when we talk about african- american history, we are talking about african american history not as aarate and distinct history, but as an integral part of history -- the history of san francisco, the history of the united states, and of the world. we cannot think about this broader concept of history without understanding the role and contributions people of african descent have played in this broader statement of what history is. this is true not only for people of african descent, but all people. we are all part of history. "we present from the african american perspective is simply that -- a perspective of history that helps fill up that picture. without the understanding of these covers perspectives, it is difficult to fully appreciate our true history. i am doing the best i can appear. -- up here. i guess we should have some of three stanzas a couple of times. [laughter] we also have ms. jackson with us. a pleasure to have you with us. in your programs, there is also a flier in your programs. it is on the flip side of "lift every voice and sing." it is a flier about a program wh

many african-americans had relocated to that city and had a very vibrant, free, and african-american enslaved community around philadelphia. and they were very much interested in helping those enslaved who either came into philadelphia or wanted to escape to philadelphia to gain that freedom. in fact, that very act of african-american community is the source of the creation of mother bethlehem church in nefl, the first african-american church of this nation. so, again, we have this irony. we have washington in philadelphia in the white house with nine enslaved people in a community, a nearby community that wasn't necessarily supportive of this idea of enslavement. and, in fact, one of those who were enslaved with washington in philadelphia escapes. her name is elie judge. she was the enslaved servant of martha washington, had been her enslaved servant for many, many years. one night they asked her to go out to get food for the next day. she went to the market and she didn't come back. oh, my goodness. that's what george said. that's what martha said. at first they were worried that m

as african-americans, as many african-americans have been elected to congress since 1990 as were elected in the entire period between 1870 and 1990. in 1970 the first african-american, senator from mississippi joseph rainy from south carolina, member of the house. that is a tremendous amount of change. what i would like to do is better understand the earlier context of this story. representative belem is an authority what happens in the modern era. i want to prepare you for this talk by talking about the pioneers. the early representatives and senators who came along and made the changes that happened in our lifetime possible. to do that i want to refer to a publication which we published in 2008, black americans in congress. we're going to use our web site to illustrate that. this book was published in 2008. the web site features things not available in the book. lesson plans for teachers. a gallery of art and artifacts that weren't in the book and it is updated regularly. i recommend it to anyone who would like to learn more about the history. i am going to be skimming the surface toda

the local chapter of that group is what is now known as the african-american cultural and historicalociety. so it's an honor. we've been doing this for many, many years and it's great to see so many faces out here today. right now what i'd like to do is thank our partners and acknowledge them for their participateation. the san francisco public library much the california cultural arts program and we couldn't do it without the good folks in the mayor's office of neighborhood services. what i'd like to do now is strue -- shall truce -- intro duce tanish hollins from the mayor's office of neighborhood services. >> good amp, family. happy black history month. could we hear it one more time? [applause] >> we are so honored to be here. we look forward to this every year. it's a hall mark event for the city and county of san francisco. an opportunity to reflect on the many, many contributions of african-americans in this city and how each of us has changed the gee graval and cultural landscape of this city. how fitting that we celebrate black history month today, which is also the same as

an african-american man appointed to a brief term in the u.s. senate. the press dubbed him the 15th amendment in flesh and blood and later in 1870 joseph rainy of south carolina won a special election to the u.s. house of representatives, becoming the first african-american to serve in our institution. the arrival of revels and rainy ranked among the great paradoxes in american history. just a decade earlier, these african-americans congressional seats were held by southern slave holders. in so many aspects menard's background and his experiences foreshadowed those of african-americans who would shortly follow him into congress as phil just alluded to, he was young, he was just 30 years old when he made that speech on the house floor, like a lot of the men who would follow him in the 1870s and 1880s. he was born into a mixed race family. he was exceedingly well educated, relative to his contemporaries and like all those who would follow him in the next decade he was from a reconstructed republican government in the south, and as did menard, african-amer

we have to partner with our youth and african-american parents and communities and african american owned businesses. all that has to be done together. i will commit to you -- [applause] this is not to me just a celebration. although very important to recognize. it is an ongoing way that we do business and think and live in the city. we live in partnerships. we help -- to lift each other. i get that opportunity as the first asian mayor. it is my turn to help lift up the african-american community and find talent where it is and create hope and make sure we're all safe at the same time where we're becoming successful. at this time, i want to lie in partnership ask our supervisor malia cohen to come up and share this proclamation presentation. . we're going to present it well deserving proclamation proclaims this black history month but i am giving it to someone that iowa's held in great esteem and had a chance to work with him on understanding better the history but also even engaging him in research we did a few years ago to discover and uncover where those banks across the country, what

during the reconstruction era in the south we know african-american african-americans put hundreds of men into office and menard was nominated on october 4th of 1868. to run in the special election to succeed james man. this was for the final few months of the 40th congress which was set to expire in march of 1869. he made it clear that he intended to test the sincerity of his party's frequent needs. he wrote the ballot needs equal representation as well as equal rights. if men are still to be barred from congress as well as the white house on a count of the color of their faces then the race will not be adequate and the cause of equal rights will not be accomplished until men will be seen as equal. he won with 64% of the vote it would have made him the first african-american to serve in congress. but his opponent challengethed his right to be seated. as the house elections committee would soon uncover more than 80% of the votes there thrown out swinging the election to menard. thousands of african-american men appeared to be thrown out by fraud. republican simon jones challenged the

