>> ♪ lift every voice and sing 'til earth and heaven ring ring with a harmony of liberty let our rejoicing rise ♪ our ancestors are to be honored

as the roots of the treat, and the greatness and health of the tree depends on the death and health of its routes. when we do not honor our ancestors, we become like trees without roots. there is an unbroken continuing between the realm of the living in the realm of the dead in african culture -- an unbroken continuum. the spirit pervades the everyday world of the living. in a community such as this one, we begin by honoring the ancestors, and we pour libations to honor them, and that is what rashid is going to do. we pur water -- pour water, the primary ancestral offering, the source of life in the universe.

it is associated with the womb of creation and with the fountain of life. in the spirit of honoring the ancestors, we say, praises to the ancestors of this land, the keepers of this land. praise be. praises to the ancestors of the middle passage. praises be. praises to all of those whose courage, strength, determination, perseverance, blessings, grace, blood, sweat, tears, and sacrifices have uplifted us, our community, our people. i want you to take a moment and out loud and with passion and with gratitude, call up the name of those whose shoulders you stand upon. praises be. praises be.

praises be. praises be. praises be. praises be. praises be. we call -- praises be. we call upon you all to join us in this commemoration of the past and join us in the celebration of the youth leaders of yesterday and today and those of tomorrow. we ask you to participate as we ourselves become more energized and inspired to follow their example and to take action, to be healers, peacemakers, social justice activists. we call upon you, great ones, to ask that you give us your blessing. bless all of us, and especially, bless our youth. bless their bodies, their spirits, their minds.

we call upon you, ancestors, to ask for your guidance for all of us and especially our youth. especially our youth. guide their feet, their heads, their hearts. be to their left, they're right, above, below, in back of them. we ask that all of those who are present today be more inspired, more informed, and more hopeful and more blessed and more ready to take action when they came. >> i want to thank sonya davis, one of our peacemakers in the community. a healer, civil rights attorney, and she has been a member of the restorative justice for youth program in oakland. linda.

[applause] >> good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to the koret auditorium of the san francisco public library. i'm a member of the african- american interest committee here at the library. it is our hope that you will be profoundly moved and inspired by what you hear and see today. social justice is concerned with equal justice, not just in the court, but in all aspects of society. this concept demands that people have equal rights and opportunity. everyone, from the poorest person on the margins of society to the wealthiest, deserves an even playing field. every race, every color, every culture. what happened in 1955 is not unlike what is exploding out of the headlines today. it was a young person's death that started the uprising in

tunisia. it is young people on the front lines in egypt. slowly but surely, the young people in sudan are following suit and rising up against an oppressive government. it was a young girl who stood still when she was ordered to give up her seat to a white woman, violently taken from the bus, pushed into a police car, ridiculed on her way to the station, and shot inside a jail cell until she was bailed out hours later -- shut inside a jail cell until she was bailed out hours later. hers is a powerful story, along with that of a man who was racially profiled and accused of a crime he did not commit. i would like to invite ronald, who garner's several proclamations from various officials, and we would like to present them to ms. claudia -- to ms.