educate and train young people to become outstanding leaders and workers for our people. let's give them another round of applause. [applause] >> thank you all for being here. i'm al williams, president of the african american historical and cultural society. we welcome you to the 2014 black history month kick off program. i trust you all have copies of the program that outlines what we're going to try to get done today in the next hour. we have an hour to get through this, so we're going to be stepping through it as best as we can. in keeping with the libation, i like to ask you, the historical society was founded in 1955 and has been in continuous operation since then, documenting and preserving the history of people of african

decent, particularly in san francisco and bay area since that time. we are very fortunate in keeping with the libation to have one us today one of the early founders of the historical society. it was founded by one group of people and emerging by another group that has been led by miss francis mill at that time. will you all give mrs. lane a round of applause. she's with us today and is one of the founders of the society. [applause] >> okay, with that we're going to move forward with the program and ask rev rand stacy curre in to come up and do the invocation. >> it may be raining outside, but it's beautiful in here,

isn't it? amen. let's take a moment to pray together an invite the spirit of god into this celebration. let's pray together. god of our years, god of our silent years, thou who has brought us this far, thou who has by thy might has led us. we come here today to begin the celebration of african american history month. we come recognizing the strong shoulders on which we stand. those, who by their faithfulness and sacrifice made us able to be here today. those whose names are reflected in history books, martin luther king junior, hair yet tubman,

but we also gather to give thanks to those to history who does not record -- the countless slaves, daughters, lawyers, teachers, preachers, all who have paved the way. this day we give thanks for the rich legacy and we commit ourselves again to the task of working towards that day when we are all truly judged, not by the color of our skin, but by the content of our character. grant us the courage to keep moving forward, all of god's beloved children marching towards justice. quicken our steps in san francisco and let us continue to march on until victory is won and all god's children will say, amen. [applause] >> and now doctor linda rickets

will lead us in the negro national anthem. >> let every voice and sing until earth and heaven ring. ring with a harmony of liberty. let our rejoicing rise high as the listening skies. let it resound now 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 until victory is won. stony the road we trod, belt in the days when hope unborn had

died. yet with the steady faith have not our wearly 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 our path through the blood of the slaughter. out of the blue gloomy past, now we look back at last, where the white gleam of our bright star is cast.

our last verse -- god of our weary years, got of our silent tears, thou who has brought us dust for along the way. thou who has brought us into the light, keep us forever on the path we pray. let us dark be straight from the laces places my god where we met thee.

bless our hearts, drunk with the wine from the world that we forget. shadows beneath thy hand, may we forever stand, true to our god, true to our name native land. [applause]. >> with that we'll move to greetings from our honorable mayor, ed lee. [applause] >> good afternoon everyone, welcome to the peoples' hall. well, i am overjoyed to join

all of you in celebrating our black history month here in san francisco and i wanted to say we have a lot of celebrate, but there's a lot of work ahead of us as well. let me take a moment to just share with you just how blessed we are in the city. well, a lot of members of the african american committee working our commissions throughout the city, and i also have, very fortunately, some individuals whose talent from the african american community from the whole san francisco is helping me run this place. , running it effectively. we begin with our elected officials, of course, and supervisor cohen and breed are two of the most effective supervisors on the whole board. [applause] >> of course they joined our

illustrious other members who are here that i can't see. i want to say thank you because their leadership is helping guide me, the administration, all of the departments in what we need to do and do well. at the same time some great leaders within our departments are including their talent, working a lot of extra hours to help me. they include our city administrator, our public utilities director, arlon kelly; our director of neighborhood services, christina palon; and then, as i said earlier on commissions, mr. nuru heading up public works, he's been everyone and

knows the city really well. in every position where we have leadership coming, we're still adding more talent and the newest talent that we've added to the team is someone whose title is, i think, going to be helpful to everyone in this town. she's director of our hope sf program, tamika moss. she's the latest addition, and i'll take a moment to mention her work because she's going to work side-by-side with me to implement the reenvisioning of public housing to the whole city and that's important to this city. that is so important. [applause] 'cause i've stated over and over again, and you know the reasons why, we will not allows people to live in poverty housing anymore in san francisco. we are beginning to see the

