the 100th birthday of our dear sister rosa parks. as our country continues to celebrate the beginning and as our country continues to celebrate the beginning of the second term of our great president, president barack obama. now, it's easy to take for granted the progress that we've made as a country because we are forever looking to solve today's problems and as we continue to meet tomorrow's challenges as we shape our future. but what it is, it's definitely worthwhile to take a look back at the great works of our predecessor and the brave men and women who have paved the way for progress that we enjoy here in the 21st century. and if you look around, many of those men and women are right here with us in the rotunda today. we remember the people who braved police dogs and fire hoses turned against them by their own government officials in the south, people who believed that an idea --

believed in an idea that we're all created equal and that we're willing to risk and that we're willing to risk their life in the purchase soul of a lofty promise in america. today we celebrate black history month and the catalyst to progress that the emancipation proclamation as well as the march on washington provided us. we are familiar with the incarnation, whether it's the work of gandhi, mother theresa, or nelson mandela, people who have carried the torch of love and equality into the dark caves of tyrany and emerged bloody, but unbowed, they are examples of love's true limitless potential. thank you. (applause) >> and even, and even in the face of institutional hatred, the legacy of their work is a beacon for the world that loves

will triumphant at the end of the day. it's triumphant because love, brotherhood and togetherness bind us together as americans. it's who we are as america. it's in our dna and those who are not part of this plan, who are not part of our constitution will eventually be overrun by our collective commitment to each other. but these victories, these victories are hard fought. these victories happened in a democracy out in the open. in the marketplace of ideas where thankfully what is good and what is right always prevails. we are thankful of this, sure. their injustice is and yes, they still persist. and they're present in our everyday lives. but thankfully they are treading down. slowly but surely being restricted to the fringe while the rest of us march on holding

hands to our collective prosperity. and, so, here we are today gathered once again on an annual basis. we've come to celebrate black history month. and we are celebrating ourselves. we are celebrating ourselves for the transformations that we have gone through, our sacrifice, and our willingness to look ourselves in the mirror, to transform ourselves into a better society, a better country and a better city. now today we stand on the shoulders of the great giants who came before us -- oh, that's my signal. [laughter] >> no respect. [laughter] >> fortunate for al williams i'm almost done. today we stand on the great shoulders of the folks that have come before us. and i wish you all a very happy and empowering black history month. i do have one piece of business that i'd like to share with you. on tuesday, i, along with the

co-sponsorship of supervisor breed introduced a resolution celebrating the 100th birthday of sister rosa parks and commemorating the modern civil rights leader for her courageous and declaring -- for her courageousness and declaring february 4th rosa parks day in san francisco. (applause) >> i thought you might like that. i'm done. thank you. [laughter] >> thank you. supervisor. and now there are a couple other people, sheriff mirkarimi has joined us. [speaker not understood] is in the room with us as well. reverend amos brown is with us. welcome. (applause) >> now supervisor breed will bring us brief remarks. >> hi, everybody.

(applause) >> so happy to see all your smiling faces in the audience. happy black history month. i bring you greetings on behalf of district 5 in our great city. thank you, mr. mayor, for opening up city hall to my colleague, supervisor cohen, and my distinguished colleagues sitting here in the front row on the board of supervisors. it's truly an honor to stand before you on such a great month. recent -- yesterday congresswoman barbara lee talked about dr. martin luther king and his dream and some of the issues that we were dealing with over 40 years ago are some of the same issues that we are dealing with today. and i'm so honored to have dr. claiborne carson here today to talk to us about some of those issues. he is unmatched in terms of his expertise about dr. king and has made sure that his dream and his words and the education that we have from dr. king stays alive for generations to come.

