(applause) >> thank you. the next recognition will come from supervisor breed. >> thank you, supervisor cohen. i am so excited to acknowledge and honor today mr. kareem mayfield. come on up. [cheering and applauding] >> as he is known in the community, kareem is part of the north american boxing organization and he is actually ranked number 2 in the entire world.

(applause) >> today, i'm not honoring him because he's a boxing champion. i'm honoring him because he hasn't forgotten about the community where he grew up. he hasn't forgotten about the young people that are still there. sadly, kare, m grew up at a time when we were losing so many young people to violence and many of these people were his friends and family. he chose a different life. he chose a different route. he chose to educate himself and to be involved in this community. he taught graphic art as the african art and american culture complex. he's a family man, married with four children and he is a committed father to his children. i am just so proud because he know he looks extremely young, but he is so responsible and encouraging and so inspiring with the young boys in our community, and he is always, always giving them a positive message. when he's not training and focused on boxing, he's right back in the community, on the corner talking to the boys,

encouraging them and trying to be a mentor, give them the come down and learn what boxing is all about. get their education and do what's necessary. and we need men like kareem mayfield. [cheering and applauding] >> because the fact that he's ranked number 2 in this world it's preach enthat if you work hard and you fight and you work hard for your dreams, and you do whatever it takes * you can achieve success. so, today, kareem, not only do we honor you for your boxing career. we honor you because -- not just because you have a belt of gold, but because you have a heart of gold. so, i just want to thank you so much for being here today. so, if you want to say a few words. (applause) >> well, thank you, london breed. we call you lun in the neighborhood. i want to say thank you. it is definitely an honor to be honored amongst all the

supervisors. i was thinking -- i thought of an ali quote. he said, mohammed alie. he said his service, your room on the earth is doing service to other people. and that's how i do to other people. when you say i was being honored, i was like, for what? and then just because when myself, when you do something from the kindness of your heart, you don't look for recognition from anybody. you don't look for points or anything like that, or publicity. you know, i do it from the kindness of my heart. i'm definitely happy to be honored today and i appreciate you and i've been seeing you do your thing. you know, look out for the ones, the young adults, youngsters coming up all through my life and just running through in and out of buildings of african-american culture center. i appreciate you much and thank you for honoring me. (applause)

(applause) >> i just thank you again, kareem. i just have one more person. i know this is being greedy, but i just figured black history month and i'm one of the two black supervisors. so, is that okay? [laughter] >> all right. patricia scott, ms. pat scott, come on up. she's also here today. currently she is the executive director of the booker t. washington community center. she's been the executive director for over 7 years, but she's also been on the board. she's been extremely active in changing young people's lives. i've been so fortunate to be able to not just work with her, but learn from her. and the reason why i want to honor her today is because pat

scott has been on the forefront of transitional aid youth housing. she has raised $33 million to build transitional age view housing at the booker t. washington community site in the district. [cheering and applauding] >> in addition to keeping this particular [speaker not understood], she is just $900,000 away from success. when we talk about changing people's lives, we need to make sure that we're talking about jobs, we're talking about housing, we're talking about real tangible opportunities. and this is the first time we've had someone take the leadership in the community to make this happen for our young people. and as supervisor, i want to do everything i can to support you, to encourage you, and i just want to say thank you, $33 million, with just 900 to go

[speaker not understood]... [cheering and applauding] >> for your commitment, for never giving up on our kids and for fighting the good fight. thank you so much for being here today. >> thank you, london. it's really -- i really appreciate getting this from you because we've worked together in the community for many, many years. and never giving up on the kids that live in our community, especially teenagers and transitional-aged youth from age 18 to 24. they cannot make it without our support. there's no way that can happen. and as much as i love venice and paris, i do not want to see san francisco be either one of them. and that's the way we are going unless we are do something about affordable housing for young people. (applause) >> our young people can't afford to live in this city. so, they move to oakland, they move to wherever they have to move to be able to afford housing.

our young people are living two to 10 to an apartment. it is unconscionable. and this is not just low-income kids. i'm talking about kids that have gotten out of college and have started their lives and can't afford to live in san francisco. this is not something that we want to be known for. so, the project that we're doing at booker t. is a pilot project. it is a project designed to help emancipate and foster youth, those that are just coming out of foster care. we will be providing 24 units of housing for them. but we will also be providing affordable housing for other people that need housing. when you say that you're going to pay a thousand dollars a month for a one-room -- for a one-room studio, anyplace else in this country, that's a lot of money. not here. my niece live in an apartment

with three other young women and they pay a thousand dollars a month each. * to live in that apartment. so, i think as we move forward, we can use booker t. as a pilot project. and hopefully if those of you on the board will lend me your resources for both government funding as well as funding from different organizations -- i've already talked to mark farrell yesterday so i know he's going to help. but i need -- [laughter] >> i need resources so that we can raise this final $900,000. and, so, i will be coming to each one of you individually, asking you for your suggestions and ideas. but i really want to take this opportunity to, to really urge you to deal with issues of affordable housing in san

francisco, particularly for young people. other than that, everybody is going to be old here and all of our young people will be in oakland. thank you very much. (applause) >> all right. next up we have supervisor jane kim. [cheering and applauding] >> [speaker not understood] is obviously in the house today. [laughter] [inaudible]. >> thank you. i want to reiterate what my colleagues have already said. and black history is our history and black history is american history. (applause)

