happened in this country. black history month really isn't about beingdy visive. it's about recognizing the often mrishts throughout history. black history months gives us the opportunity to correct many of the misrepresentations and fallacies of the african american country. black history month opens dialogue and interactions. it's these conversations and interactions that can lead to a better understanding and of course, a better appreciation for what experiences and daily dilemmas each of us go through as we try to make accommodations to our family and friends and of course, the larger society. when we talk about the differences that make us who

we are, we are talking about valuing the diversity. we're able to effectively communicate with people of different backgrounds rather it's race, class, gender, sexualty, ethnicity or religion. in valuing the diversity, it's what institutions and members of communities do to acknowledge the benefits of their differences and, of course, of their similarities. understanding the value of bringing people together of varying points of view and life expressions. black history is a time of rejoyousing and celebrating and thanking those african americans who have contributed so much to our country and our city. black history month is a time we should stand and be able to be reminded about what it is to be

an american. so with that, i would like to welcome you all to the people's chamber as we begin to celebrate today's black history celebration. i would like to also call your attention to today's theme being living black history. it's important to note that in many ways we are still forging forward in uncharted territory. the next person i would like to bring up is al williams. is mr. al williams here? thank you. al williams is the executive director of the african american historical society. and the next voice you will here, of course, will be our president. >> thank you supervisor cohen, madam president, members of the board. as supervisor cohen indicated i'm the president of the african american cultural society. i

appreciate the opportunity to be here with you today. i wanted to share a couple things about the theme for black history month. as supervisor cohen suggested, the national theme for black history month in 2015 is a century of black hive history and culture. that theme is established by the african american life and history that was created by a dr. prodigy wilson and his colleagues back in 1915. black history month itself started out as black week in 1926 and evolved into the 70s as black here month. when he and his colleagues got together they had a purpose. the purpose was to demonstrate to the world that had been everywhere assaulted. the people of african descent contributed to the making and the movement of

history. as you know, 1950 was also the year of inoma specific sack acquisition. it was the meeting mark for californians. in that year, african americans formed the branch of the naacp. so this 100th century mark takes on a significance. not only from the national american level but from a californian perspective as well. much of that was contirbuted to the work of the historical society culture and others. the historical society was founded in 1955 again by a small group of men and women who came together to establish the society. the society itself is

the lynnal decedent of the san francisco and literary associate that was established by african americans in san francisco in 1853. so this is a long, long history of the african american history and the presence of african descendants in san francisco prior to san francisco even becoming san francisco. there was also a local chapter of the association for the study of african american life and history. these two groups merged in 1958. 2015 marks the 60th anniversary in the cultural society. we join you and the board in saluting your black history month honestries. we would like to offer an

annual honorry membership to each of the honorries. we will offer the certificates at a later date. we extend our congratulations and continue to recognize african americans make to our great cities >> thank you very much for being here today mr. william. [applause] >> okay everyone. we have some very anxious individuals here today all who are worthy to be honored. we are gathered here to celebrate as supervisor cohen and mr. williams from the african american historical and cultural society have all made it clear. we have something to celebrate; our history, our culture. and these individuals that we are highlighting today are people who have done a lot

for the community, not to be recognized but because they care about making a difference for their neighborhood. and so we ever going to begin with the supervisor cohen who is first on the roster for roll call today and she will be honoring her individual first. >> yes, thank you. ladies and gentlemen, for the record, in the interest of full disclosure, this is not favoritism. it just happens to be this day so we're not dominating the mics today. i'm really excited because i have an opportunity to acknowledge and honor a beautiful human being, honorable judge terry jackson. she's here today in this beautiful red suit. thank you judge jackson for being here. [applause] >> i kid you not, this lady is absolutely remarkable. so smart, and so talented. i'm

going to go over a little bit of her bio. she was a prosecutor for more than 15 years in the district attorney office and later in san francisco's district attorney office where she worked as an attorney on complex litigation, employee descents, trade secrets, white collar defense trials and federal court. she was selected by the chief justice supreme court to sit on a criminal backlog reduction task force which resolved more than 1,000 back logged criminal cases in just one year's time. she also served as an advisory member and then voting member for the judicial counsel and received the madam c j walker is in 2008. if you don't know who madam c j walker is,

pullout your phones and google it real quick. back to judge jackson she's began prosecuting cases in 1984. we were just babies. while working in the district attorney's office, judge jackson became involved with many land mark offices that led to our current books today against domestic violence. she has lectured in many offices on how to create and run domestic violence units. her work is deeply important to our entire city. in 2002, judge jackson was the first african american aproind to the san francisco superior court and this is where she serves today. we are extremely proud of you. judge jackson is currently involved in litigation and asbestus act,

