicked out of that class every week. because the little bit of history that they did have about indian people was very negative. it was not positive. and so i did my research, my friends and i, on our own and any information that we brought into the classroom they wouldn't accept it as being accurate. and in the past decade, i imagine, i really honor kqed for honoring us and not only

native american community but just about every month of the year is some community, whether it's asian pacific islanders, latino, it's like amazing to me. i accept this on -- my grandparents and my ancestors were alive today, we have a president this year, president of color. and so no one can ever tell me that things don't change and people don't change because we do. and a lot of the work, a lot of times when i leave work and i'm tired or if i'm going shopping, i have a big smile on my face and the reason i have that smile on my face is i think about all the people that i work with, all my friends, the once who love me and that i love them, that worked tirelessly, tirelessly. they even -- i'm a member still of the h.i.v. prevention planning council in san francisco. they even ended the meeting early tonight so some of them were able to come over and enjoy me in this.

dr. stevenson is here, one of the first people when i served as co-chair on the counsel council in israel, he was one of my biggest mentors when we went traveling to washington, d.c., and san juan, puerto rico. he really mentored me. when i was writing my bio i thought about him in the beginning that i would get really real about it. other than the education and things that you hear about all the time. the one thing with the work that we do, i am so proud of all of that you i want to talk about while i'm here, a lot of the people -- i don't know all the people that nominated me but i know a lot of the people that nominated me were elders and they were from the lgbt spirit community. and the one thing i remember growing up was home phobia, internalized racism, external

racism and the feeling of not being a part of or not being as good as other people and when i got married and i had ny children i moved to the state of georgia which is where my ancestors came from and before the civil rights law was passed in 1968 everything was secretary gated. i had to take my little girl to the doctor's office and we had to use the back door and wait in the back room until everyone was steamed and this was like four hours. my daughter had a really high fever. what i would like to take this opportunity to talk about is that -- and i know we made a lot of progress but we have a long way to go, i hear a lot of times from clients and people in our community about having to come out of the closet. they don't need to come out of the closet, we need to come out of the closet. stop making our kids, our grandchildren, our nieces and our nephews, they know who they are, they accept -- they're waiting for us to accept them and i'm glad i had the opportunity to work in san

francisco. it's only so big and some of the cities are only so big. we need to remember they need to have options of where they can live, they need to be comfortable in their homes where they live. they shouldn't have to relocate the cities out of their home to be accepted for who they are because i remember that feeling of not being accepted for who i am and it's not a good feeling. so, we have a lot of work to do, we have a lot further to go. you know, but i do see change and have a lot of hope and again thank all of you. thank you. >> good evening, everybody. my name's pedestrian rosa and i'm mayor newsom's representative here this evening. he sends his regards and wants to congratulate every single one of the honorees that are here with us this evening.

on behalf of the mayor, i would like to present to john ben with a the proclamation for --on ben with a the proclamation for native american heritage month. i think it's important that we recognize the strides the native american community has made in this country. whereas president barack obama has appointed kimberly tehee of the cherokee nation as his native american policy advisor and jodie jilett of the standing rock sioux rain to to provide a voice to the american indian nation within the president's white house senior staff. providing a critical seat at the table when important decisions are being made about the lives, nation and people of american indian dissent. and whereas president obama and secretary of the interior ken salazar selected larry oako hawk of the pawnee nation to serve as assistant secretary

for indian affairs and have held listening sessions on american indian and alaska native issues around the country. and the white house. and whereas american indian heritage month recognizes and honors the continued contributions of the american indian community and promotes awareness about issues facing the american indian population today. and whereas the mayor of the city and county of san francisco is proud to partner with kqed, friendsship house, association of american indian, american indian aids project and the american indian health center to celebrate five outstanding local heroes for their work in the san francisco bay area, american indian community. now therefore be it resolved that i, the mayor, do hereby proclaim november, 2009, as american indian heritage month in the city and county of san francisco.

at this time i'd also like to recognize the offices of several elected officials who are providing certificates of honors to all of the awardees this evening. the office of senator mark leno, assemblyman tom amiano and speaker of the house nancy pelosi. i'd also like to thank helen walkasou of friendship house, john ben with a of the american native -- john ben with a -- jonbenet, lindo brian from kqed and mark espinosa from the native american health center. and i'd like to now introduce mark espinosa, executive director of san francisco native american health center.

