all 16 pages. it is usually 6 to 7 pages long. i sent it to my editor anne swarts. she was at thow publishing books. at the time she was at dial. she was right out of college and a reader. she wrote my manuscripts. she said it has possibility. there is a story in there but way too much going on. you have 3 kids, a grandmother, a grandfather, you got a bear, a snake, a wolf, and fox.

a dog, cat, and a neighbor, way too much going on. if you'd like to rewrite it and shorten it some what and i'd be glad to look at it again. but that is not my grandfather's story. i can't do that. i thought i don't have a contract. i said i'll get rid of my brother and sister. [laughter]. and i'll keep myself. and i'll get rid of the wolf, bear, and snake and keep the fox because i like his voice. i dare say a little girl like you should be simply terrified of me. whatever do they teach children in school these days? whatever you are, you sure think of heap of yourself as

she skipped away from the fox leaving him to prove that he really was who he said he was. before long she came to a tree there were flowers and she picked wild flowers, this fox fled up beside her. prepare to be frightened. i am a fox because i have 6 luxurious furs. he leaned over for me to stoke his back. it is soft. it feels just like rabbit's fur. you are not a fox, you are a rabbit all the time trying to fool me. did you hear her call me a

rabbit? a mere bunny. i have you know young lady, i am a fox of rare breed. i am rated some of the finest hen houses from franklin to madison. i am a fox and you'll act accordingly. she put her hands on her hip and said [inaudible] she skipped away leaving the fox dumbfounded. got all the way through the woods tricking that fox. he had been reduced to sniffling and crying. he was a pitiful mess. give me once last chance i am certain i can prove it. about that time [inaudible] came through the woods. you can see it a little ways in the distance. fox didn't notice a thing. he was begging to be believed. wait, wait here it is. i am a fox, he said yes, yes.

sometimes he could run. it doesn't matter what i think anymore. it doesn't matter anymore. you have sharp teeth and can run fast. by the way he is looking all over for you. if fox dashed towards the woods, not to worry, the hound dog knows who i am. i have been out running that old miserable mutt for years like i told you i am a fox. i know. i know.

she turned toward ms. viola's with a basket of eggs. i rewrote it and sent it back and it was 7 pages long. that was the beginning of our relationship. we have done many picture books together. i did randy and brother wind which was one of jerry [inaudible] honor books. i have done my dearest apron. the latest one is [inaudible] the women of [inaudible] bend. these are about the women that

made those wonderful quilts all over the world. alabama, the poorest county in the depression. the women made these quilts because they needed to keep her children warm and would stack them to make a mattress. they covered the tables with them, they used them for their children to crawl on when they would go outside and have picnics. they used the quilts for everything, small ones and large ones. now today, those quilts are going for 25,000 and more. it was my pleasure to go to g's bend and had the opportunity to quilt with them. my next picture book, i will

share this with you and it is called never gotten. i would like to share it because this is something that had been in the process for about 20 years. i have been asking every west african that i have met, did you miss us? what i meant by that was are there stories in your culture that talk about the ones who were taken away? did you tell stories? did you sing songs, poetry, any remnant of anything i could use to tell a story that comes from that side over the year where you looked and longed for us the way we looked and longed?

in all those years, i did not find one story, didn't find one song. i am sure they are there, but i was unable to find them. i said okay, instead of whining and wondering, i'll do it myself. it is reason in free verse and about black smith, west african black smith. they were thought to be magicians. 1725, oh molly in the west africa. the drums -- be ware of sea

birds, be ware of men that steal up the river through the great forest. and into the savannah lands. the moans and groans, hundreds, thousands stolen, we rarely speak the taken, i will this time because you have asked. come back, back, back, far edge of memory. we recall them and they are black smith, by all accounts a master craftsman, worthy of praise, honored as a powerful magician. one who could speak the old names of the mother elements, earth, fire, water, wind. they would do as bidding, think. people sing praise songs.

he was a gifted black smith. he is not remembered for that. he is best remembered for being a loving father. when his beloved wife died only after a year and embraced his newborn son, i will raise you myself. the elder women with argued against it saying you'll grow up wild without a gentle hand of a mother, a gentle hand to guide him. must divide by custom, take another wife or give the baby to a mother who is childless. how will you feed the baby? you have no milk to give.

