>> without firth r ado, we will begin with the anthems of our countries, the united states of america, the independent state of samoa, and the united states territory of american samoa. thank you.

thank you mayor london breed. appreciate having us and hosting us in our great city. we'll begin with the united states anthem and ask everyone to please rise. [playing united states national anthem]

>> please remain standing for the anthem of american samoa. thank you.

[playing anthem of american samoa]

>> please remain standing for the anthem of the independent state of samoa.

[singing anthem of the independent state of samoa]

>> respectfully ask to please be seat ed. like to call on pastor ray, for opening prayer.

>> bow your heads with me. father, we are grateful today. we acknowledge your goodness, your mercy for this brand new morning. we want to acknowledge many of those that have labored to make this day possible. we also want to thank the honorable mayor london breed and all of the san francisco officials that have also labored to make this day possible. we are people of faith. we are a people that are proud of our heritage and our traditions.

but we also acknowledge lord, that without you, none of this would be possible. so, as we begin today, we begin with you, but we also end with you. giving you all the glory and all the praise that you alone deserve. bless this day now that is done and we pray all this in jesus name, amen. >> want to thank pastor ray for the word of god to begin our ceremony. just a few remarks and introductions. the national samoan chief council was founded in 1972 here in san

francisco by high chief-- we have some of his descendants to my left. would you please stand? [applause] thank you. vision was to organize the chiefs of samoa residing here in san francisco and the bay area. they also formed the samoan flag day, which is what we are celebrating this weekend. from what i recall, the last time the independent state of samoa flag and american samoa flag flags were raised in city hall was with mayor willie brown. fast forward 20, 30 years later, the honorable london breed has allowed us to do the same, to raise our flags here and we thank you. we thank you honorable mayor.

[applause] i know your time is brief, so i will do my best to consolidate our program today. i want to start with some introduction s of faith leaders. to my left we have reverend--please stand. [applause] also, advocate for the samoan community for many years. we also want to recognize pastor ray. [applause] pastor lemu of the first god of faith and pastor--of the faith of san francisco. [applause] to my right, we have--i will

introduce our mayor of san francisco when she comes up, but before that, we have just mayor of daly city, justin and we have a special guest from our cousins in the kingdom of toma. the only existing kingdom in the south pacific of the polynesian islands. we have conslet, please stand. thank you. we also have to my right, --sorry--

maybe she should have did this. [laughter] the non-samoan part. sheriff miyamoto. [applause] mandy, can you help me here, please? i apologize. okay. okay. thank you. introducing our community leaders of san francisco and the bay area, we like to introduce the samoan community development center, probably the longest standing samoan non profit serving our community and also

employing the most pacific islanders in the country. we like to introduce dr. patsy of the samoan community development center. [applause] we also like to introduce another leader of our community that has been involved in many things. she has organized an organization in tribiant to one our brothers and communities, jt, they formed the--which means, all my brothers and all my sisters. ladies and gentlemen, please welcome, christine, executive director of all my brothers and all my sisters. also, we have another leader that has been serving san mateo county for many years.

she's organized and serving thousands and thousands of our community through the food bank harvest. she's organized one of the large est festivals in our community and san mateo fair grounds, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome for the pacifics together, executive director rayna. [applause] also, we have the only one of the largest platforms in the pacific islander community and they do a great job in reporting and updating our community and many events. ladies and gentlemen, from the pacific by design, please welcome, my sister [indiscernible] please rise. [applause] and we also have our sister that has been leading on the grounds

here in san francisco-- [applause] we like to recognize reverend-- [applause] i apologize if i forget your name, but please know that we have you in orhearts and the mayor's time is very limited, so we also want to recognize our family of the conslets that have supported us, our communities all over the south pacific and in the san francisco bay area. please rise, our counslet, please. thank you. we would like to at this time

without further ado and with all the respect from the samoan community, we like to introduce the honorable mayor london breed for her remarks. [applause] i apologize, we also want to introduce our mrs. samoan golden gate, karina >> thank you everyone, and good afternoon and welcome to city hall. i am so honored and blessed to have each and every one of you joining us here today. you can take as long as you want to celebrate this moment, especially because it has been a long time coming.

