>> therefore, be it resolved that the san francisco board of education accepts the community proposal to rename the school to dolores huerta elementary school and as the superintendent said, thank you for allowing us to name the school after you. thank you to the school community. you have done an amazing, brilliant job. thank you very much. [cheers and applause] >> thank you, commissioner. and now we are going to invite a special guest to come up. that is supervisor safai for some remarks, please. welcome. >> good afternoon, everyone. good afternoon, everyone.

all right. that is about the only times we want you to yell. my name is supervisor safai. i see a lot of families here today. many of whom went to school with my kids. it is good to see you. i'm so honored to be here in this historic day for the ribbon-cutting and the renaming of this school. her name signifies a hard-working, inspirational, and dedicated leader who not only helped to shape this state, but help shape this nation. and if ever there were a time that the work that she did in the sacrifice that she gave was more important, that is this time, now, in this era with the challenges that we are faced for everything that you fought for and dedicated your life toward.

may we be reminded today of the sacrifice that she gave personally and she worked shoulder to shoulder for the powerless, those who had no voice, and if any of you understand what that means and to the kids, what that means is, when someone has no voice, that means literally they are not being heard and they are not being listened to because people believe that they don't matter. to all the students that will walk in these halls going forward, you are walking amongst a legacy of a giant and know that every step that you take going forward remember that you are doing it in the spirit of dedication and sacrifice. you will be empowered and be present in every step that you take. be bold, be brave, and never let anyone tell you that you cannot

do what you dream to do. it doesn't matter where you come from, it doesn't matter the color of your skin or the country of your origin or your background, that is what the beauty of this country is in that is what the beauty of the women sitting there that we are going to name today, what she taught all of us. i want to thank principal rodriguez for your hard work and education -- dedication over the last few years since you have taken leadership. i want to thank principal matthews. round of applause for principal rodriguez. i want to thank the board of education. thank you mark sanchez. thank you former president of the board of supervisors. a simile men and educator for everything that you have done. i am here on behalf of the board of supervisors in the city and county of san francisco to say congratulations. this is so important for our city. i want to thank all the families

, all the children that made this day possible. without you embracing this and without your leadership, this day wouldn't happen. and of course, the teachers for all the sacrifice and work that you do. [applause] >> i will present a quick note to the principle. a certificate of honor on behalf of the board of supervisors. thank you to the educators and the staff and their families for all their hard work and work that they have done for the city and may you help to continue and shape the next generation. thank you very much. i will present this to the principle. may the spirit of the school live on in each and every one of you. [speaking spanish] [cheers and applause] >> all right. [cheers and applause] >> we will display this proudly, thank you. [speaking spanish]

>> the voice of the people. the choir of the second grade. [speaking spanish] [speaking spanish] [indiscernible]

[♪] >> harder, harder. >> here we go. [♪] [singing]

[cheering] [singing] [singing] [singing] [singing]

[singing] [cheers and applause] [♪]

[singing] [singing]

[singing] [singing]

[singing]

[singing] [cheers and applause]

[speaking spanish] [cheering] [speaking spanish] [cheers and applause] [speaking spanish] >> we have a special moment right now and i want to invite evelyn rose, the founder of our historic association.

evelyn, welcome. [speaking spanish] >> good afternoon, everybody. what a day. i want to thank you, mr. rodriguez, and the members of the transition community and the p.t.a. students and parents for today. this glorious day. it is a pleasure to be here today, also with the representatives of the san francisco unified school district, the board of supervisors, and of course, it is a very special honor to be here with ms. dolores huerta. the fairmont district is a long and rich history. in 1776, after selecting the site for the presidio and mission, the. [speaking spanish] were the first europeans to exit

the northern san francisco peninsula through this very district. over a gentle pass between today 's fairmont hill and the hill behind us. it was a route that was likely following a well-worn trail that had been established by one of our local native americans. when we compare early maps of what was called the old mission road with modern street maps, that well-worn route ran right through this property. it was, at the time, considered to be the only natural route out of san francisco. the easiest route to go south. when the route of the railway was established in 1862, the start of the civil war, along what is now san jose avenue behind me, a new residential

district, one of the oldest in our city now was first laid out, the fairmont homestead. the association president was a california pioneer. as one of the oldest districts in san francisco, over time, fairmont has become linked with the important history in agriculture, immigration, civil rights, railroads, aviation first, post- 1906 earthquake recovery, mid 20th century redevelopment and environmentalism. many of those which link our neighborhood's legacy with the legacy of dolores. then in 1864, the first fairmont school welcome students, making it one of the oldest continuously active schools in san francisco. and for that reason, a plaque is being placed to commemorate the legacy of fairmont school in the

fairmont district. we can go ahead and unveil, and i will read it for you. so the plaque will say, the historic fairmont school, the first fairmont school welcomes students -- welcome students in 1864, two years after the founding of the fairmont district. new school buildings at the street were constructed in 1867, 1877, 1917, and 1977. there is certainly something with lucky sevens in there. with a continuously active p.t.a. since 1923, and the brave decision of teaching spanish, bilingual education since 1974, fairmont, now dolores huerta elementary is determined to continue embracing what is just and doing what is right for generations to come.