so, this is truly an amazing event today. dr. king in 1967 asked, where do we go from here? and today we're still asking that same question. where do we go from here? well, we still have people suffering in our community, people in the african-american community. where do we go from here when we have lost numbers of african americans in san francisco? where do we go from here? well, i'll tell you where we go from here. (applause) >> we change policy of the city. we change policy, and we start to be progressive, truly progressive about the policies we push to make african americans feel welcomed in this city. so, where do we go from here? we start to make aggressive efforts to educate our young people. we take ownership of our community. we take ownership of our children. we support each other instead of pointing the finger. where do we go from here? (applause) >> there is much work to do. as supervisor cohen and i

cannot do it alone, we need your support. we need your encouragement. so, as we celebrate black history month, we need to reflect and understand and appreciate our history. it is a rich history, one that has made san francisco a great city. it is our time to shape the course of history as we speak by making a change in our great city. so, i'm going to be looking to you all in this audience to be advocates, to be supporters. where do we go from here? our time is now to change the course of history in san francisco. thank you all so much. [cheering and applauding] >> thank you, supervisor breed. i'd also like to mention we've been joined by senator mark leno. welcome, mark. glad to have you here. (applause) >> and with that, i'd like to

introduce the city administrator naomi kelly who will also introduce the mayor, ed lee. (applause) >> happy black history month, everyone. we have to be proud that we have two very strong beautiful african-american women who are on the board of supervisors. [cheering and applauding] >> and where do we go from here, ms. breed? you have all the departments that are with the administrator family to help you and supervisor cohen achieve those goals. this year, the theme is at the crossroads of freedom and equality and we stand here 150 years after the emancipation proclamation and 50 years after the march on washington to reflect on our success -- assess our challenges, and look forward to the future.

just monday at the state of the city address, the mayor talked about some of our challenges, and he has tasked me to work with supervisor cohen, supervisor breed, dr. amos brown, dr. honeycut, and all of you to look at our public housing and where do we see it going from here, and look into rethinking public housing so that it will be accessible for all people of all ethnicities of all races so that we all have dignity in where we live and what our future looks like. and, so, i look forward to working with all of you along with supervisor breed and cohen in looking at this effort. i have the honor today to introduce mayor ed lee who has made equality the cornerstone of his career. as a civil rights lawyer, he sued the housing authority to improve the standards of living for public housing tenants. and he also sued the fire department so women and people

of color could get equal opportunity. as the director of this city's human rights commission, he expanded contracting opportunities for women and people of color. and today as mayor, he makes sure our city government reflects the diversity of this great city. on monday we were together, as i mentioned earlier, i college track on 3rd street in bayview where the mayor give his state of the city address. his administration's focus is on creating jobs, making sure that all of our residents have access to those jobs,st and from local hireness and job readiness, training and placement, we are moving towards equality for all with the mayor's leadership. ladies and gentlemen, i'd like to introduce the 43rd mayor of san francisco, mayor edwin lee. (applause)

>> good afternoon, everyone. all right. welcome to city hall and happy black history month here in san francisco. nobody got it better than san francisco. (applause) >> thank you, naomi. i want to thank you for that introduction and just a recall of what i said earlier this week. but i also said something else, too, that i want you to continuously know the way i have attempted to manage this great city of ours for everybody. that is, i'm not shy about asking for help. and when it comes to the challenges we have in the african-american community, we need help. and i have been deliberately assembling a very important group of people who are going to help me get the job done. and you've seen some of these people already.

they are malia cohen, london breed at the board. they have to face all the different politics. but i know they're going to be great partners with me because we've got the right objectives to happen. we want everybody included in the city. we have naomi kelly, harlan kelly, mohammed nuru, rhonda simmons heading upstreamly important departments. and i've got to say this. if we can't get the job done with these people in these important positions or some tremendous progress, i don't know where else to look because this is a great start. yes. (applause) >> but we also have tremendous help from people who are helping us create the policies and the accountability in all the different departments.

melva davis, kim brandon, willie adams at the port, chuck collins, [speaker not understood], the reverend amos brown, denise tyson, linda richardson, sonya harris, patricia thomas, veronica honeycut, these are just the names of a few of our commissioners who are heading up those very important divisions of our city. and they are joining with me and with the supervisors and with the department heads to do what mrs. obama asked us to do. whenever we occupy these public positions throughout the city or throughout the state or throughout the nation, we do the right thing, we keep the doors of opportunity open and enriched for everybody else. and we're already seeing it happen. yesterday i was at the luncheon for the boys and girls club,

wonderful, wonderful entity that's reaching out to all of our young high school kids and make sure they're motivated to go to college. you should have heard them talk about their futures. you should also hear them ask for our help, because i know as much as anybody else that our kids will inherit the good things that we do. they will also inherit the things that we fail to do. and i'm about making sure that we fail less in the things that we're obligated to do for our generations. that's why i'm investing in education. personally, and with all of my administration, i personally adopted the 12 middle schools in this city to make sure that the truancy goes down, is not eliminated, that the kids who are in our middle schools have the hope, the hope that we're generating when they were in elementary school, involved with their parents, have the same kind of guidance and