light of how when the city breaks that barrier down, how all of the resources and the talent in the city come together and start building housing that is part of a community and not isolated by itself. that's the vision. we're going to implement that. public private partnerships that we're already identifying that's already working its way through many parts of the southeast sector will become the natural way we do things already. there's a lot of hope, a lot of work, but tamika's going to bring hope into reality with me as she bridges all these gaps helping implement that. as i said at the state of the city address in the shipyard a few weeks ago, income, inequality, the challenge for an affordability agenda reaches every community, but i will say, and i think you know this,

it's affected the african american community for many years, and that's why the things that we do, we have in mind to improve the african american community, to lift it up. that's why you see me down there on third street a lot, with all the small businesses we see dotting that area. that's why you see me holding the speeching in the communities most affected and need our attention and help. you'll see me a lot in the fillmore. thank you supervisor breed and cohen. it needs the help and attention of the office and the people who work here, to make sure we lift it up and help everybody. economic's development is going to happen. we're putting the pace and acceleration to the peddle as we speak. that's why we see very active investment in all these

neighborhoods, bringing loans, facade improvements, small business attention to. attention is being given and the results are happening and i think ultimately, what we want to do is bring folks back to the city that left the city. [applause] . about that what /o*ut out my migration is all about? we need in migration. you'll be hearing me announce my effort to build housing. a lot will be in the areas we've already talked about at levels affordable to people, not affordable for people just in oakland, but affordable for people here in san francisco. invest in neighborhoods, small businesses, training. you hear me talk a lot this year about training because it

has everything to do with bringing skill sets. right now i will agree with you, african americans are not part of the tech revolution in san francisco. that's why we're putting money in, the code, yes. kimberly bryant, she's here today. we're putting resources and money in to get people that we just graduated from our tech sf. you can see the diversity in those classes of people we're training. they're getting the jobs with technology backgrounds. ultimately it means a continued investment in our education. that's why i took up the middle schools. i saw the middle schools full of our african american/latino kids, but then i saw no wi-fi

in the schools and no tablets for them to learn. we're waiting for them to fail in high school and then talk about the problem. no, middle school is where everybody still is and it's where we need to make that investment and we're making that investment and making sure these kids go all the way through college, but begin where they're already at. we've got housing, jobs, job training, invest in neighborhoods, encase. education. if we're successful in all these things, in migration will happen in our city. will you join me in this not just being celebration day, but hard work beginning day for our city and african american community? join me in doing that. with this aggressive agenda and one that i will work every single day, i will pause to celebrate with all of you as we have done time and time again,

but we use these opportunities to get more energy, more spirit behind everything that we do because we know our communities want this to happen. with that, i would like to call up doctor chad williams and present to him a special honor for his period message today of what we have to remember and recall, but also giving us a spirit and the foundation for moving forward aggressively. hunter williams, please accept our certificate of honor. >> thank you. [applause] >> now i'll take it back. i want to thank everybody -- the city departments are all here, agencies, people who are all working together. i think we're a tight city

family, and let's keep it tight, but let's grow it for everybody. thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you mayor lee. now we'll have -- welcomeing remarks from supervisor breed and then supervisor cohen. supervisor breed. [applause]. >> hi everybody, it truly is an /hor nor honor, especially as a supervisor representing the community i group up in, district five. we are on the track of changing african american history in this country, sadly it's not the right track. we have african american boys failing in our public schools. we have african american boys and men filling up our prisons. we have african american boyings boys who are victims and perpetrators of violent crimes in this community where we are losing too many african

american men and boys at an alarming rate. we are on the wrong course. we are on the wrong course. when we talk about not making the same mistakes we have to look in the mirror and we have to wonder what are we doing to make a difference. supervisor cohen are here at city hall every single deal dealing with different dilemmas. we get calls from mothers, communities, calls to help deal with the challenges of the community, but we cannot do this job alone. we care about making history, yes. it's great to have two african american here at the board of supervisors, but it's better to have 80 african american men

alive and successful in our public schools. [applause] we have lost a significant african american population, but that's just not because they're leaving the city. it's because they're dying on our streets, so what are we going to do to change the course of history? not point the finger, but look in the mirror. look in the mirror and let's work together. stop accusing each other of doing wrong things, but look at each other and say, what can we do? how can we work together? you know, before the civil rights movement, this is our theme today -- before the civil rights struggle, i've seen the movies, read the book, and it was pretty amazing to see some of the images. david johnson is in the audience and he captured images