and it is so interesting, because it is full circle and i want to acknowledge all the work she does and also her very very talented son who was on american idal. idle. i'm sure we all know that and we are all very proud of him and he just lifted our spirits today with his beautiful voice that he inherited from his mom. i'm so grateful. bo and i worked together for san francisco mayor willie brown and he was instrumental bringing the celebration to city hall then and instrumental bringing it to us today so it is great to be here together here in community to celebrate this historic milestone with each and every one of you. but, i also want to just acknowledge the loss of someone who is a part of

the samoan community, a police officer who comes from a family of police officers, luciano. some might have heard, he served on the force for 9 years and unexpectedly passed away yesterday. his mom, who was really many of you might have known jackie, also served as a currently as lieutenant in the department and i would like to thake this moment to just recognize him and his tremendous work and really lift up his family in prayer and with a moment of silence, please. [moment of silence] thank you. and i appreciate again, just

the connection to spiritually the connection to family and the trust and respect this community has always been about in san francisco and throughout the bay area. so, it is of course fitting to take this moment to recognize the rich history and culture of the samoan community as it relates to san francisco, and how it has been a critical part of what makes san francisco a special and more vibrant and very diverse place. i appreciate the work of so many of the organizations and the religious institutions that held this community together, despite the lack of recognition and the lack of support that this community deserves. it is why i appreciate my relationship so much in terms of being able to finally make the kinds of investments that will help make a

difference for community. in fact, visiting the samoan community center and having a chance to tour and to see the work first-hand with young people and with students and with others, it is inspiring, and it is something that we need more of throughout san francisco. i appreciate mrs. patsy for all the amazing work she does, as well as christine and all you incredible leaders who hold this community together and how you come together today to recognize the significance of the samoan heritage here in san francisco. so, i want to also really appreciate that we in san francisco are an international city, and when we talk about the relationships between so many countries and places, the reason why they are often times very impactful has everything to do with san francisco and the people who helped us really coordinate this event and bring

these kinds of activations to our city, involve no other then chief of protocol, marion and the council cower joining from tango, australia, israel, singapore, italy, pursue and norway. thank you all so much for being here today and sharing this celebration and recognizing the important work of the national samoan chief council, and appreciate the opportunity to do something very special to recognize this milestone, because even though it has been a long time since the last celebration has happened, this celebration has to happen every single year and we want to make sure that we are the vehicle through our chief of protocol to insure its success and an opportunity to bring community together in a place that belongs to you too. [applause] so, tonight on behalf of the

city and county of san francisco, we will be lighting city hall in red and blue in honor of the flag of samoa, and we will officially declare it samoan heritage week, not day, week in the city and county of san francisco. [applause] so, since the high chief is not here with us today, i'm looking at you fo. fo is trying to run away from it. who ever you designate and want to present this proclamation in honor-- you are the high chief today. but thank you so much for being here and celebrating with us. we are honored to declare it samoan heritage week in san francisco so that we can elevate the rich history and culture in your community as well as throughout the city and county of san francisco. we appreciate celebrating this milestone here with each and

every one of you and thank you so much for all you do to make san francisco a better place. [applause] >> mayor london breed, this is surprising that i was given this opportunity and privilege for me to accept on behalf of all the samoan leaders, community leaders, all the people of samoa who accept this-thank you so much. i dont know what i have done to deserve this, but other then the 32 years i served as probation officer for city and county of san francisco, i

just officially received my retirement badge last week, so please come up and join me in sharing this. [applause] >> thank you for your service to the city. >> london breed, i have--we were celebrating the inaugural flag raising in daly city and my testimony was the samoan history at bib luical proportions. i liken to history of israelite, when we enter the promise land--joshua sent spies to check in the land and came back and say, we have a lady in

the city, for us and then joshua say, take this red flag. when we come to destroy the city, raise the reg flag as a memorial for us. we have in our life in the midst of enemies. you are allies today. 46 years ago, mayor feinstein was our ally. 40 years ago the mayor was our ally. i was doing the ceremony with the mayor. when you heard you promise a million dollars to samoan development center last year, we are waiting for that $1 million and you will continue and you will continue to be our ally. thank you very much. god bless.