>> as someone who has benefited from that history, i just want to acknowledge how important it has been to all of our live. and on a board where most of us are members of communities of color and/or the lgbt community, we have all benefited from the struggle of the civil rights movement and of many african americans over the last century and a half in this country. and it was with a [speaker not understood] movement. the actions we forget between ghandi and martin luther king and the nonviolent movement that was happening throughout the world, from communism which was spreading in the third world to connecting to what was happening, to the civil rights movement, it was also interconnected and i was really fortunate as a young person, i was incredibly shy and quiet. never viewed myself as a leader. but i had teachers, one who was african-american, one who was jewish and one who was lesbian that showed me eyes on the prize, the autobiography of

malcolm x that taught me about the black panthers. that is what inspired me to find my voice so i could continue on that struggle as an adult. so in honor of all of that, in honor of black history i'm really excited to bring unone of our long-time activists and residents natania zones. [cheering and applauding] >> and i want to invite your family, i want to invite the family of natania jones to come up, the family, [speaker not understood], walter james, mother jones. i see many of you. -- that are here to honor her today. * i am so lucky to represent this district. we have such an amazing community. and i bring -- i guess i bring legislation to the board, i go to ribbon cutting. but none of that happens if not for the community that does the

work, brings the idea, and works on a daily level to improve our neighborhoods in the tenderloin, mission, and south of market. i did lose natania to [speaker not understood]. i want to acknowledge that. she now works with supervisor campos. i want to spend a moment to talk about natania who is one of our superstars. she began volunteersesing as a tenant leader at the all star hotel for the city s-r-o collaborative over six years ago. since then we've seen her take the reigns of several community campaigns and be a shining example of a community leader. she is one of the most active members of our district 16. you've seen her as a cheer leader, a parade marcher, a fearless door to door street organizer, as an energetic mc and maybe even a singer as a city of refuge at the south of market. [cheering and applauding]

>> i'm not done. at the all star hotel she organized monthly tenant meeting with her property management and her fellow tenants to address wide range of issues including food justice and public safety. she successfully lobbied to get community kitchen hours extended so that tenants could cook healthy meals in the evening and set out a weekly -- and [speaker not understood] of helps out at the weekly food pantry which she has brought me to, as well. she is a mom of a middle school student here in san francisco in our public school and so she takes access to healthy food for our residents that live in food deserts and the family is something very seriously. she also worked with management to bring a tv into the community raov which was very popular, very important in many of our buildings. * everyone in her building and hotel knows her as someone they trust and they can bring their concerns to. she has worked on our community budget process for the last --

at least the last two years, was walked precincts for the prop c affordable campaign that was passed, many of those behind her as well. she clocked long hours working on the bed bug legislation in addition to representing central city s-r-o collaborative and capacity building and organizing efforts as they reach out and partner with tenant groups across the city. she is always willing to give of her time. and la tanya is one of the most generous people i have ever met. and i am so fortunate to get some time to work with you. one other thing she also cofounded the women's group in 2007, women that live in our s-r-o hotels which became sisters rising in 2010, and we were successful in lobbying for an all women's floor for feuding from hsa last year at the heartland hotel. and as someone that has gone to the door in our s-r-o house,

women living in s-r-o hotels is an important issue. when you walk through the hallways, it is predominantly men and see women clutching their toilettries and towels as they go to these shared bathroom. and you can feel the vulnerability that many of our women face. many of whom have experienced different types of violence or other types of harassment throughout their lives and so the growth of sister rising has been so important of highlighting what it means to be a woman in [inaudible]. [cheering and applauding] >> i don't want to stop talking about you, but i have to let others get acknowledged. but i want to thank you, la tanya. thank you for being a friend and also someone who has done so much work for our community. [cheering and applauding] >> you can see, i can't do it all. i have a lot of people that stand behind me, the organizations that i work with are strong. they are awesome as hell. excuse my french.

but i haven't done enough. i'm going to do more and i know i can do more. so, supervisors, you've got a lot of work to do, so, let's do it. thank you. (applause) [cheering and applauding] >> excuse me. i what just told by my supervisor i'm supposed to sing so i'll sing a couple of bars. ♪ oh, lord yes there will be mountains that i will to climb and there will be battles that i will have to fight but victory or defeat it's up to me to decide but how can i expect to win

if i never try ♪ >> thank you. (applause) >> la tanya, you are a wonderful, wonderful person and i will anoint you with oil because you're bound for greatness. (applause) >> thank you. (applause) [cheering and applauding]