>> good evening, everyone. welcome. i'd like to congratulate all the winners tonight as well as thank all the sponsors for this great event. native american health center of san francisco was started in 1972 to provide health services very much needed for natives who are relocated to the bay area. we are still located in the mission district. we provide medical services, dental services, h.i.v. services and behavior health services. we're open to all city and county residents of san francisco as well as our native population. we are a safety net clinic and we do support the city and county in terms of providing health services for the city residents of san francisco. at this time i'd like to turn it over to darren for the introduction of one of our staff members, kathy chapman. >> my pleasure to introduce our third nominee, kathy chapman,

honoring -- honoree, parred me. she participated in the longest walk of 1978. she was a part of a group of young people who made a commitment to go back to their communities and to try to make a better way of life for her people. in 1981 she was recruited to become a certified labor coach in highland hospital for the native american health center in oakland. kathy worked full time for the native american health center as a c.h.r. community health worker. in the paranatal democratic. she was instrumental in developing a team of labor coaches from different tribal backgrounds and creating a cultural bridge between the patients and the medical staff of the clinic in the hospitals. kathy became involved in community radio in 1985. she was asked to participate in the first apprenticeship program in kpfa-fm and produced there for 10 years. she still produced a few programs a year as an independent producer.

in 1988 kathy produced a radio special on hiv/aids in indian country which profiled a new organization, national native american aids prevention center. the information presented in this radio special impacted kathy so much that she began spreading the word of h.i.v. in the native community. they began her work in h.i.v. prevention. she left the work in san francisco in 1998 to assist in the care of elder relatives in arizona. and and returned to native american health center in 2006 and began working with some of the same clients that she had worked with at native american aids project. she's currently employed as an h.i.v. substance abuse case manager in the circle of healing at the native american health center in san francisco. kathy chapman is of several descents and i'd like to say on a personal level thats ths really an honor for me to be presenting this award to kathy and of course to gale because without kathy and without gale

i wouldn't be here today. it was about 15 years ago that i walked in the native american aids project office and i was kind of despondent. i was just at the end of my rope and i met kathy and kathy gave me hope. she tied me into services at native american aids project and she referred me over to the health center. and it was the health center and nailtive american aids project together -- native american aids project together that really helped me to be where i'm at today and without these two organizations, without these two women, i wouldn't be where i'm at today. so it really is with deep respect, i thank these two ladies. so thank you. and now mark would like to say a few words about kathy. >> thank you. about three years ago kathy was hired at the native american health center. i didn't know her at the time or at least i didn't think i did. we started talking about the

old days and how things were and it turned out she knew my mother and we talked more and it turns out she remembered me as a kid. during the longest walk. and i thought, wow, that goes back 1978. i'm 45 now. that story that you're under 40e isn't going to work anymore. no, honestly i think, you know, what we do at the health center as well as nap is provide services that are needed for our community and the city as a whole. with the recent budget cuts and cuts to the h.i.v. programs and dental and medical, it's apparent that we provide the services because there's a needed -- a need for them and the people that work there work there because they believe in their mission, they believe in the community, they believe in their heart what thank what they're doing is healing our community and it's not for the recognition and recognizing people this year for what they do out of their heart is

special. and there are a lot of heroes out in the community. the ones we honor tonight, we'd like to thank them for what they do for our community and also we embrace them because from what they do, it goes on to the next generation. you know, their kids, their grandchildren, their nieces, their nephews. see what they do and what they can accomplish and what we can accomplish together and because of that we honor people like kathy and kathy i'd like to thank you for all the help you give our patients, the kind words you give them and for the services that we provide. we don't have a lot of money but we do with what we can. and kathy's just been instrumental in our department and congratulations, kathy.