we will have the plaque dedication date of today, with the support of students, teachers and parents of dolores huerta elementary school. fairmont residence, the san francisco unified school district, and the glen park neighborhood history project. we are very honored to have this important legacy of the school here in our district, and now having it after 155 years to be named for dolores huerta, it is truly an honor to be here with you today. [applause] >> thank you, evelyn for that wonderful plaque and the work you made -- he did into making it possible. the plaque will be on the street where we have the sign right now that says fairmont university. [laughter]

[cheers and applause] [laughter] >> fairmont elementary. there is a little plaque on the sidewalk where we will be adding -- we are working on how we will make this visible to everybody. thank you, evelyn for the hard work. [speaking spanish] [applause] >> that gives me time to get my papers. i also want to recognize united educators of san francisco. thank you for being here, welcome. [speaking spanish] >> thank you for being here, and all the members of the cabinet,

thank you. the decision to change the name of the school was shared in a board meeting in august, and with different community members throughout the process. yes, i think it is important that we revisit the motivation behind it. in a political environment where being a person of color is generally devalued, and being of mexican descent is equated with being a criminal, and the political environment where ignorance of the other turns into hatred of the different, and in the context of our mission and of sharing our spanish-language and our culture the idea of changing the name of the school to one that is better transmitting acceptance and inclusion began to take shape. a school, at the most basic of its function, is supposed to lay

the foundation -- to lay the foundation that will support the improvement of the lives of the children who attend it. a school is an institution of learning, and institutions with a responsibility to help students build bridges of understanding instead of walls that segregate. and where we teach our students the power of voice, the power of presence, the power of being, the power of standing up for dignity and fighting for equity, an institution with a responsibility to teach our students to stand up for justice and to challenge the status quo, which perpetuates systems of

oppression where only a few privileged ones get to decide the fate of the many. therefore, we began to think about who embodied qualities that aligned with what we are trying to instill in our students. respect for others, working to effect positive change, being relentless and consistent, standing up for dignity, and fighting for justice. giving voice to those whose voices have been historically muffled or silenced, defending the basic right of a human being to exist. we knew it was important to select someone representative of our latino community. someone who possesses strong principles, and the conviction of resisting injustice and creating a more just world. after several conversations with like-minded individuals, we found the person we believe

embodies these qualities. she is someone who personifies the struggle, the persistence, the endurance, the commitment, and the conviction of fighting for justice and not just us. by adopting the name of a strong latino leader, we also want to send a message of empowerment to all our female students and particularly, our female students of color. [cheers and applause] [speaking spanish] >> we are make all because a woman who lent her name to our schoolmate history the moment she be up and down decided that when it was easier to remain

silent. when she decided, when she demanded better working conditions when it was expected to be content just by having a job -- being relegated to acquiesce them into subservience when she was brutalized for leading the protest when they would -- it would have been easier to pronounce a statement from a safer perch. [speaking spanish] [cheers and applause]

>> thank you very much. thank you very much to all of you that are here today. thank you for being here for this historic event. thank you for joining us. to all of the people in the administration here, i want to thank them for this great honor of naming this school after me. i want to thank the parents and the students for supporting that decision. [speaking spanish]

>> i have seen all the beautiful performances that we have seen today and this school is about justice and about human rights for everybody. [speaking spanish] [cheers and applause] >> we know we have a lot of work to do, especially for our students. we know that education is the foundation of our democracy. we know that if we do not have an educated citizenry, the greedy will rule our country. [speaking spanish]

>> we all want to work for the day where all of you, all of you students that are sitting here today, that you will have, hopefully, by the time that you graduate from high school, that we will be able to have free college education for every single one of you. [cheers and applause] [speaking spanish]

b we don't want one child to be left behind. we have to look forward to the day where our teachers will be compensated, they will be paid properly for the work that they do. [cheers and applause] [speaking spanish] >> and with the help of our legislators that are here present and our education leaders, that we will see the day where we will have art and music in every single classroom in our educational system. [cheers and applause]

[speaking spanish] >> dancing, also. we will have it in every one of our schools. we know that we have a lot of work to do. i want to say to the students -- [speaking spanish] >> i want to say to all the students here, that we are talking about justice, but it doesn't happen by itself. we have to work very hard to make it happen. and the one thing that we can do to make sure that we get justice for everybody is that we have to study hard to, we have to learn our lessons, and remember that whatever we learn, nobody can ever take it away from us, nobody could ever take it away -- the things that we have, and the things in our head that we can learn, nobody can steal from us. it is a treasure that nobody can

take away. [speaking spanish] >> i want to say one thing very important especially to our teachers and everybody, we want to end hatred in our society. we want to make sure that people really respect each other. [speaking spanish] >> one thing we have to remember is that we are all related. did you know that? did you know that we are all related, because we are one human race. [speaking spanish]

