drop off locations visit recycle damn and thanks for watching join us >> the hon. london breed: all right, everybody. how's everyone doing today? i'm london breed. i'm mayor of san francisco, and i'm really glad to be here today to honor an extraordinary san franciscan and an extraordinary human being, jack jaque. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: now here's the thing about jack.

we know, president of the board of supervisors shamann walton has honored him. we know that people with trying to give him accolades and awards and support, and he doesn't want to be bothered, because many of us know him in san francisco. i remember when i first met jack, when i -- look, i didn't get in that much trouble, to the point where i went to juvenile, but my brother did. i started to get involved in omega boys club because of jack, and i thought honestly, who is this white man coming to

the projects just with no fear and getting major respect from everybody in the community, and knocking on the doors and talking to everyone, the parents, the moms, and the community? and it was jack, and i thought not only is he brave, but isn't that amazing to have someone who understands the system working to deal with the challenges of the system? and think about it, at the time when he started doing this work, you know, i've got to say, a lot of, like, my grandmother and that generation, there was somewhat

of a level of fear, working with white folks. i just thought wow, this could really change lives. this is at a time when juvenile hall was packed, y.a. was packed, and it was packed mostly with our people, and even though our numbers with smaller than they've ever been, they were packed, and

disproportionately, we should not have been impacted in the ways that we were. we had people like jack show up in our communities, in our homes, in our lives, and what he has done -- i'm sure many of you have been beneficiaries of his love and kindness and support, but what he has done has really turned lives around. just imagine how many more peoples' lives would have been

lost if it weren't for jack? and that's why we're here today. i know shamann and his participation in omega boys club, and uncle corey and a few others, and i think about how critical this program was, and how critical the work was that he was doing. i never knew what his job was. i just know that if you say jack, everybody knew what you were talking about. i remember when i was at the

african american art and culture complex, and we were working with these boys, and we had a number of challenges. it's sad when we were talking about the next generation of boys getting in trouble. i used to tell them, if you're getting in trouble and you're in juvenile hall, i'm not going up there, but i did go up there. and, of course, jack was already there, and he'd established this relationship with them. the love, the kindness, the care, the support, and consistency, and yeah, the tough love of telling them about themselves is something that is just really valued in the lives of young people that you've touched, so i want to

honor you here today, and i know that when we see each other, i think about what happens, and people like jack, in the conversations, made me feel like i mattered because i couldn't believe he was, like, yeah, you can come to juvenile and talk to kids there and be a part of the solution. and i thought, wow, i'm somebody just because he gave me a chance to be a part of

something. we could talk about all the things that you continue to do to really be a consistent blessing and support because a lot of people have come and gone in this advocacy world. a lot of people have been there for five minutes, maybe five years or so, but you have been

constant, and so here today, we are here to honor that commitment, even though i know it took a lot for you to accept this, but you couldn't turn one of your kids down. you could turn the mayor down, but i know you couldn't turn one of your kids down. i know it's important that you understand how much you are loved, how much you are respected, how much you are appreciated, even though we know that's not why you do the work. you have been a blessing to so many people's lives, and i wanted you to know how much you are appreciated and respected, and now there has never been

anyone like you, and we know that there never will be, and we are just grateful to just know you and be a part of your life. so today, not because it's your birthday, but just because, just because i'm mayor, and i can do that, today, come on up, jack. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: on behalf of the city and county of san francisco, jack jaque day in our city. [cheers and applause] >> the hon. london breed: okay. and one more thing. i know you don't like to dress up, but that's okay. sometimes when you go to glide, i can tell you might have changed a shirt or two. i know, i know that, but maybe,

but one day, you're going to get a shirt where you're going to be able to wear these cuff links with the city seal with my signature on them. [cheers and applause] [indiscernible]. >> the hon. london breed: we'll see, but ladies and gentlemen, let's give jack some love. [cheers and applause] >> i'm really honored. sometimes these things are hard for people, but i'm really honored to be sitting here in this incredible building. the village is sitting here, and just to be in the company,