support as they get to critical decisionses about whether or not they see the vision of living in the city and going to college and getting the kind of education and skill sets to take on these great jobs that we're creating. i want to make sure -- yes. (applause) >> i want to make sure that our tech sf are training programs rhonda is heading up and so many others create the foundation at the skill sets to earn these new jobs. it's ecology jobs that we all see happening that pay very good salaries, that we're training people in bayview, in the western addition, in all of our city to make sure they have not only the good shots that they get those jobs as well. and that's why it's so important that all the companies in san francisco invest in our effort to create those 5,000 summer jobs, expose them to how to earn their

money, not take some handout from somebody. earn their money so that they can have the respect of having a good paycheck and get used to it and get used to success. this is the story that we have to live up to. (applause) >> and it is all about moving forward for everybody. the intent of reenvisioning public housing is so that we can talk to each other about not recreating the story about generations of people stuck in poverty housing. it is about a vision that we agree to, that when we get our paychecks, when we earn those jobs, we move our families forward so that they stay in san francisco and that they are successful in being here in san francisco. that's what we're trying to build. i just got out of a critical hour with senator leno who has

been so helpful at the state. and we talked about all of the programs that we need to make sure that we're investing in so that everybody in san francisco can succeed. this is absolutely critical. six months ago, senator leno and i were talking about how miserable the state was, how miserable fiscal cliff locally and federal government was. today, after his efforts, after the efforts with governor brown are succeeding, after our local efforts here with all the propositions to create a good foundation, we now have the ability to get to really deliver on the promises of a shared economy for everyone. and guess what? we're going to be on the move. we're going to get the job done. this is no longer talk about wishes of things to happen. we actually have the ability to get it done and whether it's at the port, at the housing authority, at the city administrator's office of public works, at the puc, it's

no longer about the lack of resources. it's about the will to get everybody included and get jobs to everybody and get the condition for people to succeed. so, on this day -- (applause) >> it's not just a celebration. let's us unite and get this job done for everybody. let's make sure we translate promises into real programs and reality so we can have more and more of our youth say to us, i'm going to be here, i'm going to get the jobs, i'm going to invest in myself, and then i'm going to be the mayor of san francisco. thank you very much for being here today and celebrating. (applause) >> and as mayors do, got a proclamation. al, with all your great leadership at the culture center and your support, this is the proclamation declaring officially black history month here in san francisco. (applause)

>> thank you, mr. mayor. i was just reminded that we've got to be out of here by 1 o'clock because there is a wedding up on the balcony so we have to move because we've got to get to the real keynote speaker, dr. carson here. there are a couple people i do want to mention. we have visiting with us today gideon lustig who is the deputy general counsel from the consulate general of israel is with us today. mr. lustig, welcome. (applause) >> and the mayor and ms. kelly both spoke about public housing. appropriate to that, we have with us today members of the public housing tenants association board of directors, ms. joyce armstrong, neola gans and deirdre smith from the public housing tenants

association board of directors. we want to welcome them. p (applause) >> and last but not least, ms. jones from the -- >> [inaudible]. >> the department of aging, ms. jones from the department of aging is with us today. i'm sorry. (applause) >> wanted to make sure i got that one in. with that, i'd like to hastily call forward cheryl smith who has been a tremendous supporter of the society who will introduce our keynote speaker. cheryl. (applause) >> good afternoon, everybody. and happy black history month. i have the great pleasure of introducing today's keynote speaker. we are fortunate to have a speaker whose experience and background exemplifies african-american history. he is the general ed orial advisor to the king legacy, a professor of history, and founding director of the martin luther king, jr., research and educational institute at stanford university.