>> how about another round of applause for honorable, london breed? [applause] and those beautiful remarks. before i introduce the next item, i apologize, but i like to introduce a few more of our chiefs residing here. please help me welcome, high chief--of viala samoa. please stand. [applause] we also have san francisco former president neal ofuetopia. a lot ofuetopias across the city mimics san francisco as flag day. a lot of things have been founded and started in san francisco. we also want to introduce a

high talking chief from american samoa, please welcome-- please stand. [applause] and now i like to introduce poetry reading by theresa-- [applause] >> i am not theresa. i have been waiting a long time to do that. my name is dr. birch and it is definitely full circle to stand in fronts of you to introduce my sister. 52 years ago when my

grandfather started this samoan heritage week in san francisco, it is only fitting that i serve the city and county of san francisco, his granddaughter, he told us to give back to community, so i want to thank mayor london breed for her service and honoring this because a lot of you see my work as a black person in community and not as a samoan in community, so i do a lot of work being seen, so thank you for seeing us, thank you for seeing pacific islanders. it gives me great pleasure to introduce my sister in this work. we used to clean crocker amazon. for samoan gthe kids picking up trash, but globally recognize my

sister-- [applause] >> good afternoon and happy samoan heritage week family. can you please give your love to my sister, my cousin dr. birch one more time? [applause] first foremost and like to say to the national samoan chief council helping revitalize samoan heritage week leading up to flag day festival. to the mayor office allowing us to gather in-not just inviting--we can give her love. [applause] not just inviting me and my cousin to share some words today to kick

off this week on behalf of our grand father but always thinking about our family and legacy of our grand father, the high chief--a man that devoted so much of his life to the prosperity of the samoan community in san francisco he established numerous programs and initiatives that left behind a legacy all samoans in the bay area live in whether they know it is or not, whether they know him or not. our grandpa loved him deeply and i know he were alive today he want would you by his side to implement this weeks programming, so thank you. [applause] as a poet and writer, the last two times i shared a poem at city hall was women march mayor breed lead in

and [indiscernible] fitting the committee ask i share a poem to commemorate a time of the samoan people especially. a man who wrote every book documents and journals from the bedroom office in bayview hunter points, to north beef project to the fillmore he took his last breath in 2018. make noise if you heard poetry at a open mic or event. [applause] you know you dont have to clap in your heart. it doesn't have to be a quite endeavor, we are not a quite people anyway. you hear anything you resonate with, you can snap your fingers and pretend you are taking a big bite. you can repeat after me, you can say, okay,po et. go in poet. that's right poet.

if you like what you hear. if you don't like what you hear, we can talk about it after. this is to us, this is always for us. here we go. many samoans believe when made our islands [naming islands] and beyond, he also made 9 heavens, but the truth if you learn our story deeper there are 10 heavens. the 10th is where [indiscernible] if you ask me, samoans belong to 11 heavens and the 11th one is san francisco. but hey, dont take my word for it, just read any of the 7 books our grand father wrote about the

genealogy our our people and legacy. i'm not a samoan god, just a child born one february even in 1988 at presidio general hospital my father stationed as upon immigrating from the city and meeting my mother over the phone after mistakenly calling her house number in north beach projects instead of his cousin. the love story of my parents stretched across the phone wire and that is the 11th heaven too. my mother is not a samoan god either, just a galileo high school graduate raised in bayview hunter point before moving to north beach projict. 11 heaven was the chinatown trips for steam buns. it was the freddy sandwiches and pizza bred in wax paper.