and i just want to thank shamann, and, of course, today, the mayor. and, you know, london is so real. i don't always agree with everything, but you are always so real. you always represent the people, the neighborhood you come from, and the emotions, the anger, the fear of the people. you really do. i see, from the youngsters at the county jail, one young man

knew you, and he'd been involved in some of the programs. i was talking to him, and he was in the county for a year or two, and then, he went home. but he would talk about you -- always talking about you and had your phone number and called you at home, so he said, and i believe that he did. and i said, you know, can you do that now? she's a supervisor, now a mayor, and he said yeah. she said call any time. and she actually gave me the number, but i never called. but i really -- i don't want to exclude shamann's love, either, but it's nice to have people running the city who come from roots of the city. you know, i'm making a political statement, but the fact is you're real, and that's

what the kids want, the youngsters want. you're real, and you do it with such ease, you really do. and i know you struggle inside like everybody else, but you're magnificent. you really are. you're magnificent, london breed. magnificent. so just a couple of minutes. i'm not one to go on and on, but i've just got to take a minute to introduce the village because you deserve to be honored, also. we all know corey. corey was kind of the original -- i don't know if he was original, original, but the whole thing about corey is he

wouldn't speak, he wouldn't talk. corey, it was like he was silent, like, he was a mime or something. it was -- he never said anything. i said corey, say something. just make sure people know you're alive. we've got other people, but he wouldn't say anything. now, we can't shut him up. now, corey, say something. it's 20 minutes into the meeting. what's going on here? we've got to go, but i love corey. corey has been a faithful -- well, you know, the deal is,

corey's doing the work, and he continues to do the work. i think he just turned 50, but now, he's doing it more than ever. he's all over the place. he got himself a car, and he even pays for the gas now. >> i think back to marcell

working with corey and the community, and i wasn't sure he was going to buy into what we were doing with omega, but now, he's been with us 35 years. 35 years, sitting right there. [indiscernible] is sitting there, as well. the first woman to have graduated from the program. [applause] >> she's in the delaware state hall of fame, sports hall of fame, and, you know, she is

really being into the community, and she's amazing. she might be on a stamp one day. she's doing so much with so many people. few other people. john henry, john henry is sitting here, and all of our experiences in juvenile hall.

john henry is amazing. he's one of the best speakers, motivators. he's also starting his kind of new career for him, voluntary work going out on the streeting, john henry. always gives a great message at juvenile hall. i -- going out on the street, john henry. always gives a great message at juvenile hall. sonny, i see you standing there, you and lauren. it seems like you're always around when somebody is being honored, and, you know, i love you and appreciate you guys. i want to make sure before i step down, anybody -- yeah, andre. so andre [indiscernible] yeah, andre is right over there. andre is amazing, because when

we started going into juvenile hall, which was about 1988, we met andre in 1989. he was in serious trouble. he was a gangbanger, and his name rang bells on the street. part of the beasley, but he was someone definitely on his way to prison. he chose somewhere early on that he'd rather go to penn state rather than the state pen, and today, the amazing thing, he has had three of his children go through the omega academic program, and two of his daughters have graduated

from grambling with the help of dr. marshall, and andre's beautiful wife with him, and i said wife, you know? and i think we ought to give it up for the wife, because nobody has a wife anymore. i'm honored, and i thank you. i don't know about the cuff links, though. i was saying, when you were -- i will wear different shirts

when london's running for the united states senate, you know? and -- but i also want to say, too, before i sit down, i know that there's -- in fact, a friend of mine is now a social worker who's working on getting napoleon home, napoleon being your brother, so that's something really important. he, sonny boy, was part of what we started with in omega. we'd have him on the phone when he was locked up, and we'd have him speak to people. a great kid who just got caught up, a great kid who just got caught up, and paul, too, paul,

