reporter always asking for contacts, for interviews. thank you for your patience to my second home, telemundo. thank you for your trust and for allowing me to be me. para la comunidad latina de san francisco de la guia de la bahia. gracias. gracias por confiar durante todos estos anos sus historias in me. you give me a reason every day to keep fighting to my friends. where are my friends? this is also for you because we all share the dream of trying to improve the lives of others. to my partner in life, this is for you too. you are my rock to the other life of my life. to the other love of my life. my sweet son mateo, who is currently serving in the us army. i'm so grateful to be your mom. thank you all for this amazing honor with a renewed spirit. i will keep trying to change the world. one

story at a time. you know why? porque si se puede. thank you. thank. if i could invite all the honorees to come up, please, and join the mayor for a photo, and then we'll invite all of the host committee members. our elected officials, and our department heads and consul generals to join as well.

if i could invite all of our elected officials to join the honorees.

and if we could invite up the host committee. if everyone could stay, if someone could stay, and we can invite the host committee up. and of course, all consul generals. we have méxico in the house, japan in the house, peru in the house, italy in the house. el salvador. in the house. mas, por favor. bienvenidos was.

and if our department heads would not be shy and please join us. don't be shy. don't be shy. come and join.

yeah. we'll take a moment to settle. we'll take a moment to settle. i am looking at my co emcee to join me up here. por favor. so now it's our honor to invite to members of this year's host committee with whom, without doubt this event would not be possible. thank you for our sponsors, roberto hernandez and anne cervantes will recognize the sponsors of this year's latino heritage month awards. yeah surprised? so you want to

start off, who's here for wells fargo. so um, so i'll start with wells fargo. yeah tonight we're thanking wells fargo for the sponsorship for this event. what do we have? wells fargo here. lorenzo. lorenzo lorenzo, come. lorenzo. lorenzo, come on up. and this is a special mural. it's about to be landmarked. oh, thank you. thank you. appreciate it. okay your next up. nice okay , cool. i'll do it. i'll do. i'll do. josh, go ahead and do. okay this is special because as my mom and i are really be great fans and i want to just thank the golden state warriors for

sponsoring this event. from them, from the warriors here. as for vanessa, mr. velasquez, vanessa, vanessa. no. oh okay. mayor oh, there she is. there she is. oh, there she is. vanessa. thank you. okay now, you know, that's a special. and this is special. and this is special because this award is important because it's going to be one of our first history. latino assets from the mural

movement. that will be landmark . and we want to thank all the support and the board of supervisors, but especially mayor breed. so we have a little . thank you. can you come up and get the. thank you? yes. welcome. what's really important is on your seats because it talks about the fiesta de la maricas when it was celebrated and a lot of you know is that i document a lot of our history. it's mostly not from books but from oral histories. the native american tradition in first voice and also know from the spanish newspapers that were here when the borders changed. and a lot of our history is documented in these papers as

well as current events and poetry. i the next ones is special to so thank you an let's give a big round of applause for ann cervantes. under her leadership tip is why this carnival mural is becoming a historical landmark in san francisco. and it's appropriate that here in the 45th anniversary of carnival san francisco, it's happening. so thank you. and i really person we want to tell you muchas gracias and you know i love you dearly we have something very, very special today for somebody that that we love dearly, somebody that. for me and it's real hard for me to bear with me

is somebody that i admire. i respect. i've learned to love seeing him as a family man in growing his children and a man that. 24 over seven is going and going and going, you know, and there's just a certain amount of people that will do that that will just give and give and give and give and so at this moment, i'd like to ask my brother, joshua, ask from another mother to come up here. ahead and to stay up here. i didn't know how long you are. is lisa here picking up the kids? she's picking up the kids. and

then here and then here. okay. but i also wanted to recognize your wife. yes. you know, because it takes a lot from a partner to understand hand to be able to do to the other half of what's needed in a home. and i also want to recognize and appreciate your children because i know the sacrifice is sometimes they make no in the sacrifices i've made my children, you know, at times. so we got a couple of little things for you, but thank god they have their public school teachers. oh, thank god. they have their public school teachers. so first we want to give you because as for carnival, you you've been an angel to us because there's always something that comes up and you know, and there's