dinka would not change his mind. the tortoise doesn't have milk to give but knows how to take care of its young. shamelessly he tied the baby on his back like a woman and headed for his forge at the place where 7 generations of his clan had once stood. he set his feet firmly on the ground and called to earth, takoma, thank you for yielding up the ore from your underground storehouse of treasure. he lit the fire in his porch and called to fire, tokumbi thank you for making the ore plyable for i might shape it.

thank you for setting the iron and making it strong. dinka fanned the bellows and the fire rows began and called to win, thank you for revising fire and keeping my brow cooled in the heat of the day and lifting his arms in praise, dinka cried come now elders behold my beloved son. mother earth appears first ageless and forever beautiful, she kissed the baby and spoke softly, see how he grabs my finger. already strong like my mountain son. i a woman leaped into the air and swirled majestically in a flaming red. it is a sign he will be an

inspired leader inspiring and courageous. she blew the child a warm kiss that made him cool. sang to the child in old lull hra byes. a boy has come and laughter has come. a son has come and beauty has come. then the child gurgled and replied even now i can hear the music in his voice. suddenly wind spirits swished in turning and made the baby happily, we'll dance through the tall grass as you and i forever free.

he is taken, he is taken aboard the ship and the elements go out and look for him and they do find him in, win finds him in south carolina in charleston, earth went looking for him. after earth fire, she could not get passed the fire. water follow it had ship and wind was able to go across and follow and find him. it was after many years that wind was able to find him. i'll read that last part. [inaudible] all living in the americas, i saw the taken shackled to the land from sun up to sun down working

tobacco, sugar cane and rice. i listen to them tell stories different but strangely familiar. now prayer rabbit. i stopped by kitchens and watched our women with cook yams, rice, oh kra and beans. our children had not forgotten. and i rejoice, led by the sound of a black smith's hammer, i travel to charleston, south carolina, john shannon, black smith. a large european with red hair, comfortable. they were apprentices to all

africans new and old, familiar yet fresh. i have sold another of your beautiful gape with the rice design, how did you learn to craft so well? a young man stepped into the light. i learned by reaching back with one hand and stretching forward with the other he said. people said you are a genius. my father dinka was the genius replied the apprentice. he taught me what 7 generations have learned, i am the 8th. i had bound [inaudible] who answers to moses shannon. both mean safe water.

he seems more confident now, wiser. playful mostafa. i had so much to tell him, he could not see me. he could not see me or hear me in this strange land. he touched the spotting smiles. [inaudible] with birds, flowers and animals inspired. i turned to someone tell moses, shannon is going to free you one day. they can find joy, [inaudible] in my mind, i have always been

free. free as the wind, thank you so much. [applause].

>> good morning, volunteers. good morning. can everyone hear me? yes, good, good. this is really exciting for me. this is my very first project connect, and i and the new director, so i look forward to getting to know each of you. just today, we want to thank you for your help. there's no way this project would exist without you guys. you are the lifeblood for this program, and that just want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. we had a couple of speakers who are here to support the program today, so the first one i'm going to introduce -- i'm not the world's greatest public speaker, so bear with me. first of all, let me start by giving thanks to a few different organizations that have helped out. one is trader joe's. they have given us bags

throughout the years. next is san francisco food bank, one of the greatest assets that we have as well, so thanks to them. [applause] walden house and also a big thanks to our event sponsor, who i will be introducing in a second. not only did a financially sponsor the event, they bring many doctors and volunteers here today, which make the event happened. today, warren browner is the ceo of the largest hospital here in san francisco. he is part of better health. he has lived in san francisco since 1975, so he is still pretty young, right? he has two children who were born and raised here. he is trained in internal medicine. you can find him in his gym clothes moths that is around 1:00, buying produce at the farmers' markets in early rally,