>> i want to remind everybody where our human race came from. >> i will ask the question and see if somebody knows. [speaking spanish] >> where did our human race begin? >> africa! >> that is right. our human race began in africa. [speaking spanish] >> what does that mean? that means that we are all africans. [laughter] [speaking spanish] >> i want everybody, please take the hand of the person next to you. [speaking spanish]

>> everybody, take a hand, everybody hold hands. everybody hold hands. hold the hand of the person next to you. hold the hand of the person next to you. hold the hand of the person next to you. i want you to say to the person next to you, hello relative -- hello, relative. >> yes. hello, relative. [speaking spanish] >> let's remember that, okay? let's remember that. let's remember that. [applause] >> this is important, okay, this is very, very important. if we are all related, if we are

all africans, that means that we have to help each other out. that means we have to support each other. [speaking spanish] >> if we see somebody who needs help, we don't have to wait for them to ask us. we have to help them. [speaking spanish] >> because when we come to this school of justice, that means that we are committing our lives to justice. [speaking spanish] >> we are committing to make our world a better place. [speaking spanish]

>> i want to thank you all. [speaking spanish]. >> i know that working together as you said in your song, and your performances, that we are going to make a better world for everybody. [speaking spanish] >> starting right here in the city of san francisco, the city of love, and the in the city of justice. [speaking spanish] >> so, i want to ask you all very simple little question, and i want you to give me the answer , and never forget that you have power. and the question i want to ask you, this is for everybody, for the students, the teachers, the

administrators, all of our friends that at her joining us here today. [speaking spanish] >> the question is very simple. i will ask you, if we want justice, who is going to give this justice? it has to be asked. i want to ask you, who has the power? i will ask you who has the power , and i want you to say, we've got the power. when i say what kind of power, i want you to say people power. can you do that? okay. let's go. i want you to shout it loud so that the haters can hear us, okay? [laughter]. [cheering] >> the haters, the racists, the homophobes, the misogynists, the sexual harassers, we want them to hear us. the climate deniers, okay? let's go. let me say it in spanish. [speaking spanish]

>> let me repeat that because i talked a lot in between. the question i will ask is who has the power, you are going to say, we've got the power. what kind of power, people power all right? can we do that? but we shouted really loud. so all the haters can hear us. okay? all the neo-nazis, all the people out there. let's go. ready? are you ready? okay, everybody, back there on the side, who's got the power? >> we've got the power. >> what kind of power? >> people power. >> okay. , are we going to study hard? are we going to study hard, are we going to work for justice, are we going to help each other out? [speaking spanish]

[speaking spanish] >> let's do it all together. let's go. [chanting] [cheers and applause] [speaking spanish] [cheers and applause] [speaking spanish]

>> we are going to present to dolores huerta the mural that our fifth-graders were referencing at the beginning and we want her, for the unveiling of the mural in the cutting of the ribbon, to formally call ourselves dolores huerta elementary. [speaking spanish] [cheers and applause] [speaking spanish]

[indiscernible] [cheers and applause] [chanting]

[speaking spanish] [cheering] [speaking spanish] >> two more minutes. before we continue, i want to recognize our legislator, scott weiner, for taking the time to be here. welcome, thank you for being here. we have some gifts and presents for dolores huerta. we have brenda who will help us with the giving of the presence present -- giving of the present [speaking spanish] >> thank you, brenda, thank you

marissa. [speaking spanish] >> this art piece was made by second graders, and it's a beautiful, can you turn it around? [speaking spanish] [cheers and applause] [speaking spanish]

[speaking spanish] >> whatever we give her is not enough to really show her what we appreciate what she has done, not only for our school, but for all of us through the human rights works that she has done, fighting for farmers who feed us all the time, so this is just a little token, but we want to say thank you. [speaking spanish]

[cheering] [speaking spanish]

>> big round of applause to dolores. [cheers and applause]. >> thank you for making the time to come. [cheering] [speaking spanish] >> she will make her way to the top where she will be signing posters, and you can line up, but we have to make sure that dolores makes it to the top first. please make sure that she is able to get to the top so she can wait for you and start lining up and getting the posters done. we are also having our community fiesta in the lower yard.