certain people that i can go to and count on that are not going to say no. they're not going to say why. they're not going to say what what they're going to say. how do we get it done? and so for carnival, on behalf of our family of 45 years, thank you for all the times that you've been there, problem solving and getting things done for us when we need it. you on the low riders? no, no, no, no. don't go away. don't go away. don't go away. go, go. i like the behind the scenes mayor. no, no, no. get you stay here. you're going to stay here. and i'm going to tell you something. and. and i not only call him on carnival, but for the san francisco lowrider council. you know, we have an annual king of the street event, and we're having a hopping contest. and there was some dispute one year about who jumped higher. and so the following year, i called brother josh arce and i told

every member of the lowrider council i got the biggest mexican man, the tallest mexican man that will make sure that he's right. heads. how high your car hop. and so he has become the official tallest mexico man for the san francisco lowrider council annual hopping competition. and there's no undisputed arguments no more because of this brother. wait, wait. i'm not done. you know, i'll tell you when you can go. okay, folks want a party. that's the thing. we are want to eat and drink. and the last guest on behalf of the latino task force . 24 to 7, madam mayor, i want you to know that he was there for us. 24 over seven, 9:00 at night, 11:00 at night. we one in

the morning, six in the morning, seven days a week. when ever we needed something. he was there for us. so we do not normally give these out because they're they're very special. and there's only an event that we do this annually. but collectively we decided that we'd go out the box and give this special award that we give out in the mission district, which is called el corazon award. thank you, salma . so on behalf of the latino task force, we present this honoring your corazon alma espiritu, and dedicate mission to advocate and empower the latino community through workforce force cultura and

health. the latino task force of san francisco, october 20, 23. and i'd like to ask all the members of the latino task force to come up and grab and let's do a selfie, come on.

thank you. gracias. roberto. gracias. and if we could have the host committee come up for a final picture with mayor breed and her proclamation in honor of latino heritage celebration and brother josh, these are for your wife. maybe she's here right now . that's a thesis name. yes. yes. one an last picture with the host committee. if you could all come up, please. okay looking this way, we're.

felicidades a todos y muchisimas. gracias may we have another round of applause for all of our honorees as i want to make sure that we recognize some additional members who are in the house tonight. i see. all is well. all is well. i see our deputy chief, daniel perea, in the house tonight. i want to recognize the work around racial equity that claudia flores is doing the work of the community economic development division with the anna ponce de leon. i see another department head here , sarah dennis phillips from the office of economic and workforce development. and to anyone that i missed lo siento lo siento to

you and to you, roberto. gracias. otra vez. thank you for all of the work to ensure that the carnival mural one of the most important murals in our cities history for our community, has been represented and etched into the awards that our honorees receive tonight. this marks the end of our speaking program. we have some wine, we have some refreshments . and congratulations again to our honorees. now is the time to break bread and celebrate food, refreshments and good music over here with dj juan love in the northlight court. we want to thank all of our sponsors who are joining us tonight. we want to thank all of our electeds, the host committee and all nlds mission, language, vocation school, cafe de hoya amellivora for helping us set up and clean up chavez winery, who you'll find inside for food and refreshments and all the other amazing vendors who have made tonight's special muchisimas. gracias a todos, a disfruto.

buenas noches comienza a la fiesta. de. as latinos we are unified in some ways and incredibly diverse in others and this exhibit really is an exploration of nuance in how we present those ideas.

♪♪ our debts are not for sale. >> a piece about sanctuary and how his whole family served in the army and it's a long family tradition and these people that look at us as foreigners, we have been here and we are part of america, you know, and we had to reinforce that. i have been cure rating here for about 18 year. we started with a table top, candle, flowers, and a picture and people reacted to that like it was the monna lisa. >> the most important tradition as it relates to the show is

idea of making offering. in traditional mexican alters, you see food, candy, drinks, cigarettes, the things that the person that the offerings where being made to can take with them into the next word, the next life. >> keeps us connects to the people who have passed and because family is so important to us, that community dynamic makes it stick and makes it visible and it humanizes it and makes it present again. ♪♪ >> when i first started doing it back in '71, i wanted to do something with ritual, ceremony and history and you know i talked to my partner ross about the research and we opened and it hit a cord and people loved it.