the pocket change our grandpa gave us to purchase his daily sf chronicle newspaper. our grandpas camcorder and tripod. it was the type writer, the desk top and lap top he document every bit of our story on after the camcorder stopped filming. crocker amazon park every august where the san francisco samoan flag day took place since the year our grand father founded it in 1973. it was the trash bag my cousin and i carried around the park as clean up crew and the secret bbq mare nade our fam lay makes for the food plates they sold as vendors for the festivals. the stage our grandpa us sing on and clean up once the festival was done. apartment 225 my cousins and attended saturday school in our

grandpa's office hawse he wanted to make sure his sacrifice come with one or two ph.d. the man promised if we graduated from college, he would buy us a rolex. family, no rolex have been purchased. [indiscernible] went to get her doctor degree and rolex is. he was just the samoan man who loved us so much he had no other choice but to devote his entire life to the preservation of our culture, our history and our truth, the 11th heaven was the 30 years our grandpa spend holding the chairman position for 25 different committees, councils and task forces dedicated to our samoan community between 1963 and 1993. it was the national samoan

chief council he cofounded june 2, 1972. the san francisco samoan flag day founded in 1973. the national office of samoan affairs he helped establish in san francisco in 1974. the 11th heaven was the committee he sat on for the u.s. census bureau that coined the term, asian pacific islander in 1978. struggled to affirm their lives in this country made it possible for our samoan people to immigrate here with dignity. the 11th heaven is the fact it is 2024 and how even though we still have our work cut out for us, we can still celebrate all that has been and all that continues to be. the 11th heaven has always been the sunnydale projeths. the community development center generation long legacy of service. the mission service og to

samoan grandmas headed to church. good times at the bbq at yeoman park. the prek dual language program. the one with the largest enrollment number of dual language program in san francisco public schools. the 11th heaven has always been pacific islander community partnership in all the youth centered empowering programs from camp unity to polynesian heritage award from ms. samoa golden gate to cultural arts, the 11th heaven is everywhere and everything my people are. from heritage week to climate change protests, from culture being rich and entertaining to culture being the core of our resistance. the core of our manna. from poems about my samoan pride how my favorite thing being samoan is

everything, to what my demands of me once the poem is done. welcome to the 11th heaven family. thank you to our ancestors for making it so. for loving us so fiercely. being so extra they made 10 heavens before this one so we never question how [indiscernible] ocean deep we belong to each other and after we leave this world for the next, we can bet our intime samoan life we will return to every samoan heaven that made us and praise all of our samoan gods for that. [applause] >> how about another round of

applause for the queen of-family. thank you so much. i also want to mention on behalf of the president of the national samoan chief council, high chief-- and our vice president, high chief--their apologies for not being able to attend this ceremony today, but we do have our faith leaders, we do have our high chiefs and our high talking chiefs and we do have our beautiful community leaders and their staff and

also our mayor, london breed. mayor justin malao, conslet and public officials, i apologize--i hope we dont cross paths on a different level and you remember i didn't remember your names. the conslet of the countries that are supporting our samoan community, thank you very much.

before i also failed to mention, we do have a commissioner delafsi, please stand. i apologize. i'm not only short with our public officials, about with our own community, so i apologize. going to have a closing prayer.

thank you. >> let us pray. my most dear gracious heavenly father, we come before you at this time with humble hearts and humility. we come before all that thou has done for our samoan community throughout these years. we are grateful and we are thankful for thy continuous mercy. we thank you who have come together to stand side by side so we are able to have this day to recognize our samoan community. we are grateful and thankful for leaders in the public figures

and leaders of the samoan community, as well as faith leaders, to unit and stand together to continue to stand for our community and to allow our community to be recognized. father, this cannot be possible without thy. we pray your blessing continue to be upon us as we continue to move forward and continue to prepare our youth of today so they may be future leaders to continue the legacy of our samoan community here in san francisco. father, we ask this prayer humbly in sacred name of our beloved son, jesus is the christ, amen.

