>> hi, my name is jamie hooper. in this episode, we are featuring the romantic park locations in your very own backyard. this is your chance to find your heart in san francisco with someone special.

our first look out is here at buena vista park, a favorite with couples and dog lovers. it is as old as its neighbor and both have a significant forest, a refreshing retreat from urban life. the pass that meander we do under a canopy of 0, redwood, pine, and eucalyptus. chill out and this environment and you might see butterflies and dandelions. blue jays fly between the eucalyptus. it is ada accessible. public transit is plentiful. six, 24, or 71 bus. we have conquered the steps, we walked the dogs, and we have

enjoyed a beautiful view the park has to offer. this is the place to take someone special and enjoyed a beautiful look out. " come to corona heights, located in the heart of this district. it offers a spectacular view of the downtown skyline, the bay bridge, and the east bay. the park is one of the best kept secrets. unlike twin peaks, it is hardly ever crowded. on any given day, you will run into a few locals. hop on a 37 bus to get there with that any parking worries. locals can bring their dogs to run with other dogs. there is also grass for small dogs. >> it is a great place. it is a wonderful place for the city to provide these kind of parks. the dog owners appreciate it. >> take time to notice the

wildflowers on the grassland. and keep your head on the lookout for hawks and other bird life. take your camera and be prepared to review the city in a way you will not forget. it is prominent with beautiful formations that are perfect to watch the sunrise from the east over the bay. this is another one of our great look out. we are at mount davidson. it has the highest point of elevation in san francisco, 928 feet. this is the place for you to bring someone special. enjoy all of the pathways, trails, and greenery that surrounds you. it provides a peaceful oasis of public open space and great hiking trails. the spectacular view offers a

perfect place to watch the sunrise, or, sunset, with someone you love. >> it is a good place to get away from the hectic life of the city. get some fresh air. the view is fantastic. >> wear sturdy shoes to conquer the trail, you have the feeling of being in a rain forest. mount davidson is also a great place to escape the noise and the apostle of the city with your partner. -- bustle of the city with your partner. it is quite a hike to the top at mount davidson but the view is worth every step. this is the place to bring that someone special. for more information about reserving one of these romantic locations, or any other location, 831-5500.

this number is best for special ovens, weddings, picnics, and the county for building. for any athletic field and neighborhood parks, call 831- 5510. you can also write us at permits and reservations. or walking in and say hello at old log cabin, golden gate park. and of course you can find more information at sfrecpark.org.

>> the renovation of balboa park, the oldest in the city of san francisco, and now it is the newest part in the city of san francisco. through our partnership, and because of public investment from the two thousand eight fund, we are celebrating a renewal and an awakening of this park. we have it safer, happier, more joyous. >> 3, 2, 1, [laughter] =--[applause] >> it is a great resource for families, to have fun in the

city, recreation. >> this is an amazing park. we have not revitalized it without public and private investment. the critical piece of the process of this renovation was that it was all about the community. we reached out to everyone in this community. we love this park dearly and they all had thoughts and ideas and they wanted to bring their own creativity and their personality to bear on the design. what you see is what the community wanted. these ideas all came from the residents of this community. as a result, there is a sense of ownership, pride and responsibility that goes along with what is going to be an exciting park.

and before i be a slave i'll be buried in my grave and go home to my lord and be free no more violence no more violence no more violence over me over me

and before i be a slave i'll be buried in my grave and go home to my lord and be free >> i want y'all to sing it with me now. ♪ oh, oh, freedom oh, freedom o freedom over me over me and before i be a slave i'll be buried in my grave

and go home to my lord and be free (applause) >> thank you. >> thank you very much. thank you. good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. i'm al williams, president of the board of directors of san francisco african-american historical and cultural society. on behalf of the society and our co-presenters, the san francisco african-american chamber of commerce, the bayview ymca, senator mark leno's office, the san francisco public library, and the mayor's office of neighborhood services, welcome to the 2013 black history month program. the 2013 black history month theme is "at the crossroads of

freedom and equality, the emancipation proclamation and the march on washington." the society is the lineal descendant of the san francisco atheneum. it has been the only san francisco institution that is dedicated to documenting, preservinging and presenting true accounts of the history of people of african descent in san francisco. the society is a membership-based organization. without the hard work of our members and friends, the society wouldn't be able to present programs like today's kickoff. i'd like to take a moment here to thank members of our board of directors and the black history month committee who are here. amongst the board of directors members we have here today are dr. bill hoskins, and please hold your applause until i finish the list because we want to give them all a round of

thank you. our executive director, ellis joseph our treasurer and michael forks on the board of directors. the members of the planning committee are b.j. jones, lamont bishop, lance burton, trevor honeycut, melvyn phillips, eldoris cameron, dr. fanny preston wylie and peter fits simmons. the members of the committee -- let's give them all a round of applause for their hard work. (applause) >> i particularly wanted to do that at the front end of the day's program because we always get to the back end when we're rushing and rush out and don't have an opportunity to acknowledge the people who really have done the hard work. as i mentioned, the society is a membership based institution that derives most of our operating revenue from membership dues f. you're not a member of the society, please