>> i think the line between engaging everyone with our culture and appropriating it. i think it goes back to asking people to bring their visions of what it means to honor the dead, and so for us it's not asking us to make mexican altars if they are not mexican, it's really to share and expand our vision of what it means to honor the dead. >> people are very respectful. i can show you this year alone of people who call tol ask is it okay if we come, we are hawaii or asian or we are this. what should we wear? what do you recommend that we do? >> they say oh, you know, we want a four day of the dead and it's all hybrid in this country.

what has happened are paper cuts, it's so hybrid. it has spread to mexico from the bay area. we have influence on a lot of people, and i'm proud of it. >> a lot of times they don't represent we represent a lot of cultures with a lot of different perspectives and beliefs. >> i can see the city changes and it's scary. >> when we first started a lot of people freaked out thinking we were a cult and things like that, but we went out of our way to also make it educational through outreach and that is why we started doing the prosession in 1979. >> as someone who grew up attending the yearly processions

and who has seen them change incrementally every year into kind of what they are now, i feel in many ways that the cat is out of the bag and there is no putting the genie back into the bottle in how the wider public accesses the day of the dead. >> i have been through three different generations of children who were brought to the procession when they were very young that are now bringing their children or grandchildren. >> in the '80s, the processions were just kind of electric. families with their homemade visuals walking down the street in san francisco. service so much more intimate and personal and so much more rooted in kind of a family practice of a very strong cultural practice. it kind of is what it is now and

it has gone off in many different directions but i will always love the early days in the '80s where it was so intimate and sofa millial. >> our goal is to rescue a part of the culture that was a part that we could invite others to join in there there by where we invite the person to come help us rescue it also. that's what makes it unique. >> you have to know how to approach this changing situation, it's exhausting and i have seen how it has affected everybody. >> what's happening in mission and the relationship with the police, well it's relevant and it's relevant that people think

about it that day of the dead is not just sugar skulls and paper flowers and candles, but it's become a nondenominational tradition that people celebrate. >> our culture is about color and family and if that is not present in your life, there is just no meaning to it you know? >> we have artists as black and brown people that are in direct danger of the direct policies of the trump administration and i think how each of the artists has responded so that call is interesting. the common

[♪♪♪]

>> my family's starts in mexico in a small town. my parents are from a very, very small town. so small, that my dad's brother is married to one of my mom's sisters. it's that small. a lot of folks from that town are here in the city. like most immigrant families, my parents wanted a better life for us. my dad came out here first.

i think i was almost two-years-old when he sent for us. my mom and myself came out here. we moved to san francisco early on. in the mission district and moved out to daily city and bounced back to san francisco. we lived across the street from the ups building. for me, when my earliest memories were the big brown trucks driving up and down the street keeping us awake at night. when i was seven-years-old and i'm in charge of making sure we get on the bus on time to get to school. i have to make sure that we do our homework. it's a lot of responsibility for a kid. the weekends were always for family. we used to get together and whether we used to go watch a movie at the new mission theater and then afterwards going to kentucky fried chicken. that was big for us. we get kentucky fried chicken on sunday. whoa! go crazy! so for me, home is having something where you are all together. whether it's just together for

dinner or whether it's together for breakfast or sharing a special moment at the holidays. whether it's thanksgiving or christmas or birthdays. that is home. being so close to berkley and oakland and san francisco, there's a line. here you don't see a line. even though you see someone that's different from you, they're equal. you've always seen that. a rainbow of colors, a ryan bow of personalities. when you think about it you are supposed to be protecting the kids. they have dreams. they have aspirations. they have goals. and you are take that away from them. right now, the price is a hard fight. they're determined. i mean, these kids, you have to applaud them. their heart is in the right place. there's hope. i mean, out here with the things

changing everyday, you just hope the next administration makes a change that makes things right. right now there's a lot of changes on a lot of different levels. the only thing you hope for is for the future of these young kids and young folks that are getting into politics to make the right move and for the folks who can't speak. >> dy mind motion. >> even though we have a lot of fighters, there's a lot of voice less folks and their voiceless hi, i'm chris and you are watching san francisco rising. this is about rebuilding and reimaging the city.

