housing. he also helped many find sustainable employment. mario was a basic laborer from lights to manufacturing and manual labor and in the industry. it's helped him relate to the issues in the community. recently he organized a filipino group for fighting immigrants rights. i have watched mario in action on many many occasions. the charisma you see that he's put in his hip hop art is with as well and i'm a great admirer of your work and what you do in the bay area as well. mario with district 11 resident and i see him on the street, i see

him in the park jogging, running to the park. he's a big use are of maclaren park as well. i'm excited about the future that you have and you are going great places to help our communities move forward in this city. you just graduated in the community college and i expect to see you struggle and it's a great honor to be able to provide you our commendation here by the board of supervisors. >> good afternoon everyone. first of all thank you supervisor avalos for the recognition and thank you to the board for this recognition and recognizing api's in the community. there is so much to say, but what i will say is because i'm being highlighted as an artist. many years ago i used to just make music and i

was really inspired by groups like public enemy and people that were really critical of things and i felt what i was saying. when i came to california in the bay area specifically when i saw people taking actions to address these problems and address these contradictions. ways in expiring. at some point i decided i needed to not just fight with my pen but also fight with my feet, be on the streets and be in the community and learn from people in the community and many years later, because a lot of the things i mentioned as an artist, it's five years ago, now i'm more into a community organizer. with that said, this recognition means a lot to me. my parents, i'm going to send a picture to them and text it and they are going to say, wow,

that's great. but in reality, this is for everyone in our neighborhood, everyone throughout the city, all the disenfranchised in our city and those that are suffering from various forms of exploitation and this is in reference to them. i'm not the type of person that really likes to get a lot of attention, but if i did i would have told them to all come here and do this part because that's what this recognition is really about. it's not about me or even the work at the fcc. it about their lives, their situation and how we are all moving forward to addressing the problems and creating a better tomorrow. thank you very much i see you guys a lot here and i will see you again. if you do have a day off because i know you are all busy, we do play a lot in the city and you can come and have a beverage and watch us perform, that would be as well.

thank you. [ applause ]

>> thank you, supervisor avalos. >> thank you very much mr. president. i'm really proud to see the amazing honorees that all of my colleagues of identified today and see the amazing contributions throughout the community. now it's my honor to call allen lee from the bakery which is an incredible place and been an institution for a long time. let me tell you a little bit about mr. lee before we hear from him. allen lee first discovered the art of baking as a teenager in china. he was truly captivated by the cake design and he fell in love with

the art of baking as an art form. he immigrated to the united states in 1980 and like so many of us immigrants he had the dream of eventually creating starting your own business and that's precisely what he did. in 1994, mr. lee opened his own bakery shop. the amazing red house bakery and cafe. initially the bakery was run by mr. lee, his wife and part-time employee. but now if you visit sam bruno and go to the bakery you will see he has 13 employees and it's open 7 days a week. red house bakery and cafe is the oldest business that is currently still operating. they are known for their beautiful and tasty

wedding cakes. besides being very delicious, they are a work of art. not only is he a successful business owner but a proud parent of two children studying dentistry. if you eat too much cake you have to go to the dentist at some point. you must be very proud of them. he taught his children the philosophy that in order to be successful you need to work hard and dedicated and passionate about your work. he's so dedicated to his bakery that even when he broke his leg, he's still in the kitchen creating more than 30 different kinds of breads and paste

pastry. it's a center for this community and an example of community base entrepreneurship. on behalf of the board of supervisors, mr. lee, it is my honor to give you this certificate for your dedication to sam bruno avenue for your thoughtful approach to the art of baking and for your beautiful creation and delicious food, for creating a warm and welcoming community space and for making san francisco a better place for everyone. thank you. [ applause ]

>> mr. lee is going to be speak in chinese. >> i speak english not really well. i will speak in chinese. >> interpreter: alan lee is

the owner of red house bakery and cafe and he's been an owner for 20 years. at first when he came to sam bruno avenue, it was not that busy but has definitely grown. he's seen the success and very grateful for the opportunity and thank you supervisor campos for awarding him and he would like to thank his wife, colleagues, employers and community members for their continued support

and help. thank you for the award. [ applause ] . >> thank you. supervisor campos. i have the honor of making the next presentation and let me start by saying that as the supervisor of district 3 which included chinatown, the oldest chinese community in the country and the oldest asian american community in san francisco, it's difficult for me to select someone to honor during this month. there is so many folks who i want to

recognize and i want to thank everyone in my district doing work for the asian community and i would like to congratulate all the other winners that we are commending today for your work. that being said, as we thought who have done so much to impact, my staff and i have decide that had we wanted to recognize the china town merchants association. it was founded in 1988 to work with our small businesses and merchants but in large part to foster the performing and cultural arts within china town. this past year it marks the 23rd annual ought -- autumn moon festival. for those who have not had a chance to visit this festival. the streets are transformed

into an amazing bazaar with art booth and many activities. the city really provides a unique opportunity for residents and visitors for those who may not know to participate in these events. the association i want to take a moment to thank the board of the merchants association maria sito, tiffany tam, is cynthia lee and i want to particularly recognize two sisters whose worked with the family who founded this organization. these two individuals have been really helping to lead this organization and in particular helping to run for the past 20

plus years this festival. betty lee and tammy lee please come up. thank you very much. [ applause ] >> indeed an honor to be here today and to have you recognize our family. when you called yesterday and you told us that you were thinking about be stowing this honor upon us, the first thing i said was it's not me, it's my sister and my parents who put their hearts and soul and the people behind maria and andy and tiffany and rene and calvin who worked endless hours when this community organization began. they are the ones who really deserve the recognition here today. my passion now that i have retired i can't believe it but i'm busy than every is try

