 sing please welcome Nadine P. Simmons can you see what's so proud a nation of living separate but unequal for many years but we never gave up hope and there was an author who wrote this song lift every voice and sing sung by James Weldon Johnson who felt these words as he put his pen to paper that live on to eternity lift every please welcome chief advisor to the mayor Chaplin dr. Ingrid Lewis Martin I do my thing I want to just bring on our electives that I hear because they're real partners in government and as we get things done it is with their partnership that we're able to accomplish that I want to first start with my sister a semi-woman Jennifer Raj Kumar come on say it happy Juneteenth everybody I'm Assemblywoman Jennifer Raj Kumar and I'm so happy to be here celebrating Juneteenth this is a celebration of freedom and equality and I'll be celebrating once again once the 55 percent of black women that die of maternal mortality every year when we solve that crisis I'm gonna be celebrating again and right now 51% of black youth at the eighth grade level are considered a language proficient and when we change that number I'm gonna say be celebrating again and the reason I'm here today is because we have one of the greatest leaders in this entire country our great mayor Eric Adams and he is the one that is changing those numbers I was so proud to stand with him is the first Queens elected to ever endorse him I'm so proud of the work that he's done changing our city in these first few months the future is bright and as the first South Asian woman ever elected in New York State I have been so proud to see how he supports freedom and equality in all communities he is the mayor for every New Yorker so to everyone happy Juneteenth and let's celebrate all month thank you so much and the amazing assembly women from Bed-Stuy the 56th assembly district assembly women Stephanie Zimmerman it's already been established that Brooklyn is in the house the member Stephanie Zimmerman and I proudly represent Bedford Stuyvesant and I'm gonna greet you with peace and freedom and we're gonna talk a little bit about liberation so yesterday we are going to celebrate Juneteenth and the freedom of the last slaves in Texas in Galveston Texas but we're really going to talk about what freedom really means to each and every one of us now so many of us know that we are still fighting for the free right to vote so many of us know that we are still fighting for the freedom to have quality health care so many of you know that we are still fighting for affordable and quality housing and we are still fighting the past the Armistad Act so we can we can actually teach black history 365 days of the year so while we celebrate Freedom Day Jubilee Day Liberation Day we also have to face the work ahead and those of us in the state that are here today and those who could not make it or glad to have a partner with the state or somebody who's been doing the work and is still pushing for our liberation and so I want to close by just rate just putting my hand on this flag so we know Juneteenth has his own flag but as of June 19th 2022 for the first time in history the red black and green will fly on every state building from Brooklyn to Buffalo so I want to thank the mayor for his support but I also want to give it up for the black Puerto Rican Hispanic and Asian caucus who did the work to help me get that resolution passed and I want to thank the governor and the lieutenant governor for their support so if you're around on Monday come on down to Shirley Chisholm state office building because we're going to be waving the flag and talking about liberation and our lieutenant governor Anthony Delgado thank you mayor how's it going we're good good good happy Juneteenth let me tell you when I think about the story of Juneteenth and I think about what has come to represent it's the story of how time and commitment and hope and love love can conquer all imagine the slaves in Texas learning for the first time they were free and how it was a delayed message and how I had to come to them at a later time than those before them has somebody tell me earlier today how do you stay hopeful how do you with all the divisiveness all the hate that's going on all the violence how do you where do you go where do you dig deep to figure out what the future can look like how do you stay upbeat I said look at the past I look like what we overcame literally the lynching the cotton fields being dehumanized couldn't read denied access to water fountains and bathrooms and schools so when you think about where we are today what we're dealing with today don't despair think about what we came from think about what it took to get us here the love the faith the power of faith and the power of love no one is born to hate anybody nobody says I'm born hating race or religion love is as natural as air you're born to love hold on to that love don't run from it there's a reason why I'm the first person to color to represent upstate New York in a 90% white district that Trump won because I love I love and I love hard with a strong demanding love I love you and Mary Adams I love you brother I love you and I love all of you and together in love all things are possible all things lastly my my sister who just is a fearless warrior she's now the cultural affairs commissioner in the city of New York Laurie come on wow we've come a long way remember when Eric first called me and told me that he was running and would I be at his first endorsement announcement that he was running for the mayor of the city of New York I was so honored that you called me I was so honored that you asked me to take this monumental historical journey with you and it was an honor to stand there with you in the highs and the lows of this campaign because there were highs and there were lows there were tough times there were people that did not want to see you have this position and did ever to try and stop what God had ordained but they could not stop it I want you to think about for a minute where we are I want you to think for a minute what it took to get to this moment African people who wanted to lead who wanted to legislate but were forced to wash dishes black women who wanted to stand up and wanted to be educators wanted to be all of the things that they could be doctors and nurses but they were forced to clean they were forced to wash tables and floors and not that there's any less a dignity in that work but when that's the only option that you have because of the color of your skin we understand now this position and this moment a lot of people our people were denied the right to do so many things black hands that built Gracie Mansion black city what it is today black opportunity and now we and a woman said and I remember this she said when you're on a plane always vote for and support the pilot make sure when you're on a plane that you are rooting for this is the pilot okay this man just presable to decide that those resources would go back into the communities that need it most and I just want to say as commissioner for the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs he just passed history going to see organizations of all colors but mostly in the outer it's been an honor to take this journey we ain't seen nothing yet if I if I may I know he's in the house of Reverend Herbert Daugherty Reverend Herbert Daugherty who started me on this journey so many years ago when