too, paul, too. paul, unbelievable, but one last thing. it wasn't escape. it used to be escapes from juvenile hall, i mean, really big escapes, and now, i don't think anyone's escaped from the place they want to shutdown. but the old hall had the biggest escape, 14 people from the lockdown unit, and paul was in that unit, paul breed. and i ran upstairs, and i was in building, code blue, code red, and they all went off at the same time, and something serious happened, and i was just hoping and praying that paul, who i was working with, paul was still there, he didn't leave. when i got upstairs, 14 young men left, 14 young man ran, and when i got upstairs in unit

five in the old juvenile hall, and i got there, and paul was just pacing up and down the floor, and he didn't leave. and i always tell that story because that just shows the understanding in all the breeds, so deep. i don't know any related to london, but -- so yeah. [indiscernible] . >> i love you all. the village can be there when we leave.

papa duck is the village. papa duck is -- is the village. all kind of love to papa duck. we can tell stories for the next five hours about papa duck. eula works at the jail in san bruno, and eula helps all of us. has always been there, by our side, helping us. anybody else want to say something before i sit down? anyone else want to say something? i've got 30 seconds. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: well, clearly, jack has worked with all the breeds, but he also has worked with all of the folks in all of the communities. we've got sunnydale, potrero,

the hill, and at this time, i want to ask the president of the board of supervisors come up and say a few words about jack, shamann walton. [applause] >> president walton: first of all, i want to thank everybody, mayor breed, for coming out to honor jack. the work that jack has done over these past few decades is the best. you see him going in and out of juvenile hall, talking to them, spending time with them when most folks would turn their back on them, going into all communities in san francisco, being with the families, talking to young folks, and he did that for decades, and still continues to do that to this

day. so i just want to thank the mayor for her acknowledgement, i want to thank jack, of course, for all the work that you've done for the communities, for my family personally, and for everyone here, you are my family. you are a true meaning of what it means to are a person to the village, of the village, and as london said, it was strange to see a person not like us doing this work. and whenever he goes, people will watch out for jack. i just want you to know we love you, we appreciate you. congratulations on this honor, and we celebrate you. >> the hon. london breed: thank you. and i just want to thank supervisor ahsha safai for

joining us, as well. he represents the lakeview community. and at this time, i know that so many people here want to express their love for jack, and i wanted to give you all an opportunity to do so. we're going to start with you, uncle corey. come on up and say a few words, and if anyone else after corey wants to have the floor to show jack some love, please feel free to do so. >> thank you, mayor breed. i love saying that. london is really from the neighborhood, for real. like, for real. thank you, president walton. that's a blessing, man. people don't know how bad shamann was. i'm surprised people didn't hit him in the face with a pie.

we've all been around jack our whole life. one time, jack didn't answer the phone. shamann called him. if he didn't answer the call in the first hour, you start to wonder, where jack at? we're just so happy to have jack in our life. thank you, tyra. tyra was putting this together. when the mayor called, that was like the feds calling. i ain't never been to jail, and i don't want to go, so i answered quick. i'm blessed to work with papa duck, and everybody.

it's a blessing. jack just showed a picture when muhammad ali came up here. you don't mess with jack. when he knows he's going to get an award, he's, like, i don't want to come. we told them there would only be about three people. it's, like, church. we're going to give people two minutes, but i'm just grateful, and this is the first lady of omega. it's a blessing, the first lady of omega to go there.