of men and women at the fillmore, that is what our community is about, and it has become something that is despicable. we have to be the change that we want to see. we have to be the ones to step up to the plate. when president obama stepped up to the plate and won the election, i said i'm not just going to say president obama, what are you going to do for the country, i'm going to be a part of the solution. i'm going to run for office, i'm going to be actively engaged, i'm going to change lives. we have work to do people. as we celebrate african american history month, no matter what race you are, no matter what background you are, no matter where you come from, each and every one of us can make a difference. so i'm here, i'm willing, i'm ready and i'm going to be looking to all of you to help

us change the course of history in the african american community in this city. thank you all so much. [applause] >> well, they fold told us we had three minutes to speak and between the mayor's speech and london's sermon, it has probably left me about 30 seconds to bring you greetings. how are you? that was weak. do it again? [applause] how are you? that's amazing because here we are standing strong one more year, one more opportunity to not just to our city, but to this entire country. you can applaud, that's a good thing. [applause] and i got to tell

you, today is extra special because today i get to share the stairs with a man named doctor chad williams who was a friends of mine back in the day when we were in high school. this is a product of public schools, ladies and gentlemen. [applause] public schools, london breed. [applause] and forgive me as i toot my own horn, i too went to public school. s. this is a testament that public schools can and will work if we stay committed. pivotal roll that african americans played in advancing democracy, but when we live in a time when the united states supreme court erases fundamental protections against racial discrimination in voting that has been in effect for more than 40 years, this is not

a time for us to rest. this is a time for us to stand up and continue to fight. when women only make 77 cents to every dollar that every man that makes, we need to continue to fight, particularly when african american women are heads of household. now is the time to -- so what we have learned and lauded and turned to improving our future, not just for african american, but for all america. i want to take a moment to acknowledge sheriff -- i'm sorry ross -- sherry ross, who was doing phenomenal things, opening up for the chapter at the southeast community college, ensuring our kids are being acknowledged. i want to acknowledge our city

treasurer that creditor banking institutions are not victimizing our community. [applause]. i want to acknowledge the entire senior staff. thank you very much for your service. i saw the public offender making clean slate for everyone. jeff o is making sure that african americans are able to get jobs and get housing. [applause]. we signed and passed unanimous legislation on tuesday to eliminate barriers for people with records from getting housing and jobs. supervisor breed and i, we're not sitting over here doing nothing. we are working hard on behalf of each and every one of you, all of san francisco, including

the african american community. now, i know -- so you want to rush me. ? that's what happens when you're last. i got to give a moment to uplift not only the great minds that we have on stage, but /artistic talent here amongst us, a performer, martin luther who has been holding it down. i also need to acknowledge our fantastic arts commission that they're doing on third on third. you need to see how we are reactivating our merchant corner and building relationship between young and old every third thursday of the month. march 20 is the next event. okay al, i'm done. thank you, thank you. [applause]

>> okay, next the keynote speaker goes first. okay, i'm going to tear this part up. malia did that part of the script so -- you know, this wouldn't be possible without a lot of help from a lot of people and we have partners every year in this process. we have a couple of partners here who have promised me they're going to be real brief in their remarks, but we have city college of san francisco with us, with doctor fay naples is going to bring greetings, and louis herrera is going to speak as well. they've been strong partners in

helping us. [applause] >> kathy, black history month, my name is fay naples, vice chancellor at city college of san francisco. on behalf of chancellor tyler who could not be here today, i want to say we wish the community great success in all the wonderful activities and programs that have been planned throughout the city of san francisco for the month of february. i want to take a few moments to acknowledge that of our southeast center has been a leader in the black community to get education and jobs for students. i had the pleasure when southeast opened up and showed the redevelopment program of meeting one of the most beautiful spirits in our community, doctor jackson. give it up for her.

she's been a fighter for education, a fighter for education in san francisco for so many years and she's going to be one of more best friends for the next several years as we make a difference. i also want to acknowledge doctor greer and also long time tenure professor, doctor shirley haskins, recently retired from biology. i'm sorry, and veronica, there you are. doctor veronica honeycut. we are open at city college of san francisco, we are enrolling students, we know that many of our kids and the african american community drop out in

the tenth grade. we also know that we don't send our kids to a place, we send them to a person so i want to acknowledge that if you want your community members or students on our campus at city college, all you have to do is tell them to call doctor fay. thank you. [applause]. >> good afternoon everybody. i can feel such wonderful energy in the audience and although it's really difficult to follow london breed and miss cohen, i'm very honored to be here as your city librarian to offer opening remarks. several months i attended an i event in birmingham, alabama, which was a highlight for me in celebratine