of african-americans in cities in the 19th century. you read a little bit but not much about how those populations increase in the 1910s through the 1930s with kind of that first wave of great migration. earlier historians kind of pointed to that 1890s, 1930s period as the creation of the ghetto. the enduring ghetto is what one historian used that language to refer to what happens to those black communities in cities that form in the early 20th century, as you saw from the maps, it's kind of those small areas, they kind of become the ground zero for the incredibly large african-american communities that come from the 1940s through the 1960s. hirsh points out there is a difference between those black communities and the second ghettos that come from them, from the 40s through the 60s. one of the major differences between those two communities are the processes that created it. that created them. with the early 20th century, say the 1890s to the 1930s, african-americans were funneled into particular areas of cities like chicago, detroit,

african americans are younger. asian/pacific islanders have the largest groups across the board but they also have a large number of seniors. latinos are very young, 14% of the population. 22 % of the children in the city. this shows between 1990, and this is another analysis that we did using the american communities survey from 2006 to 2008. you see the huge loss of african-american children. you see a huge number of african-americans. we have to point out, in 1990, you weren't able to put multiple choice. part of this, there is a huge loss of african-americans. we wanted to know where they went. other cities have had large losses of african-americans. oakland dropped between 1990 and 2008. richmond from 43 to 27. you look at where they went, and you see the suburbs between san francisco and sacramento is where many of the african- americans left during that time. for example, the number of african-americans grew by 33,000. antioch had 1700 african americans, today over 18,000. going back to the first chart, you

and it would have made him the first african-american to serve in congress. but his opponent, a white man by the name of caleb hunt, challenged menard's right to be seated. and as the house elections committee would soon uncover, more than 80% of the votes that were first cast for hunt were thrown out by the local canvassing board swinging the election to menard. meanwhile, thousands of african-american men appeared to have been denied the ballot by violence, intimidation, and outright fraud. and to complicate matters, the late representative mann's original opponent, republican simon jones, challenged the validity of mann's original election to the house in april of 1868. arguing in essence that he, jon jones -- are you taking notes -- was the rightful winner and there was no vacancy. adding still another layer of complexity was the fact that the louisiana second district, the nominal entity in which this mess was occurring, had been redistricted since louisiana's readmittance to the union in july of 1868. its geography and constituency were greatly changed

african-american artistic director. latino outreach person.us, aside from the staff, aside from the artists that we work with him being a reflection of oz, yes, the community is changing, but brava has always tried to be ahead of that, just that sense of a trend. i tried to make about the work that shows the eclecticism of the mission district, as well as serving the mission. that is what i feel brava is about. ♪ >> so it's a tremendous honor to be here today. we've got a tremendous program for you. this is our annual black history month kickoff. it was started many, many years ago. dr. carter g. woodson had participated in the founding of black history month. he was involved in the group known as the oh, -- association for the study of african-american life and history. the local chapter of that group is what is now known as the african-american cultural and historical society. so it's an honor. we've been doing this for many, many years and it's great to see so many faces out here today. right now what i'd like to do is thank our partners an

, an african american woman would protect her man's manhood. there's this interracial romance that happens, black man, white woman, and how this is all viewed. she said how she felt her character had to really stand up to protect her man and as a consequence it became part of the play. the african american woman will not tell earl that his wife has actually left him already and run off with another man. she doesn't tell him that because she's trying to protect his manhood. those are things i think if you are a smart playwright, you really take advantage of your very smart actors and your very smart directors. again, this thing where it's always coming down it ego. at sundance, in every rehearsal process, i like being part of a very generous workshop. if you were in there you would say, wow, it's pretty free-wheeling. for example, you have 9 characters, 9 story lines that all are trying to be pieced together so they all are introduced, they all intertwine and at the end they are all resolved in some form or fashion. it's a delicate architecture.

is african-american, more than 70%. everyone knows there's some neighbors that aren't just predominantly white, they're almost exclusively north white. upper northwest. there's no sign there that says blacks stay out. there are no laws that say only white people can buy real estate here. in fact, there are laws that prohibit that sort of racial bias. i'll make you a bet if you surveyed 1,000 people in ward three or four of d.c., chevy chase, the most exclusive neighborhoods, big, well-manicured lawns, fancy houses, luxury cars, if you knocked on the doors and said to each of the people, and there are whole blocks where i assure you from the census data you know you're not going to see a single person of color. maybe you'll see one asian american. but you could go 20, 30, 40 houses and it's going to be all white otherwise. you survey a thousand of those homeowners, maybe one of them will say something racial. if you say why do you live her? they'll say good neighborhood, good shopping, my real tore suggested it. they'll

, the largest african-american urban population in the nation. this population growth also created a much more segregated city in washington, d.c. as african-americans continued to move in and were funneled into certain sections of this city. by the start of the 20th century, washington's african-american community constituted essentially a separate city within the federal government, a secret city, as one author has described it. now, while we know a great deal about the general history of african-americans in this city, i would argue, i would suggest, that we do not know enough about the specific issues unfolding in different portions of the district. those of us that know washington, d.c., know that this is a city of multiple parts, different experiences, and different communities. georgetown is different from the park, which is different from u street, which is different from northeast, which is different from capitol hill, which is different from the area surrounding the white house. the community in each of these areas have unique character