[applause] she kept her eyes on the prize that is education. as well -- and was well aware of education and its importance for the future of black america. my mom was educated from kindergarten through eighth grade in washington, d.c.. which is recognized as the mother church of all black catholics. washington, d.c. was south of the transfer -- the mason decisiodixon line. st. augustine was established in the late 1850's during the separate but equal and in most cases on equal time. this school was started by the first order of black roman catholic nuns, the oblate sisters of providence out of baltimore, maryland. their purpose was to educate

black children. these nuns persistence and unflinching sacrifice influence my mother's life and my life. my mother was in high school when the march on washington occurred. the weeks leading up to the march, my mother participated in many peaceful demonstrations and picket lines in front of the white house. again, this is another example of unshakable persistence and sacrifice. she did this being afraid and not reacting when the white agitators were spitting on her and her girlfriend. it was important for her to peacefully continue in her fight for justice and civil rights. i mother was the first to obtain a college degree and went on to an education in education that lasted for decades. my work ethic was derived from her. when you are the daughter of a

teacher and administrator i had a front row seat to watching a woman at work in the classroom. most of all, i would -- i truly mean this and the gravity of this hit me last week when i was before commission -- rules committee. i'm humbled and thankful for the many african-american women here who have paved the way for me, naomi kelly. supervisor kennedy who is here in the audience with us. supervisor doris war. attorney-general harris. judge terry jackson. amelia ward. i am thankful to this woman who embraced me when i started my professional career in san francisco. glendower richardson, carol tatum, and so many of you are here in this audience and i am

grateful for my contemporaries who are my sisters and rock. from supervisor malia cohen, karen roy, and lindon. i have found my place here and i have mentioned, i began my career here in 1996 with mayer brown. i realized then in my 20's that i needed to pursue higher education. and it helped the mayor said he would never give me a raise or promotion on till i went back to school. i enrolled in the university of san francisco law school. i got my j.d. and pass the bar. -- passed the gar. -- bar. [applause] san francisco has been my home. six years ago i was married here on the steps almost six years ago to this month. [applause]

some are clapping, some are not. [laughter] it has been a fundamental time for my family and i having been nominated. by mayor ed lee and i am grateful to that community and i am grateful to the mayor and the board of supervisors who are considering this nomination. i vow to do the best job i possibly can for the city and i have -- as i have done from the outset of my city career. i will continue to draw inspiration and guidance from the black woman in our history and culture who have paved the way for me and others with their relentless fight against prejudice and intolerance and hate. there consummate energy, intelligence, and courage and their unshakeable persistence, unflinching sacrifice and unwavering faith. i have angels on my shoulder and they're my sisters. thank you and i wish you a happy

and joyful black history celebration. [applause] thank you. >> thank you for those profound words. now, for all of you whose names were mentioned by naomi in her remarks, we split up the list so she covered half the room. i am not going to announce it. there are a few other people. mohamad in the public works department, rhonda simmons, give them all around of applause as well. at this time we have a special

presentation. for naomi. bill hoskins. [applause] >> did afternoon. >> this is a treat to be able to present this to our keynote speaker. and on behalf of the african american historical and cultural society and the board, i was sitting there enjoying your presentation. also thinking that there could not be a better match for today's title of which we all know. i wanted to , when al williams was describing and introducing

attorney naille kellie -- naomi kelly, he mentioned she had made and still is and will in the future make valuable contributions that will -- we will all benefit from. he suggested she should be honored and was picked to be the keynote speaker not because she is a woman or because she is african-american. not because she is incredibly capable but they left out two things. she is young and she is beautiful. so again on behalf of the african american historical and cultural society and board, it is a pleasure to present this to you. >> thank you. [applause]

>> ok, with that -- we have judge monica riley. and a number of commissioners. please stand. thank you for being here. we will now have a musical presentation by the amira project. [applause] >> the afternoon, everyone. can you hear me? now you can hear me? all right. i will make my interjections brief. you have been hearing for july afternoon and we're going to do some is secure. that is voice of freedom.