i want to thank my first sister, lauren. that is my jewish sister. we worked together many years. she's from new york, so she'll cuss you out. sit your -- down. they're like we like you. sunny, thank you so much. baseball games, they go to players, so i'm just grateful. i really love you all, and little l, so we just blessed to be around -- jack, you are incredible. >> thank you, london breed, thank you, shamann, thank you to the community for showing

up. jack called me at 8:30 this morning, saying, what in the hell have you all got me going to? i said, let me explain something. about three years ago, jack was in the hospital, and we didn't know if he was going to be here or not, and no one besides maybe four people knew that he was actually in the hospital until it was the 28 day, and i said dude, i cannot continue to hold this and not let so many people know because he's a believer, he's a believer in christ. okay. he was like, you can tell them i'm in the hospital, but not

tell them what hospital. so i called the sister jill. i called the sister jill, and i'm, like, dude, your brother is tripping, right? she said, make sure that he is reminded that people want to give him his flowers while he's living because most of us don't appreciate the people that have shown us the way until we are dead, and so i just want to remind thim that we want to give you your flowers while you on top of the soil. it's absolutely required that we live in peace now. we don't want to wait to rest in peace, and i know that my spirit wouldn't rest until i make sure that you know that i love you, i honor you, i cherish you, and i always represent you, and the people that's in this space will say ditto. so you need to know that you

are loved. this is not about awards, this is about london wanting to honor you a long time ago. she said, on march 17, you come out of your house two weeks later, on march 17, and we be all right. and now, in two weeks, it'll be two years later on march 16. but jack, i just want to say that this is our way of giving you flowers. we want you to know that you are loved by a group of people that we call you family, and you call family, and we love you, and have a blessed day, everyone. >> what's up, everybody? just want to take a quick second to honor jack. thank you, london breed,

shamann, tyra, the team, all the omega family that's here today to honor this great man. jack meant the world to me. one thing about what the mayor said, consistency with jack. sometimes my own family members didn't believe in me, and after making many, many mistakes coming back, back to jail, and every time i did, he said, this time, you're going to get it right. now, it's been about 25 years since i got it right. to corey, you know, when we talk about the village and family, this was my case worker when i was locked up.

there was times that i was supposed to be home that i was out in the community, so corey, thank you so much for believing in me. i just want to say thank you, and like shamann said, we don't want to wait until you're not here to honor you. thank you, mayor, for highlighting jack as one of the hidden gems of our community, so thank you, and we salute you, king. >> you know, i'm up here not

just for show. i'm busting at the seams. jack jaque is the only positive male role model that i had growing up. i'm going to let that sit in for a moment. i'm not going to be too long, but like john henry, in and out of juvenile hall, jack never gave up on me. even to this day. didn't always make the best decisions, but he never gave up on me. that's why i go so hard like i do today. been working so hard behind the scenes. the only reason why a lot of us is doing this is because of jack, you know me? is you can tell a tree by the fruit that it bears. shamann still doing this work,

corey, john henry, my brother, you feel me? i come through united playas, all of that, and i'm going to say this before i get off, man, because i was supposed to go to the california youth authority because i had went to glenwood, community, and they knew jack so much, they allowed jack to send me to glenn wood community for boys. i got my g.e.d., my diploma, and i still went to prison after that, but he never gave up to me. jack came to see me in prison all the way out in pennsylvania. nobody else came to see me, not even my mama, and i'll never

forget that. i'm going back out on the streets, following on the shoulders of all of these amazing individuals up here right now, doing the work. i love you, jack. we love you, jack. keep doing it. [applause] >> if he's the blackjack, i'm the filipino jack. i'm going to tell you a real story. this out of power that this man has. you remember the bay area rap awards? jack got chose an an honoree for the whole award show, and i remember when jack was on the stage, a fight broke out. i'm talking about every turf was getting down.