>> thank you pastor for the closing prayer. again, i want to ask ms. samoa golden gate to please come to my side. how about a round of [applause] for this courageous young lady and other courageous young ladies. ms. samoa golden gate, 2025. i apologize, i just asked the mayor's staff if there is a opportunity for the mayor to have a photo op with us, because i think it is fitting to have a document of our people with her, so if that's not able to happen, i apologize are. it was probably due to my long introduction. as we close, we have refreshments

provided by the mayor's office. how about a round of applause for the mayor's staff, and they will keep me informed if it is a go with the photo op the mayor. we have others from the community and from the conslet so feel free to mingle and network. god bless on your way home. [applause]

>> i think a lot of times we get in adult lives we are afraid to follow our passions and think life can't be that easy. but i truly do believe i followed my heart this time in my journal in city government i did not know that is where my passion lied. i kept following it and ltd. to great opportunity to serve the city. [music] >> i'm katy tang the executive director of the office of small business. >> small business contributes t

employment in the city and employing a million people in san francisco. and roughly 90% of the businesses are defined as small businesses. so, they contribute to the economy but also just the quality of life. small businesses are more then and there a place of transaction it is a community center. a play where people gather. know each other and form memories about the city. >> at the office of mall business i run a team this helps report all mall businesses in san francisco whether they are looking to stfrt a new business or expand or perhaps they are feeling with issues. our office is here as a point of information for anyone with a business that has 100 or nower employees. >> i was growing up i had many ideas of when i wanted to do.

i wanted to being an olympic swimmer. and i wanted to men be an architect, you name it i had many ideas for what i wanted do when i grew up. and i never anticipated entering in politics. this opportunity came along wh started working for former supervisor carmen chu and she became the district 4 sunset district supervisor. that was my firstent row in politics and government in a different level. and so when i was finishing up my time working for legislative aid i thought, i will go off and do something else. may be explore opportunity outside of city government what was then approached by this opportunity to also serve as a district 4 supervisor. if not the traditional route that many people think of when you enter in politics.

a lot know that is manage than i want to do and run for office. that was not part of my culture and upbringing with manage my parents were wondering why i wanted to go in that role this legislation and important because so many women when have it return to work after having a child feel embarrassed or don't feel comfortable asking their supervisor for will any lactation accommodations. i saw it as an opportunity you could use the position where you have tools creating legislation and pass laws and where people listen to to you help the community and pass cause catharsis important to the city and individuals. my family immigrated to the united states from taiwan. and they came here in pronl probably late 20's almost 30. and so, they came also in the

knowing english limp barely read or write but had to quickly understand english to i can't haveigate services and find a job in america. i grew up in the san francisco sunset district i spent most of my childed hoo up until i went off to college. so when i started working in city government, i think i had mixed reactions about my involvement working government because for some of our parents generation, there is i bit of distrust in government. i think there are questions about why i was entering in this field of work. i think you know when i went in city government i thought about my parents like so many other who is have to navigate city services and resources english first language and help the individuals both navigate, intercept that is on an

application approximate signage. it is fulfilling to mow to help people like my parent and feel like government is there to support them and not to harm them. my parents are happy that i retired early from politics and being a district 4 supervisor i could have continued on for a couple more years approximate decided to leave early. i think that over all they were able to see some of my work appear in the chinese newspaper. through that they were able to see i was able to help communities in a tangible way. >> the member of the board of supervisors. >> transportation authority. for the city and county of san francisco. congratulations. >> i think about one importance when i was worn in as district 4 supervisor. years ago, and someone actually came up to me during the swear nothing ceremony and said, wow, i'm traveling here from canada,

and i just i could not believe i saw an asian female worn in in this role a leadership role this meant so much that someone would say that and felt they were inspired by the scene. so -- i hope that as more people see people that look like them and more women coming in positions of leadership than i feel they can doing the same. person this inpyred me is carmen chu who is our city add administrator but also was district 4 supervisor when i worked with her as a legislative aid. at this point, i too, was skeptical of going in politics. i saw someone who had herself never seen herself in politics. got thrown into it and put her heart and soul and dedication to serve people. and it gave me the confidence to pursue that same job and i