to bring people into our community. for too long our community has been seen as the dropping off point four our community population. we need to regain the attention of the all the abc's for those in our community. it's an american born and chinese. to have them be proud to come back into their community and hopefully from this day forward you will be able to see a lot of changes. i know my sister was a little teary eyed when we talked because it was recent when we lost our parents. we'll

ensure their legacy moves on. thur thank you board of supervisors. [ applause ] >> thank you, on behalf of my sister i want to accept this recognition for our parents. they passed along this year. they were the pioneers of our chinatown community and start the china town community association years ago i remember coming back with my mom when the freeway was torn down and she wanted to make sure it stayed up because she knew it was the lifeline to chinatown. i remember the spirit of my mom and how strong she was and she was here in these chambers with over 20,000 signatures to put onto the

ballot but unfortunately we did not prevail and the freeway was torn down. in any event, we got to take the highroad and we started the moon festival street fair. i remember they said this was a new project. you have to help us get it off the ground. there was no e-mail. we started communication through a fax machine and we got through radio and announcement and was the first ever street fair in chinatown on grant avenue. it began with the hard work of my parents. it started with three blocks and now up to nine blocks. thanks to all of my friends back here. i'm almost

teary eyed because they have all been here from the beginning. i want to thank them all. >> [ applause ] so i hope that you will continue to come to china town and enjoy all that we have to offer and we are excited about all the new things with the new generation with my daughter, tiffany out there, they are all going to help us. we are not using fax anymore. we are going through social media. we are putting this on facebook. come to chinatown, red lanterns, murals and everything. we are really excited about the future of chinatown. thank you very much. [ applause ] cma board members please come forward to take a picture.

>> thank you again to the chinatown merchants association. with that. let us move to the richmond and supervisor eric mar. >> thank you supervisor chiu, i'm really honored to be here. i have so much pride that there is great leadership. i see

emerald gray, the pioneers from the media and chou was the first district chinese personality from that district. there are so many other great leaders supporting the community organization. the louis, i wanted to be the first chinese american miles davis of all things and jazz was my passion. i gravitated towards the radio and i got to meet many of the great jazz music. my honorary from the richmond district is one of my hear --

heroes. he is one of the native asian american instruments. there were a couple of really eclectic activist going around. yam zachey who i used to see at city lights bookstore and i saw posters posted on the streets for the asian american jazz festival and my honoree was one of the founders. i'm honoring mark -- zoo who is an accurate or of many careers of the asian jazz festival and who i met

and inspired by him and other leaders of this movement. i would like to ask mark and partner of creativity in 34 years brenda wong to come forward. there is a really good documentary on mark izu called don't lose your soul. mark izu has dedicated his life to nurturing the chinese jazz performance to others like frances wong also honored by the asian festival earlier but mark has been there from the very beginning to the present and always supported other artist and he's the driving force behind the asian american

jazz festival. it serves as the genesis for other artist movement in many ways. george sam's was the trumpeter and anthony brown and other pioneers. united front was unique because it was the record label and were you supporting other locals to have their own label as well and pioneering as well. this marked the professional debut for many professions. as i mentioned frances wong and of course anthony brown and you led at another time support of younger african american musicians like 12-year-old who performed many many years ago with you as well. i was attracted to asian

-- improvisational music because with different japanese instruments as well and filipino musicians using percussion as well and really a great time in the 80s. mark was the curator of that time. mark's vision that sustained the festival. it was his vision that sustained the festival and i think the movement, he deserves a lot of credit for sustaining that creativity and movement. he also booked the artist raised the money and produced all the shows with san

francisco's asian art museum and also with brenda, they pioneered first voice in bringing together story telling and drama and really great for children and telling of our children as asian americans. mark izu is also known for greatest modality implementation and orchestra anden ensembles and theatres and also the chinese traditional multi-read instrument and he's the only symphonic show composer in the world. mark premiered mermaid orchestral work in the symphony as well. he wrote in 2005 the man chill a project. he was the emmy award winner in 2009 for

52, a documentary about the vietnamese experience. mark iz odyssey and continued. mr. izu's cd threading time, -- it was release nd tokyo. it released the tokyo. included academy award and new score for silent masterpiece dragon painter. his theatre performed at the kennedy center, lincoln center and sundance festival and 2 in indy awards at the

competition and an afcap award. he's the founding faculty member of stanford university of the arts. at this moment i would like to ask mark to make a couple of words. it's an honor to honor you as a district one resident and supervisor for the district. mark izu. >> thank you, i really appreciate your kind words. i have something for supervisor . kim. i go this is the most important jazz instrument and the kids look at me. but they

always a sak's owner. i know for myself it's the most important jazz instrument. i think it's what this whole journey is for me. the asian american, it's always a labor of love. i just saw such an incredible potential in san francisco and i had to do this. who would have known it would turn into a jazz movement. there is a documentary based on that. also i think what was really important to me, not j tus &m, but the building of bridges. i was in the western addition before that and i realize before it started it came from many musician and many latin artist we said because of you, we are creating

our music now. just recently i was inducted to the grove encyclopedia of music. the professor called and said i want to induct you to this encyclopedia. you know what that means? it was an incredible honor, but being honored in my hometown in san francisco is especially important to me. i have done everything with brenda too. mostly bhaz mentioned brenda was part of this. >> i just want to say thank you. this was so wonderful, thank you. i was honored a couple days ago by claudia