they said, when this war goes to jack, i swear to god, they said, hold on, everybody stop. every thug stopped, i swear to god, they stopped, they gave jack the award, and after he got off the stage, they started fighting again, so i got a solution for that stuff that happens downtown so they won't break into louis vuitton or nowhere else. put jack out there. jack, we go back to potrero hill when i was a juvenile delinquent. jackman probably wrote -- he's probably been doing this a long time. he probably wrote letters for people in alcatraz, but i love you, jack. you inspired me. like many others here, you the

real one. we going to give you your flowers while you're still here. you all are meeting a legend right here. >> i literally only have two things to say. i always say if you call yourself doing work in san francisco and you don't know who jack is, you ain't doing no work. the second thing is, i've been doing this work for a long, long time, and jack called me and left me a voice mail at my office at san bruno jail, and he talked about what good work i was doing and how proud he was of the work that i was doing, and i was, like, i must be doing some real good work if jack is calling me and leaving

a message. jack was one of the few people working during the pandemic. occasionally, he's calling me, leaving a message, saying he's thinking about me. jack, you are a legend, and you are the greatest of all time, and i love you so much. >> yeah, for all of you that don't know, i work at general hospital, and i work with -- and i work -- i don't like talking through a mic, i like you guys just hearing my voice. i work with all the individuals getting injured through the city. jack is the one that told me about that job. jack has been my mentor since the 70s, and i remember on

haight and ashbury, i bumped my head and got in trouble, and i had to go cook for the homeless, and jack came up there, advocating for the homeless, and he educated me. right now, you guys, i can tell you right now, the city wraparound model is on a national level, and that's because of that man right there. i love you, jack. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: well, again, thank you to everyone for being here to celebrate jack and everything that he's meant to us for so many years. i know some people may not be comfortable with speaking publicly, so just make sure that you have that private conversation with jack, and you show him some love for everything he's done because we are very fortunate. when i think about how far we've come in this city, and, really, the challenges that our

community in particular has experienced over the years, i can't help but be appreciative to people like jack for what they've done to make a difference in people's live, and i want to make sure that jack knows how much we love and appreciate him because were it not for him, some of us wouldn't be here today. so thank you, jack, for coming. we honor you, and at this time, i want us to do a group photo on the stairs here just to commemorate this moment and to celebrate jack. and just so you know, jack, just put this in your windshield, and you'll get parking for free today. you won't get a parking ticket because it's your day, and then, if you get a parking ticket, give it to shamann. thank you all so much for coming. [♪♪♪]

>> the hon. london breed: welcome to chinatown, everyone. it has been a very, very challenging two years. we have missed our incredible parade. we had to distance ourselves and celebrate virtually, so the fact that we are here today to start the new year, to kick off lunar new year in san

francisco, is extraordinary. >> well, good afternoon. we are now experiencing a massive surge on the national, state, and regional level, and let me be clear: san francisco is in the midst of a major surge of covid-19 cases. >> i've been a resident of chinatown for the past ten years, and prior to that, my mother's family grew up there and lived up there for almost 40 years. when the pandemic first started, i noticed that chinatown was down a ton. there wasn't the hustle and bustle on the street, so in an effort to try to create business for them, i asked my friends, can i order food for you, and i'd deliver it to

them. eventually, it went from 10 to 15 orders to 60, and the final week, we did almost 500 orders. it was really cool to see family and friends who maybe didn't have a connection to chinatown want to help in any way they could. then, 2021, this is usually a time when businesses get a big portion of their annual revenue. i think there was a lot of excitement around chinatown as things started to get better, but the vaccine wasn't here yet. it was just a couple of months away, so we didn't feel the excitement as we usually did during chinese new year. >> last year was sort of an easy hard decision. we knew there was a lot of uncertainty. what did our staff, what did our volunteers feel about exposing themselves in a time where we really didn't know what covid was. we were still learning about it

as the world was still learning about it. >> in the last year, we're aware that the situation is there, but we also keep a very close tab on the main players, and of course, that's the san francisco health department because they're the ones that were affected the most. so instead for the safety and health of everybody, we decided to replace the live, in-person parade, with a virtual one. >> we decided to do a retrospective parade broadcast. we had old performances, new performances submitted, and we did digital floats. we also did a public art project called ox on parade.