sequel is what we call it over here. we know a lot about that. she currently serves as an adjunct professor of law at casey's university of law and san francisco school of law. judge jackson has supported the work of aspiring law students throughout the yooers. she truly embodies living history. thank you for being here and it's a privilege to be able to honor you this black history seen. thank you. [applause] >> thank you madam president as well as supervisor cohen for nominating me. and all supervisors. it is like old home week. i grew up here. i remember as a little girl seeing law here. i remember the days when union court used

to be here at city hall and seeing -- just one slight correction. there were other african american judges, i was the first african american woman appointed here in superior court. i had the opportunity to seeing judge kennedy and i've seen our former mayor willie brown argue a few cases as well as the late mayor. if you haven't realized, i am i san francisco. i remember where i would go get my shoes and the cap well at christmas. i remember we would go down there and get our chicken and drive to louisiana to see my relatives. yes, i do remember san francisco and i am i part of san francisco and you have made me. and there are many people before me. i appreciate this recognition. and my goal has always been to be a role model for others.

and more importantly, my goal has always been to keep that road open that so many before me from supervisor ward and supervisor kennedy who have paved the way for me to be the first african american woman to be on the the supreme court in san francisco. and it's my job to keep that path smooth so that others like me will follow. and because of this great city, because of the diversity of our city, you are the reason why i sit in san francisco superior court and it is my goal to not only keep our legal system but our city as great and as diverse and welcoming and all-inclusive. if there's one thing i can leave with, it's not so much that i want to be remembered for any of the accomplishments in my drear,

career, i want to be remembered if i can paraphrase something from dr. king. what difference can i make for those who are beside me and those who come behind me, i want to make a ch an g e. so thank you very much. [applause] professor: thank you. congratulations judge jackson. [applause] >> okay. next up is supervisor farrell. >> thank you president breed. colleagues, so today, i have a

real honor to recognize and introduce someone who has been a great pillar in our city of san francisco for quite a while and i'm very proud to call a district two member and that is pamela joiner. pamela, come on up. so just a little bit of background on pamela. pamela is born is chicago. she has been a 20-year resident to our great city. she's the cochair ballet association. she opened her own private arts collection for the public to tour and donate proceeds to the non-proeft organization and high school students. amazing background. the more i read it, the more amazed i am. a car miss under grad, a harvard

mba, she was married at city hall here in san francisco in 2004. serviced as the director of the health care association. this may take a while by the way. an advisory board member of first republic bank. the former cochair of the san francisco ballet. former trusty of the african knee spor ro, trustedy of the mcdowellicalny. trusty of the new york city ballet. trusty of the art institute of chicago. she found an advate partner as a marketing firm. she is the senior at a private firm i know and have worked with. pamela has been not only an amazing business woman but you

are such an amazing member in particular in san francisco of our arts society. i want to thank you for all of your work. and as we approach celebrating black history month here in san francisco, i was so incredibly honored to have you come here today. i really want to recognize you on behalf of all of us, i want to say thank you for your service to our city and tell you how proud i am to count you as a district two resident. so congratulations! [applause] >> thank you so much supervisor farrell. it's really an honor to be here today. in addition, i should say i got the red memo. (laughter) >> so i tried to fall in line here. my husband and i are enenthusiastic supporters of the art. in part because the

arts are a form that can take people places that they otherwise might not be able to go. after living here for 20 years, i now consider myself to be a real san franciscan utilitarianism although utilitarianism not a native. i'm the daughter of two school teachers who took me to the ballet when i was a kid and took me to the museums and so that environment enabled me to dream bigger dreams than otherwise might have been possible. and so i hope to pass that legacy on to others and that's the backdrop of the work that i do. i think that we are truly fortunate to live in this very great city that values culture and cultural institutions. and having spent a large amount of time -- i still spend a large amount of time traveling and living part of the year in europe and so i can report to you and your colleagues in this chamber and

the public that policy and policy makers matter. so we are really fortunate to have policy makers who also value the arts and make it easy for people like myself to find people and causes and institutions to support in the hopes of making a difference. thank you very much. [applause] [applause] >> thank you mrs. joiner and all you do to support the arts

and other questions. next, we're going to call on supervisor kim. >> thank you president breed. it's my honor to bring up the third lady in red. today, there is a theme for black history month and today, we are celebrating san franciscans who boldly, who are boldly living in celebration of black culture, black community and black power. so i'm proud to honor a special lady today, elaine jones or in our community as mother jones. shefrs born in colorado and moved to san francisco when she was nine years old. in 2005, mother jones moved to the hotel on 6th street and has been a fixture of our sixth street south market and community. really is there a meeting or event i attend where mother jones isn't sitting in the front row as she is today?