join us or renew your membership today. i should note that anyone who joins or renews a membership today will receive a free autographed copy of our keynote speaker's new book, the title of which is martin's dream: my journey and the legacy of martin luther king, jr. we have a terrific program planned for you today. of course, the heart of the program will be our speaker, will be the remarks of our keynote speaker dr. claiborne parson. you have a program in front of you -- with you, and we will be following the program. we do have a number of members of the city's official family here with us today. the list of which i don't have and the number of community dignitaries. i see that we do have supervisor scott wiener, supervisor president of the board of supervisors david chiu, president cisneros, barbara

garcia is with us. naomi is going to be part of the program. naomi kelly is with us, kim brandon from the port commission is with us, and a number of others. i'll be getting a list, i'll be able to acknowledge others. i see police chief [speaker not understood] is with us. and as we get other names, we will announce those. so, let's give them all a round of applause, please. (applause) >> as i indicated, you have the program before you. we did one additional note on the program, is that the city administrator naomi kelly will be introducing the mayor lee. and due to scheduling conflict, supervisor london breed will probably be arriving later and will make her welcoming remarks towards the end of the program. following the invocation by

reverend harlan jones, nor a griffin will make a presentation, a dramatic presentation on the negro national anthem which will be followed by the singing of the negro national anthem. with that, i'd like to ask reverend jones if he would come forward for the invocation. (applause) >> let us bow our heads. unite our hearts in prayer. eternal god, creator of the world, sustainer of life and lord of history, thou art great and beyond our power to fully know or comprehend. so, god, we come today to give you thanks for both the ordinary and extraordinary mercies of our lives. we thank you for the gift of living in a city where the richness and diversity of races and cultures is celebrated. and as we begin this celebration of african-american history month, we remember with fondness those who worked and

sacrificed to make a life for themselves and their people. we remember those who marched, who sat in, who were jailed and who lost their lives that we might obtain in this nation of immigrants full person hood and full citizenship. we celebrate with joy notable african-american san francisco ans such as mary rodgers and howard thurman, danny glory, willie brown and now london breed who have given of themselves, that all people, black, white, yellow, brown and red might reach their full potential. almighty god, hear us as we lay our lives before you to be blessed. help us to know ourselves through godly introspection, that in seeing ourselves as you see us, we may more readily revise and correct our lives.

we know that you have made us one and all in your image. and, so, we pray that we will mirror you as we live our day to day lives. we are broken people living in a broken world, and we need you to help us to cope and mend our brokenness. we pray for those who have been pushed into the zone of desperation. we pray for those with illnesses that medical science cannot cure. we pray for those in whom hate has become malignant and those in whom hope has died. bless our fair city and its leadership. bless our governor, and give strength to our president barack obama. this is our prayer in jesus' name, amen. amen. (applause)

>> lift every voice and sing till earth and heaven ring, ring with the harmonies of liberty. let our rejoicing rise high as the listening skies. let it resound loud as the rolling sea. sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us. sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us. facing the rising sun of our new day begun, let us march on till victory is won. stony the road we trod, bitter the chasening rod, felt in the day when hope unborn had died.

yet with a steady beat has not our weary feet come to the place that our father's died. we have come over the way that with tears has been watered. we have come treading the path of the blood of the slaughtered. out of the gloomy past, till we now stand at last, with a white gleam of our bright star is past. god of our weary years, god of our silent tears, thou who has led us thus far on the way, thou who has by thy light led us into the light, keep us forever in the path we pray. lest our feet stray from the places our god where we met thee, lest our hearts drunk with the wine of the world we forget thee.

shadowed beneath thy hand may we forever stand true to our god, true to our native land. will you please stand and join me in the singing of lift every voice and sing? ♪ lift every voice and sing till earth and heaven ring ring with the harmonies of liberty let our rejoicing rise high as the listening skies let it resound loud as the

rolling sea sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us facing the rising sun of a new day begun let us march on till victory is won stony the road we trod bitter the chasening rod felt in the day when hope

unborn had died yet with a steady beat have not our weary feet come to the place for which our fathers died we have come over a way that with tears has been watered we have come treading the [speaker not understood] of the slaughtered out of the gloomy past till we stand at last

with a white gleam of our bright star is cast >> sing out, please. ♪ god of our weary years god of our silent tears thou who ha led us thus far on the way thou who has by thy might led us into the light keep us forever in the path we pray lest our feet [speaker not understood] our god where we met thee

lest our hearts drunk with the wine of the world we forget thee shadowed beneath thy hand may we forever stand true to our god true to our native land (applause) >> thank you, nora. we've been joined by a number of other persons i'd like to welcome first to the podium. i mentioned city administrator naomi kelly, supervisor malia cohen is with us and supervisor london breed, welcome. we also have in the audience

with us karen roy is with us. we have karen roy. we have luis herrera, city librarian with us. mohammed naru who is the head of dpw. we have joanne white, the fire chief is with us. and linda richardson, commissioner linda richardson is with us. let's welcome them, please. (applause) >> okay. we have greetings now in the program. i think we will go ahead and move forward with the greetings from the supervisors and we will then be followed by city administrator kelly will introduce the mayor upon the mayor's arrival. so, with that i'd like to ask supervisor cohen if you would come and extend greetings, please. >> thank you. amen, good morning, everyone. good afternoon. how are you?

i have to say you look beautiful to look out and see so much red. this is an exciting time for all of us here in san francisco. and as i stand before you on this day, we celebrate black history month in san francisco. this is a day on which we acknowledge the being at the crossroads of equality and freedom. celebrating the emancipation proclamation as well as the march on washington, as well as 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.