>> our community is basically about bringing people together to experience things, so in a time when we can't bring people together, it's been incredibly difficult. not just for artists in the parade world, but everyone has struggled in some way. i am extremely grateful for the parade committee who had so many suggestions in creative ways, and they gave people an opportunity to be here, even if it was socially distanced. >> the hon. london breed: we're here today to talk and announce that the city and county of san francisco, along with the university of san francisco and the department of public health, we have discovered our first case not only here in san francisco but in the entire country. >> the entire parade has been challenging to plan, but then,

there's thissaicing from the community to come out and celebrate almost like we did before. >> the -- this aching from the community to come out and celebrate almost like we did before. >> the first chinese immigrants arrived in the 1800s in the united states. at that time, they wanted to showcase their culture with parades in the united states. at that time, they had walkers, dragons, acrobatic jumping. >> in the late 1950s, when the chinese chamber of commerce took over to start planning the parade, it was really just a small community parade that came down grant avenue, but as the celebration kind of grew and evolved, they wanted to really expand it to include as

many people across san francisco as possible, so they added a lot of events that really hit all different age groups and interests. >> always about two weeks long, so we like to add more events to be more inclusive, from the young to the elderly to the young at heart. >> chinatown has -- >> supervisor peskin: chinatown has a great story to tell. officials were worried that the pandemic would rage through these buildings. the opposite happened. this is a community that first started wearing masks. this is a community that was first to lineup for tests, this is a community that was first to lineup for vaccines, and actually, chinatown in san francisco has had the lowest transmission rates and the lowest hospitalization rates and the lowest death rates. and that's a story to tell not

only because we're so proud but because we want to tell the region and the country and international travelers, this is the safest place in the safest city to be. >> the hon. london breed: so the fact that we're here today to kick off lunar new year today in san francisco is extraordinary. not only is the flower mart that you are used to experiencing, the parade this year will be back in san francisco. >> this represents the diversity and cultural freedom that we have here that makes the country work. being from here, it's really important as a historical part of my community. >> i'm excited to see everyone

back together to do the parade. it's exciting to see everyone from different backgrounds, different ethnicities, different cultures, come together to celebrate. >> so this is the first time in 13 years -- prior to covid, we utilize 20 to 30 people through the season, and this year, we've utilized six to ten people wearing masks, and we've got to utilize parameters to ensure that we can do our jobs and do it safely. >> today, we're roaring back to a normalcy, and it's the resiliency that the tiger will bring for 2022. [♪♪♪]

>> great to see people come from all over to help chinatown thrive. it's great when we can all step up and support each other's communities. it's been really awesome to see all of the energy in chinatown. i have friends calling me, asking where i should watch the parade from.

>> this family here for the 2020 parade is here from mexico city. [cheers and applause] [♪♪♪] it.

>> shop & dine in the 49 promotes local businesses and challenges resident to do their shop & dine in the 49 within the 49 square miles of san francisco by supporting local services in the neighborhood we help san francisco remain unique successful and vibrant so we're will you shop & dine in the 49 chinatown has to be one the best unique shopping areas in san francisco that is color fulfill and safe each vegetation and seafood and find everything in chinatown the walk shop in chinatown welcome to jason dessert i'm the fifth generation of candy in san francisco still that serves 2000 district in the chinatown in the

past it was the tradition and my family was the royal chef in the pot pals that's why we learned this stuff and moved from here to have dragon candy i want people to know that is art we will explain a walk and they can't walk in and out it is different techniques from stir frying to smoking to steaming and they do show of. >> beer a royalty for the age berry up to now not people know that especially the toughest they think this is - i really appreciate they love this art. >> from the cantonese to the hypomania and we have hot pots we have all of the cuisines of

china in our chinatown you don't have to go far. >> small business is important to our neighborhood because if we really make a lot of people lives better more people get a job here not just a big firm. >> you don't have to go anywhere else we have pocketed of great neighborhoods haul have all have their own uniqueness. >> san francisco has to all

[♪♪♪]