we have wonderful dancers who will be honouring us and celebrating with us, and blessing this day with us. then we will have some music. but first, dolores has to go up. [speaking spanish]

i'm nicole and lindsey, i like the fresh air. when we sign up, it's always so gratifying. we want to be here. so i'm very excite ied to be here today. >> your volunteerism is appreciated most definitely. >> last year we were able to do 6,000 hours volunteering. without that we can't survive. volunteering is really important because we can't do this. it's important to

understand and a concept of learning how to take care of this park. we have almost a 160 acres in the district 10 area. >> it's fun to come out here. >> we have a park. it's better to take some of the stuff off the fences so people can look at the park. >> the street, every time, our friends. >> i think everybody should give back. we are very fortunate. we are successful with the company and it's time to give back. it's a great place for us. the weather is nice. no rain. beautiful san

francisco. >> it's a great way to be able to have fun and give back and walk away with a great feeling. for more opportunities we have volunteering every single day of the week. get in touch with the parks and recreation center so come >> once i got the hang of it a little bit, you know, like the first time, i never left the court. i just fell in love with it and any opportunity i had to get out there, you know, they didn't have to ask twice. you can always find me on the court. [♪]

>> we have been able to participate in 12 athletics wheelchairs. they provide what is an expensive tool to facilitate basketball specifically. behind me are the amazing golden state road warriors, which are one of the most competitive adaptive basketball teams in the state led by its captain, chuck hill, who was a national paralympic and, and is now an assistant coach on the national big team. >> it is great to have this opportunity here in san francisco. we are the main hub of the bay area, which, you know, we should definitely have resources here. now that that is happening, you know, i i'm looking forward to that growing and spreading and helping spread the word that needs -- that these people are

here for everyone. i think it is important for people with disabilities, as well as able-bodied, to be able to see and to try different sports, and to appreciate trying different things. >> people can come and check out this chairs and use them. but then also friday evening, from 6:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m., it will be wheelchair basketball we will make sure it is available, and that way people can no that people will be coming to play at the same time. >> we offer a wide variety of adaptive and inclusion programming, but this is the first time we have had our own equipment. [♪].

>> i just feel like this is what i was born to do when i was a little kid i would make up performances and daydream it was always performing and doing something i feel if i can't do that than i can't be e me. >> i just get excited and my nickname is x usher my mom calls

me i stuck out like a sore thumb for sure hey everybody i'm susan kitten on the keys from there, i working in vintage clothing and chris in the 30's and fosz and aesthetic. >> i think part of the what i did i could have put on my poa he focus on a lot of different musical eras. >> shirley temple is created as ahsha safai the nation with happens and light heartenness shirley temple my biggest influence i love david boo and el john and may i west coast their flamboyant and show people (singing)

can't be unhappy as a dr. murase and it is so fun it is a joyful instrument i learned more about music by playing the piano it was interesting the way i was brought up the youth taught me about music he picked up the a correspond that was so hard my first performing experience happened as 3-year-old an age i did executive services and also thanks to the lord and sank in youth groups people will be powering grave over their turk i'll be playing better and better back la i worked as places where men make more money than me i was in bands i was treated as other the next thing

i know i'm in grants performing for a huge protection with a few of my friends berry elect and new berry elect and can be ray was then and we kept getting invited back you are shows got better we made it to paris in 2005 a famous arc we ended up getting a months residencey other than an island and he came to our show and started writing a script based on our troop of 6 american burr elect performs in france we were woman of all this angels and shapes and sizes and it was very exciting to be part of the a few lettering elect scene at the time he here he was bay area

born and breed braces and with glossaries all of a sudden walking 9 red carpet in i walgreens pedestrian care. >> land for best director that was backpack in 2010 the french love this music i come back here and because of film was not released in the united states nobody gave a rats ass let's say the music and berry elect and performing doesn't pay very much i definitely feel into a huge depression especially, when it ended i didn't feel kemgd to france anymore he definitely didn't feel connected to the scene i almost feel like i have to beg for tips i hey i'm from

the bay area and an artist you don't make a living it changed my represent tar to appeal and the folks that are coming into the wars these days people are not listening they love the idea of having a live musician but don't really nurture it like having a potted plant if you don't warrant it it dizzy sort of feel like a potted plant (laughter) i'm going to give san francisco one more year i've been here since 1981 born and raised in the bay area i know that is not for me i'll keep on trying and if the struggle becomes too hard i'll have to move on i don't know where that will be but i love here so so much i used to

dab he will in substances i don't do that i'm sober and part of the being is an and sober and happy to be able to play music and perform and express myself if i make. >> few people happy of all ages i've gone my job so i have so stay is an i feel like the piano and music in general with my voice together i feel really powerful and strong

this is the san francisco recreation and park meeting. will the clerk please call the roll? just as a quick reminder, we request that you turn off sound-producing devices. and that you take any secondary conversations outside. if you would like to speak on an item today, we request, but do not require you complete a blue card. commissioner, how many minutes? >> three minutes. >> clerk: each person has three minutes per public comment on each item. if there is an item of interest to you not on the