honestly would not have either chosen or accepted or considered serving on the board of supervisors were not for carmen. >> if you want to make your business accessible. >> in my role in city government where i have seen the most challenge is people who don't know you and you are here to serve and help them that they classify you as our city government and here to hurt you. so, people will talk to you and -- and just you know treat you disrespectfully. and sometimes i noticed that they might do more to me as a female compared to my male colleagues. but you know i try to be empathetic. one of the most significant barriers to female empowerment we feel like we have to be 100% meeting all of the qualifications before we think that we are qualified to do a job. if we look at a job description

or an opportunity to come your way well is self doubt about whether you can fulfill the obligations of that role. i think that the confidence is huge and sometimes i think we make up for it by trying to gain more experience. more and more and more in whatever we can put under our belts we'll feel better. that may not be the case. we might be qualified with when we have already accomplished. i started rock climbing indoors a couple years ago as an activity to try to spends time with my husband and also to try something new and i finds that rock climbing there are so many parallels to life. you know when i'm on the wall i'm concentrating and trying to make it to the next piece without falling. there are daying you think i'm

not making progress. you come back and wow, i hit another level. and so i feel like in our daily lives and w we think we are not making enough of i change in the city. and sometimes we have to take out time to reflect every day as long as you try and give it your all and you look back you will have made a significant contribution there is no limit to where you go in terms of rock climbing. i want to reminds myself of that in terms of daily life. >> follow what it is you are interested in, what makes you feel excited about wake up every day. you never know and be open to all the possibilities and opportunity. [music]

[music] hi. i'm san francisco mayor london breed i want to congratulate sfgovtv on 30 years of dedicated service as a broadcast channel for our vibrant city. you played a critical role during the pan dem and i can worked keep residents informed. adapted to changing situations that allowed our residents to engage and participate in government. thank you for 3 decades of informing and inspiring and connect the people of san francisco as the voice that [music] san francisco emergency home program is a safety net for

sustableable commuters if you bike, walk, take public transit or shares mobility you are eligible for a free and safe roadway home the city will reimburse you up to $150 dlrs in an event of an emergency. to learn more how to submit a reimbursement visit sferh. >> candlestick park known also as the stick was an outdoor stadium for sports and entertainment. built between 1958 to 1960, it was located in the bayview hunters point where it was home to the san francisco giants and 49ers. the last event held was a concert in late 2014. it was demolished in 2015.

mlb team the san francisco giants played at candlestick from 1960-1999. fans came to see players such a willie mays and barry bonds, over 38 seasons in the open ballpark. an upper deck expansion was added in the 1970s. there are two world series played at the stick in 1962 and in 198 9. during the 1989 world series against the oakland as they were shook by an earthquake. candlestick's enclosure had minor damages from the quake but its design saved thousands of lives. nfl team the san francisco 49ers played at candlestick from feign 71-2013. it was home to five-time super bowl champion teams and hall of fame players by joe montana, jerry rice and steve jones. in 1982, the game-winning

touchdown pass from joe montana to dwight clark was known as "the catch." leading the niners to their first super bowl. the 49ers hosted eight n.f.c. championship games including the 2001 season that ended with a loss to the new york giants. in 201, the last event held at candlestick park was a concert by paul mccartney who played with the beatles in 1966, the stadium's first concert. demolition of the stick began in late 2014 and it was completed in september 2015. the giants had moved to pacific rail park in 2000 while the 49ers moved to santa clara in 2014. with structural claims and numerous name changes, many have passed through and will remember candlestick park as home to the legendary athletes and entertainment. these memorable moments will live on in a place called the

stick. (♪♪♪) >> i'm supervisor connie chan. over the last 4 years i worked to make district 1 stronger and safeer for all families. first generation chinese immigrant, i aserved the public over two deck ades to give back to it the city that gave my family new opportunities. it was haneer to be elected in 2020 and day one i worked to be a voice for district 1 residents. i believe every san franciscan deserve clean and safe streets. and pushed city hall to