which is exactly where i am at the same time, just not-jim close, so welcome, dr. browner. [applause] >> thanks so much for that introduction, which was a little bit too revealing, perhaps. anyway, welcome, everybody. i am delighted that we have the chance to sponsor this event. again, we have been here almost from the inception, and i think we're going to have about 100 of our folks here. in fact, do the wave if you are from cpmc. great. thanks, everybody, for coming. this is a really important thing that everybody in the city has a chance to do. it is kind of a yucky day, so i'm sure that people waiting outside are in a hurry to get in here and get the services we are providing today. this is a meaningful opportunity to do things we do not often get to do, but to go with those of us working in more administrative or non-clinical

roles, so roll up your sleeves, and thanks so much for turning out. thank you. [applause] >> the next person i get to introduce has become one of my favorite people, having just moved to san francisco. she is a visionary who believes in what we are doing and really believes in making services client-based, and that is the director of the department of public health, barbara garcia. [applause] >> good morning, everyone. this is number 38. [applause] how many of you are first- timers? all right. i want to thank all of you. it is a great honor for me today to present to you our new mayor, ed lee. he is new to some of you, but he has been very much involved since the beginning. mayor lee.

[applause] >> good morning. look at all of you. it is wonderful. in 2004, when dad and newsom -- when gavin newsom became mayor, he had a heart to heart talk with all of us about homelessness, and he wanted to something different, something that would touch the lives of people on the street, and -- because there were so many of them, and they were all hopeless. he gathered a lot of us together and talked very seriously about what really can we do. there has been a lot of things in his life that he appreciated, as well as mine and others that worked with him, and that is, of course, the way we have been able to gather volunteers. volunteers -- for you today to do what you are going to be doing all day today is something that i think is part of the

history of this great city. we have always found a different way to do things. back in 2004 when we started project homeless, and now, this is the 38th time -- you are making and continuing a piece of history that over 220 other cities in this country are trying to copy. 220 other cities. we helped out over 31 dallas -- 31,000 homeless people. we had over 20,000 volunteers like yourself today, and i want you to take a moment and looked at each other, look at yourselves. this is the duty of san francisco and the bay area right here in this room. i love you all for doing this. a large part of my life has really been to work with volunteers. you get the greatest things done when you do it from the heart. not doing it for money. not for fame or politics.

today, what you are going to be doing is offering probably one of the few smiles that people on the streets get. a genuine look directly into the eye. an offer of assistance of how i can help you. what do you need? what can we do today to make their life a little easier? and then, hopefully, with all of this great service that we have today sponsored by cpmc, and i think all the volunteers here today, but i also want to note that there will be a moment today, hopefully, that you will be able to talk to somebody who is on the streets and maybe suggest that there is a way out in the long term. that is what these opportunities have suggested to us. there is always a way out. you do not have to be stopped, and you can get the services here today, but you can also get them every day.

a life can be changed. you are part of that great opportunity. you are going to be part of that direct opportunity to talk with someone, to give them resourced, f, hopefully, they will receive that with the amount of care and the amount of compassion that you have. so i want to just say to the bottom of my heart, thank you very much for volunteering to give. thank you for being part of this historic event, and i know that one of these days, our lieutenant governor is going to come back and see us, and he will be very proud of all of you. thank you very much for volunteering today. [applause] >> today, it is really exciting because together, we have created a solution. we are coming together to make one-stop event where people can come together for holistic services, and that is because of your work. again, thank you, and have a wonderful day. [applause]

>> is one that probably a lot of you don't understand the intricacies of it.

a good portion of that goes to police services, social services that you value the most. and what i try to do in spreading the word with our commissioners, the department heads, and with you here today, i gave three general principles to guide us. i want the city to be safe. not only safe in the public safety sense, but in the core level of social services safety net. how one of the city to be solvent that we have programs that we can afford to pay for. i want the city to be successful. that we celebrate and try to support all of the diverse things that we do to bring visitors here to keep our children here and keep families wanting to come and go up here. safe, solvent, and successful have been the principles i have shared with city staff and

commissioners as we began this budget process. tonight is all about listening to you first and foremost. and getting that in but that we always said we have a value. so i will be listening very carefully to what you have to say church tried to make that balance. the $380 million balance is not that easy to do. there will be decisions that we all have to make. and we have to come together to make those decisions of it we have a balanced budget. i will have my ears open and listening to what everybody has to say. we'll have a budget that i believe is an honest one. [applause] >> and this is one of our amazing public schools in the city of san francisco.