>> this was really a surprise to me but now i know why mr. randy burns was coming around the clinic. and there's some people that i'd like to come up because they are who we do the work for. i don't know if one of them is here. angela, i'd like phyllis and nicky, morning star to come up here if they can. because it is for our children that we have done the work that we've done. when i came to this community i came in, oh, gosh, it was before 1978. one of the first places that i went to was to the native american health center. and i had the opportunity to be served by lew that dell and lindy and learned as a patient

about community health and the community i grew up in in southern california. we didn't have an indian clinic, we didn't have an indian center. when i came here there was the san francisco indian center, there was intertribal friendship house in oakland and it was the first community that i had lived in where there's a real sense of caring and it was the first community i had lived in where there were a lot of sober indian people and i'd like to thank helen and marty for the work that they've done in that area. and i don't know if helen, you saw, the white bison meditation of the day today but it was a saying from wilma and she talked about the importance of education. i don't see any of those young people whose names i called coming up here. but i want to -- shirleyy come

up here. morning star. phyllis. and angela. i am so impressed with some of the young people, along with roscadee, our other nominee tonight because they get it. they really get it. we have worked so hard in our generation. we felt like we were the cultural bridge between the generations and i'd also like to thank peggy down here who over the years has not let me not use my radio skills. peggy was a recipient of this award and she is with the native media resource center and native public media. and goes around the country and helps build radio stations in indian country. angela is case manager at our

local program. loyan works for health. important star was born at the freedom survival school. and we do all of the work that we do as cultural workers for our children in the next generation and i would just like to thank all of them because it fills my heart to know that the work that we do, that the knowledge that's being passed on from generation to generation. thank you. and i'd just like to thank mark also because when i started working at the clinic and i loorked -- looked at him and said, aren't you one of the twins? and i remember him of the twins? i remembered him when he had

his long hair. [applause] >> it's my pleasure to introduce our fourth honoree, but i wanted to check and see if shade was here? please join me. roz is a native californian musician and is the co-founder and director of a native youth organization. it's known as s.n.a.g. he leads free weekly workshops with native youth, where he passes his knowledge to the next generation teaching them music, video, writing, photography, magazine layout and design. roz co-hosts a native program

on the radio. he is a renowned producer for audio pharmacy. he has returned from palestine and a european tour with his band. he has taken trips to south dakota and new orleans to help with youth and others in times of need. roz has began working with the community as an h.i.v.-aids outreach worker in 2001 and moved to the youth department at the native american health center in oakland in 2004 where he has worked as a youth program coordinator. in 2002, roz begun working as a hip-hop history teacher at street academy high school in oakland and helped found the native-run movie studio. he has been involved in his tribe's traditional ceremonies

as a dancer and singer and travels to his reservation for spiritual ceremonies. it is easy to see that his spirit of giving back continues to inspire the next generation of youth, young people. would you like to say something? >> thank you. i would like to say thank you to everyone who made this possible today, and i would like to echo honoring all of the people that are honored here today. roz didn't even know that i nominated him. he didn't find out until he got the phone call. he is kind of embarrassed by that because getting this kind of attention is big, but i don't like public speaking, so when i told him that i had to present the nomination to him, he said that's what you get. so i'm going to do my best. i wrote down some words about

why i nominated roz and i thought he deserved this award. when i first met him, we were both at a show in the city seeing a band. he walked up to me with his backpack on and handed me a flier for a show he was performing the next night at my school. i learned of how many obstacles he had overcome in his life and his dream of being a professional musician. he told me then that music was his first love. since then, i have watched him overcome even more obstacles as we all do in life to become part of the next generation of leaders in his communities. his music is the soundtrack of struggles for social justice and he has even had organized protests himself when his tribe tried to disenroll members and quash elections. i think the most powerful impact roz has made in the community is on a path he didn't choose initially. that's with working with youth and in media. the idea was born at a workshop