she recently christianed the long amen that street crossing and was a speaker for her years of work on the sixth street on a quarter that actually received the most production in the city. she also worked in the fundamental development agencies so that residents and vishts don't fall into the tree walls. >> thank you. >> she prepared home cooked meals for the residents of the ray man and hotel and shared food with neighbors when they run out of food at the end of the month. she has worked with her buildings and pantries for two and a half years. she's an active member of the church which she personally introduced me too and brought me into that community. it is one of the

most beautiful communities i've ever been participated in. a service that accepts people of all raises, all genders and sexual orientation. she's an active tenant organizer with the city collaborative and i see many of her friends and colleagues here to support her today. the right to receive mail and private mailboxes to pilot the women's only floor at the hotel fund and pushed our city to have an elevator fund in june of 2014. she also pushed to get a bathroom dedicated solely to tenants. she was an active participant in our bed bug working group in 2011 which helped to pass

increase enforcement on this important issue for our city. she saw needles in the trash around her building so she helped get a needle box installed in her neighborhood. she also helped to start a senior support group in the hotel called growing old gratefully, the renaissance. she's a regular participant in leadership organizations and sat on the south market organization committee for four years helping to make sure we had a permanent home, the only philippine theatre in the city, and a produce shop on 6th and howard which offers nutritious and affordable food in the community and where i personally shop as well. i also mentioned mother jones

is always in the front row and she never shied away from that. many of you remember the family getting evicted last year and mother jones was sitting on the front row and she said she was not getting up and she would stay there until she was arrested in support of the three family. there's a beautiful family of her standing up for all of our residents and their housing. she's an active resident in our district 6th advocating for queens, dreams and open state for our seniors and families. she volunteers regularly with the youth program across the street from her home where she volunteers as a mentor. mother jones actually spent time recovering in our psychiatric hospital and personally

overcame struggles and was awarded an award by the mental health board in 2013. she does not just talk the talk, she walks the talk and she's able to speak to so many of our residents because she has gone through the experience herself. over the last decade, mother jones has helped to push issues on low-income housing for people and the phone grab and bar legislation sponsored by supervisor eric mar. she won the women of the year award in 2013. but above all, mother jones gives herself selflessly unto her community. and throughout her life experience, she has a boundless heart. she has a lot of siblings and two girls she's very proud of and that she talks about constantly. she's also proud of her church and

they have allowed her to shine and have encouraged her leadership which we have all benefitted from in our neighborhood. she's looked to as a peace keeper and proofs positive that you only get stronger the older you get. you're my role model as well. thank you for being here and for your service. [applause] >> wow! that sounds real good. (laughter) >> first of all i'd like to thank you you jane. this means a lot to me. i'm a woman that had 73 suicide attempts. i'd really like to apologize to city hall because i did try to kill myself here. the wonderful she sheriff saved me and city hall saved me. i had

to sneak through here or get a sheriff to guide me through this place. god, it's been a long, long, long, long time coming and i'm so grateful. i'm grateful for central city collaborative. clifford, thank you for teaching me how to accept my greatness. tia, you can cuss me out any time, sweetie. karen, thank you for hanging in there with me. and to the rest of the central city collaborative, thank you for allowing me to shine. and my church, oh, my god. i can walk to oakland, that's how important they are to me. and it's wonderful when you believe in freeing people you can free people. and god has allowed me to do that. and i can only say that if you're passionate about something, continue doing the

work. just go and do the work and greater things is ahead for me. you know, i'm looking for a job. (laughter) >> but i want to thank each and every last one of you for allowing me to stand here and tell my truth. i've been suicide free for 12 years. [applause] >> and i like it!

[applause] >> congratulations again, mother jones. and if you're looking for a job, we have the western neighborhood access point will be happy to provide you with the information to get support. next up, we have supervisor mar. >> thank you. congratulations mother jones and other honorries today. today, my choice in honoring black history month not to acknowledge an individual but to acknowledge and honor a movement, a movement that has been created by so many great activist. i'm talking about the black lives matter or hashtag black lives matter today. with us in the chamber, we're honored to have one of

the cofounders, elise ya garz ya. she's one of the cocreators of the hashtag black lives matter and the director of power in san francisco. power has now emerged with cause of hoo sta. they're cocreators of black lives matter with dignity and power now and also black owned leadership dignity or told. i think the acknowledgement of the three creators and cofounders is important. i'm personally inspired by the work of black lives matter and elise ya garz ya. they are creating

a new movement, not of our grandparents but a movement of today. they're playing a critical national and global role. i'm especially excited of this today. they're fighting for the soul of the city and the placement of the black community which is probably at about three percent of the population right now. i think elise ya is a mixture of malcolm x with the embrace of the