>> next we will receive a presentation from district 7, supervisor norman yee. >> thank you. it's an honor to be able to add to the list of great people, heroes and heroins for this month's black history month. the person i'm going to be introducinging is a long-term resident of district 7. she's really a jewel of a human being. and that is dr. alison metz. come on up. (applause) >> i have never met anybody as humble as dr. metz. she has had a lifelong history of working and helping individuals and communities throughout her life.

she's had such an accomplished life. yet you walk down the street and walk next to her, you wouldn't even know that because she wouldn't even say anything. it took a long time for me to meet with her and talk to her last year and understand, oh, my goodness, where did she come from? dr. metz was the first female to serve an internship at the letter man army medical center in san francisco. maybe some of you remember her at the presidio. so, shes what the first. dr. metz was the second, think about this, second african-american female physician to be hired by kaiser northern california. and because of that, she has helped pave the way for many others to come after her. and i realize that even when

she retired, she kept on going and going and going and getting involved with many, many different organizations to promote health and so forth. and, for instance, dr. metz was -- has worked closely with her church, pares to provide child training, [speaker not understood] to the congregation. and she goes on. she worked with students throughout san francisco reaching out in particular to schools that have heavy population of african-american students to promote health and welfare to these students. and basically she is a person that will always continue to serve not only the african-american community, but all people of diverse cultures

and so forth throughout san francisco. this is dr. metz. (applause) >> i'd like to thank you, supervisor yee, and the members of the board of supervisors. thank you for this special award. i'm very honored and i accept with great humility. actually, when supervisor yee called me a few weeks ago, i asked him and myself, why am i being honored? a few days later i was thinking of calling you to possibly recommend someone else for the award. and then i happened to talk to a young friend who was very -- who is very involved in city administration, and whom i had not seen for a while. and he said to me, why shouldn't you tell your story?

i have worked in our community through the years primarily through my job at kaiser permanente. i have also worked with the kaiser african-american health initiative which was formed to go out into the community to educate and promote healthy habits. the california transplant donor network also, i did many seminars at churches to encourage donor -- donation of tissue and organses. and a lot of my work has been done through my organization, the the san francisco chapter of the links incorporated which is a national organization of women dedicated to friendship and giving service in the local community. and it was during my tenure as

president that i collaborated all these groups together and we work primarily in the bayview hunters point area. whether my volunteering and community service has been professional or as a volunteer, i always strive to focus meeting people where they were and seeing them for who they were and not what they had or where they came from. to listen to them and try to help as much as i could. many things have been mentioned about my accomplishments, but not who i am. my story is that of a little immigrant girl who was born in jamaica, west indies, came to the united states at the age of 9 to join her parents from whom

she had been separated for four years from mom and eight years from dad. i arrived in nashville, tennessee with my oldest sister when my father was in his last year of medical school at maharan medical college from which he graduated at the age of 40, the second oldest in his class. but he was determined to become a physician. he was a pharmacist in jamaica, but he never gave up his dream of becoming a physician. and i think as long as i can remember, i said, i wanted to become a physician. i can truly say that after coming to the united states to nashville, we lived happily ever after, not because it was

smooth sailing. there were ups and downs, good times and hard times, but we were united. we were united once again as a family. what i have accomplished is not something that i sat down and plan out. i try live each day by the principleses that my parents taught me. believe in god, believe in yourself, believe in family, and strive for excellence in all your endeavors. my father often repeating something he had learned as a lad in the jesuit school in kingston jamaica, [speaker not understood] which is translates for the greater glory of god. however, he would always say, do all things for the greater

honor and glory of god. and with that in mind, you should never, and he quoted, go wrong. something else that my dad taught me just as he taught his medical students, interns and residents, was that you can achieve whatever you wish to achieve if you keep the three a's in mind. the three a's for my dad are ability, availability, and adaptability. ability comes from preparation. academic, emotional, physical, and spiritual. he would also let us know that many have or develop the ability , but are not able -- are not

available when needed and fail to adapt when necessary. i have passed this on to my children. and in addition to ability, availability, and adaptability, i have added a fourth "a" which is accountability. we must be accountable for what we do and what we say. i'd like to end by saying that by far, my greatest accomplishment and achievement in life is raising my four children, my four wonderful children who have grown up to be sensitive and caring young adults with a strong sense of purpose and character. i think their lives truly exemplify the phrase, men and women for others. my oldest son leon benjamin

metz iii is here, thank you, benjie, and a dear friend, joyce dixon. can you stand? (applause) >> again, i thank you for this wonderful honor, and i'm greatly humbled. (applause) >> okay, thank you.

the next presentation will come from supervisor scott wiener. (applause) >> thank you, supervisor cohen. today i am honoring brett andrews. so, brett, come on up. (applause) >> brett is and has been for a long time an important leader in the community, especially in providing services to those living with hiv/aids and fighting against hiv/aids funding cuts which unfortunately we've had to do for a long time and though fights continue. for over 10 years brett has been the executive director of the positive resource center. it provides comprehensive benefit counseling and employment services for people living with or at risk for hiv/aids and those with mental illness. in san franc