we were doing with youth who expressed feelings of disempowerment. no one was listening to them. and although his heart is still in his music, roz understands the importance of listening to the voices of young people and of being a man tore and that's often the most difficult role anyone can undertake. i work in juvenile justice and roz and i often talk about how fearful adults are of young people and how wary how adults are interacting with youth who aren't their own. we know that working with youth is among the hardest and most rewarding things you can do. roz has traveled to europe and japan with his band and he has been sent all over, even to kenya to represent his community as an organizer and as an artist. he always come home to continue working with the youth on a weekly basis here in the bay area and on reservations. he just returned this week from working on the ute reservation in colorado with youth

instructing them how to write lyrics and create music. that is one of his other loves. so ultimately when i lock at him, i see someone who gives his all without asking for anything back and i see someone who in his 30 years has done enough for probably two lifetimes. so i look forward to seeing what more you do in your life, roz. i'm here today to thank you for all that you have done already. so please join me in celebrating roz. thank you. [applause] >> thank you. thank you all for coming out today. i'm not prepared to speak so

i'm going to let him come from the heart. there is a lot of people here, there are about 100 people in here that also deserve this award, so i'm going to accept this on your behalf as well. i have been blessed to see the world traveling as a musician, as an artist, and as what i like to call a peace ambassador from here, from north america. and i have seen a lot of communities struggles. i have seen a lot of people hurt, a lot of people going through pain and struggles and it's so beautiful to come from this community here in san francisco and to see all of these dancers here, see all of these young people empowered and believing in their traditions and so i'm so proud to be a part of this community in san francisco. originally when we came up with

the idea of doing a media workshop with youth, we didn't know it was going to be so popular and that so many good things were going to come out of it. it's been about seven years and that we have been working with snag producing a youth magazine and we're on our seventh issue. and we're actually planning an event. i'm going to use this time to promote that event. it's december 11. everyone here is welcome to come and see what our community is all about and come through and get your holiday gifts and those things as well. thank you, guys, and much love. [applause] >> i call linda o'brien at this

time. >> thank you very much, tom. good evening, everyone. i'm linda o'brien, chief content officer for kqud and northern california public broadcasting. let me extend my congratulations to all five of the honorees. let's have an applause for all of them. [applause] we are delighted to be here and i would also like to recognize from our community advisory panel, gail, robert, and pa rhea, thank you for joining us this evening. they are tireless supporters of kqud and the community. kqed is very proud to be celebrating american indian heritage month along with the san francisco mayor's office of neighborhood services, the friendship association of american indians and native american aids project. it is a true honor to be spending this evening with all of you.

you know, during the month of november, kqed is very proud to provide a schedule of a lineup of programs focused on american indian themes and issues. these programs, independently, are highlighted in a guide and online and also with some very rich community resources on our website at kqed.org if you would like to take a look. this month alone, we will be broadcasting over 40 programs focused on the american indian community. a few highlights -- thank you. [applause] >> thank you for the words of one of our honorees tonight about kqed's work in the community because we are very proud to present these and other programs. just a quick rundown of a couple of programs coming up -- jim thorpe, world's greatest athlete is broadcasting this saturday, november 14, at 6:00 p.m. this "chronicle"s the

superstar's remarkable life from his boyhood in oklahoma all the way to his gold medal wins at the 1912 summer olympics, then to his subsequent fall from grace and then later his advocacy of american indian rights and self-sufficiency. the biography recounts all of these events with wonderful in-depth interviews with thorpe's surviving children, dramatic re-creations and archival stills and films. and then playing for the world which is the 1904 -- imagine that -- 1904 fort shaw indian girls basketball team. that's going to air this sunday at noon. this program takes a special look at the unique team of native american women who played basketball as a montana boarding school back in 1902. i'm very pleased to announce that this week kqed is