during 2009, he also served as the king distinguished professor at morehouse college and the first executive director of that institution's king collection. (applause) >> thank you. during his undergraduate years at ucla he participated in civil rights and anti-war protests and many of his subsequent writings reflects his experiences by stressing the importance of grassroots political activity in the african-american freedom struggle. his first book, end struggle snick and the black awakening of the 1960s remains a definitive history of student nonviolent coordinating committee, one of the most dynamic and innovative civil rights organizations of our time. he served as senior advisor for a 14-part award winning public television series on civil

rights entitled "eyes on the prize." i know we all remember that. (applause) >> his recent, his recent publication, the book, martin's dream: my journey and the legacy of martin luther king, jr., a memoir about his transition from being a teenage participant in the march on washington to becoming a historian and an educator and, of course, if you sign up for a membership you can get that book today. it's here. in 1985 he was invited by coretta scott king to direct a long-term project to edit and publish the definitive multi-volume edition, the papers of martin luther kindergartenv, jr. those papers include many of king's speeches, sermons, correspondence, publications, and unpublished writings. in addition, he has written or coed ted numerous other works based on those papers. * he collaborated -- now, this is

really significant. he collaborated with the roma design group of san francisco to create the winning proposal in an international competition to design the national king memorial in washington, d.c. (applause) >> all right. among his many honors and awards, he has received the honorary degree he received in 2007 from more house college, has special meaning to him because it made him part of the morehouse men, which includes both martin luther king, jr. and senior. he has lectured at more than a hundred universities and colleges throughout the united states as well as internationally. he has lectured -- he has also spoken at many -- on many national television and radio shows. he is married to susan ann carlson who is in the front row there. please join me in welcoming dr. claiborne carlson. (applause)

>> good morning, everyone. actually, it's afternoon now. i feel, first of all, honored to be here and thanks so much to all of you. this is a special event for me to be included in it is really an honor. even though i must say i feel a bit of pressure now that i know that if i speak too long i'll be holding up a wedding. [laughter] >> so, but let me just start by saying -- recognizing the significance of this day. one of the things that hasn't been mentioned, which really should be mentioned, is that february 1st is the anniversary of the first student sit-in in

1960. some of you know that fourteen agers in greensboro, north carolina in their first year of college launched a wave of sit-ins. and the fact that these were teenagers calls attention to the unique contribution of young people to the struggle. i believe that -- (applause) >> we should particularly bring that to mind when we honor martin luther king, because one of the things that i try to stress, even though i've devoted decades of my life to the study of martin luther king, we would not be honoring martin luther king if not for rosa parks. rosa parks made martin luther king possible. (applause) >> and i believe that those four students in greensboro

also made the accomplishments that we he attribute to martin luther king as a symbol of the movement. martin luther king understood that many of the things that we attribute to him would not have been possible without the grassroots of the struggle. and that brings me back to the book that i've written about the last 50 years. when i was a teenager, a 19 year old, i went to the march on washington. and right before going, i met some of these young activists who are associated with the student nonviolent coordinating committee. i must say that that affected the way in which i viewed the march. like everyone else, i wanted to see what martin luther king's concluding speech would be. but i was also interested in the speech of john lewis who was the chair of the student nonviolent coordinating committee. just days before the march, i

had met one of the snick activists at a conference. his name was stokely car michael. and from that time on, i understood that when we refer to martin luther king as the leader of the movement, we're also referring to him as a symbol for something much larger than any one person. i think that that's so important for us to understand as we teach young people about the meaning of martin luther king on martin luther king day, that they understand that they -- their generation is what made the movement possible. that the people who staged the sit-ins, the young children in birmingham, they made the movement possible. and i think that this is a extremely important as we

commemorate martin luther king. now, also in the 50 years since the march on washington, some amazing things have happened, in my life and many of the lives of the people in this room. if someone had come to me at the march and said, guess what, in about a dozen years you'll be teaching african-american history at stanford university. i would have said, yes, and i'll be living on mars also. because many of you know that that was an inconceivable dream for a 19 year old at that point. or in two decades coretta scott king would call me and edit the papers of her late husband. or in three decades that i would be asked to join this team roma design right here in san francisco and design the

king national memorial. and i would be going back to the mall where i was as a 19 year old as one of the 2 million people who were there for the first inauguration of president barack obama. and just a year later, a couple of years later, going back there to actually see the dedication of that memorial. all of these things would have been inconceivable in 1963. so, when i talk about martin's dream, what i'm really talking about is the expansion of all of our dreams, to include things that we might not imagine. and i guess my hope in doing the work that i do is that