we will talk about revitalizing downtown. >> thank you for having me. >> the initiatives in the downtown area and enjoy businesses. perhaps you can tell us about your plan. >> yeah, sure. well, you know, first i'd like to acknowledge we are here visiting union scare. this is the heart of the city and people come to celebrate life's greatest moments whether it's the holidays or buying your prom dress or getting married. you always think about union square as a place to celebrate. we would like to continue in that celebration especially postpandemic. this is a great place to celebrate life. we want to be creative getting

people outdoors. we are still coming out of the pandemic and enjoying what we have to offer think about the beautiful hotel and historic district. we have world class shopping destinations and theater here we are using our strike thattic plan there was a time when weus people want r want a bit of everything appeared experience. one of the newest initiatives is union square. in you come down you will see blooms cascading from hotel awnings and blooms on historic building fronts. you will see them on bus

stops. you can go to many of our restaurants and they have cocktails. they have food and of course, being connected withification we have our bloom gown that's behind me. so, a announcement f ways to celebrate blooms. this is another great time of year for union square we are kickoff the holiday celebrations. they bring out the animal window. we have ice skating. music is another great way to come and enjoy union scare. we are a recipient of the latest grant. this is bringing it into the public life.

we are doing it here. this is in our park. it's really show this is great when it comes to music. >> we have been ignoring the fact for the districts it's a pretty common place across the country and opportunity to transform our spaces. >> yeah, i agree with you 100%. >> we have 13,000 hotel rooms. what if we had a school or soccer this is something we couldn't do before. our rates prior to the

pandemic was under10%. we are higher now. >> we have businesses like cable car a lot of history and innovation here as well. we want to be ready for the opportunities. this is where some office spaces will come. we are seeing office leases in union square. the cable car comes through it. why not come to work in a vibrant space. >> a lot of the businesses have been remarkably resilient. can you share success stories and talk about how they have been supporting them. >> this aligned with what i just said about historic neighborhoods. they have seen everything from the great depression on. in fact, the earthquake of 1906. we have been around for hundreds of years.

celebrating 116th birthday. open to the public in october. they are not gone. they are just down the street a beautiful store where people find great fabrics. contemrare just here on powell street. a lot of the luxury retailers are expanding neighborhood print. >> we talk about the area with a rich history. what about the spaces and stronger sense of community. >> yeah, you know. i have to say these challenging times brought the community together. we had a unique opportunity

here. was an opportunity to look at the district and assess where we might need something. we need a bit more of everything. we broke it down into different categories. we looked at economic development and change offering. people were accessing, you know, nightlife, food, or shopping differently out of the pandemic. we wanted to look at marketing and what it meant to get the news out about what we were doing in the district. looking at our own organize as well and what we would need to get that out there. also creating a safe space. we are creating a safe and secure area. our locals in particular you

can go shopping anywhere in the bay area. any of those places will look like any other place. in san francisco, you are somewhere special. this is a unique place and we needed to get it right. we have done that work and continue to support our district and see different ways to do business here. to be creative and innovative. we were able to change the planning code to make it more flexible to do business here. we are the c3r. we have three floors of retail maybe today we don't want two levels maybe we just want one level instead of too much retail we need a school or something else. very exciting times and really interesting people and ideas.

>> that's great. >> so, i guess, finally, what do you have for san francisco residents and businesses to be apart of this. >> this is the gateway of san francisco. it only drives. right now, we are so many and still love our great city and what we would like to see. this is san francisco and the residents. look around, have a coffee. listen to music on the weekends. we have so much to offer union square. with that, support these businesses. we have a number of openings, a number of businesses betting on union square. in fact, we have a new hotel.

the owner is from back of house, that's the name of the organize. they brought us several other residents and now this wonderful restaurant, i italian restaurant. this is on top of the old restaurant. it will have a rooftop and one of the largest in san francisco. it's a london based business abdomen and betting on n square. we have a great bar scene popping up and speak easy and pch. hawthorne, school. this is the place to come down and enjoy. come, don't forget union square is the place to be. certainly in the years to come. a very difficult time of course for any major city.

we are dealing with the same thing. explore and support our businesses here. we'll continue to thrive. come on down, you will be wildly, also surprised at how beautiful it is since we are still blooming. >> thank you, that's great. it's great to hear your optimistic outlook on restoring this part of time. >> thank you for having me and taking a little time to showcase our heart of san francisco. >> thanks again. >> thank you. >> that's it for this episode. we'll be back with another one shortly. thank you for watching.