we celebrate the roots aof faith and freedom. spirituals are the root of most african american history. and music. it is important to know where the spirituals come from. the music came from africa. there are slave testimonies to the fact that music came from africa. and so that is the root of african-american music which is renowned around the world. the other thing that happened is that in the u.s. especially, we lost the ability to use the drum. we did not lose the ability to use rhythm. the -- which is the most direct link to africa, we use the staff

and hand clapping. we are going to do a song that will become familiar to me -- to you in a moment. it was put together by our musical director who is holding the staff. and our soloists will be carolyn and nedra. when i ask you to join in, i want you to help us out. all right? thank you very much. [applause] [singing]

[drums and singing] ♪ in the water

♪ ♪

[applause] [singing]

♪

♪ [singing]

[applause] >> the project. [applause] let's give them another round. ok. that brings us to the acknowledgements and closing remarks. on behalf of the san francisco african-american historical society, i would -- something like this cannot happen without

the involvement of a lot of people. and some of those people on the back of your programs, we have listed all the members of the committee who worked hard and long to make this happen. nobody worked as hard as kirsten in the mayor's office out of the office of may -- neighborhood services. let's give kirsten and the committee a big round of applause for their contributions to this great effort. we have another -- a number of proclamations that was received from senator feinstein and boxer and other offices. a couple of other people we do have with you. michael sweet is with us and sheriff ross mirkarimi is with us. let's give them around of applause. hansothis is a membership organization. open to any -- anyone.

ms. kelly spoke to in her remarks. you wrote him to join us. there is information about the society and refreshments. please join us in the light court. thank you for making this a wonderful kick off. let's give naomi kelly a round of applause again. thank you. [applause] thank you all very much. ♪

and the good morning, everyone is. welcome to san francisco.

-- >> good morning, everyone. welcome to san francisco. i wanted to express my appreciation at being here at autodesk. not only do you have a great company here, but pretty soon, one of those models out there will be something like a three- dimensional arena for basketball or something like that. that might happen very fast. i wanted to come here and start by thanking the u.s. high-speed rail association for their good work, their collaborative work for so many years in building a forum and getting so many players together to develop coalitions and consortiums for building a high-speed rail system in america, and thank you very much, the association, for hosting this conference in san francisco. when our city's economy is going again, and most importantly, we are adding jobs, and we are ready.

for those of you that are new to san francisco, you should know that we are building the very first high-speed rail project in the united states. our transbay transit center, which will be completed in 2017. tomorrow, we move forward improving the transit center's district plan. it is not just a multi modal transit center, but a comprehensive plan for the transit center to become part of our new downtown. san francisco is no longer a city that is afraid of growth. we have had those debates in the past, and we have gone through them, but we have embraced smart growth in the right places. around our voter-mandated terminus of high-speed rail is the right place for development. we spent years planning the extension of the california --

caltrain an extension of california real, and many of you in this room have been part of that, and now, it is time not only to get it done, but to get it done right because we have a lot to do. growth, all over the country, but particularly for me, growth must have been and must be done and must be done in a balanced and equitable manner to achieve regional, environmental, economic goals. great land use and transportation together. the transit district plan we have, for example, will add 11 acres of new open space to the center of our city, including a five-acre elevated part. 4000 units of housing. 1400 of those units affordable. in addition to acting as the grand central of our west. the how of bringing high-speed

rail to california is as important as the why. to provide economic vitality to california and to our cities. i would like to again thank the association for organizing this event. i would like to thank governor brown and the california high speed rail authority for bringing forth a new business plan that really response to the earlier criticisms and sets us on the right track. in closing, i would like to thank president obama, leader pelosi, secretaries boxer and feinstein, as well as leader lahood for the commitment to public transit, creating jobs, and investing in san francisco. again, thank you this morning for being here, and let's get it

done. appreciate it. [applause]