I was the youth leader for the National Black United Front of my my spiritual father and fellow plant-based eaters you know say a few words I really don't know if I can say a few words it's just overwhelming to be here this evening you know last night yesterday evening we remembered Arthur Miller he was killed in June 14 1978 I was on the street boy carting because Randy Evans 15 years old had been killed I only mentioned these two incidents because out of it came a movement which eventually and many of you here this evening but the person that we honor tonight and which every time I see him I kind of get emotional because it was in that movement in that time that he came to us so you when you've got to remember out of which he came the movement that gave birth to his what is it I sent you thank you thank you very much but it came and I said a few words to them as I gathered the young colors around me and I said listen we need to have somebody in that police department somebody who would know show the world what policing is all about how you police and anyway we need somebody to tell us what's going on in that department that they killed children and so he said he got to be out of your mind the police were not the most lovable people at that time and and so out of that out of that movement he came and we have been together ever since the other evening he was at the church in the house of the Lord Church which gave birth and influenced so many and we were looking at the photos that we had been together and there was the photo of his being present when the kid in the carriage was killed he was there and we looked at a photo in which we were holding a press conference because the resmond Doris man had been killed and if we had gone on we looked at photos in which he was there when Christians in Ethiopia was being killed and he was there on many of the occasions when there was a attack on a certain people and he was there and so I just love him and every time I see him I say well thank God thank God thank God for this man and we're gonna care with him and we're gonna keep on praying we're gonna keep on pushing and who knows what's in the future but one final thing I have to say I have to show you the toughness I was getting ready that was a long time ago to March from Brooklyn to Washington and I had gathered people around me the million man March and I gathered people around me and I call Eric and I said man come on and March with me he said all right all right who you got in the million in March and I said we got social and I don't like this guy here keep him out of it and Eric said what you don't like him but you don't like me and he wouldn't March with him he stepped away well it always I always admired that he had a toughness about him a sort of independent toughness and anybody around him know what I mean so every God bless you you always there and I'm still still firing still firing you know I have been you may not be able to see but you notice I've been looking over my shoulders because on the right hand side on the top of the curtain there was a bird that landed in the beginning that bird is it's still here you know and sometimes we don't understand the symbols that are for us and this journey and it was extremely instructional to have Reverend Daughtry give the history because there's a lot of youthful energetic in energy that is around right now and sometimes we have incorporated this belief that not to understand how we got here I'll never forget Reverend Daughtry G2 way you see Sam Penn and some of the leaders there was a meeting that we had at one of the churches and I'm not sure if it was Randolph Evans or one of the issues around policing they could have been even back when Clifford Glover the 10 year old young child that was shot in South Jamaica Queens or Arthur Miller matter of fact I believe it was Arthur Miller and we were all inside a meeting and a group of young people there I think I was 18 years old and a group of young people were in the room and the elders were trying to tell us how to move forward and a group of the young people were there say get out of the way you're too old you don't understand the movement you don't know what you're doing and I remember rolling up a piece of paper into a form of a baton and I walked to the front of the room and I dropped to one knee and I handed the baton to those elders and I said to the young people who were in this room that we have to run our mouth not turn around his mouth so he can hand it off to Sir General truth she ran her mouth so she could hand it off to Marcus Garvey Marcus Garvey ran his mouth so he can hand it off to Rosa Parks Rosa Park ran her mouth so she could hand it off to Jesse Jackson Jesse Jackson ran his mouth and he ended up to Reverend Sharpton Sharpton ran his mouth he handed off to Barack Obama Barack Obama ran his mouth handed off to the vice president Harris vice president Harris is running her mile and she's handing it off to Eric to be the mayor of the city of New York It's the continuation of the mile and if you become so arrogant and so pompous in your state of existence Believing this is a 50-yard dash And just because you are new to this that you all of a sudden understand the learning experience of every mile no slow down Understand who have already run the mile learn from them Build on what they've done don't start from scratch again What is the purpose of running these miles just for you to come and partner with those who don't look like you And give you an agenda that you want to start following after silliness Like it or not. I'm the pilot if the plane crashes we all crash We all crash So if you're sitting in first class or row 79 d i got to land this plane I got to land this plane And so we need to stop all the mad what you disagree with look at what you agree with Look at the fact that i'm the only mayor in history that has done and put in place dyslexia screening for all of our children So 30 of our prisoners are not going to be dyslexic Only mayor in history That is doing dyslexia screening in our jails. So when our young people come home They're coming home to opportunities not to be part of revolving door system Only mayor in history that is putting billions into child care So our mothers can have adequate child care for their children only mayor in history with 100 000 Some of you jobs and pushing for 100 percent pain internship program Only man history that is accomplishing feet after feet after feet Folks are wondering why they didn't want me to get in ever the secret Never stood back and said once i become mayor i'm going to become a different person You don't dedicate your life on fighting on behalf of liberation and then all of a sudden Turn down and act like you want to be on the plantation. That's not who i am It's not who i am And i don't get caught up in all the noise All the distractions All the people pulling you off your game You can say what you want You can write what you want you can do what you want But i'm the mayor Dyslexic Arrested Rejected Now i'm elected It's told he can't read or write and there'll never be anything because he's dyslexic or he has a learning disability or ADD That says to him that look what he is That says to the young person who i spoke with the other day when i was on rikers island talking to those graduates Who got their degrees and want to do something with their lives? Where you are it's not who you are that jail cell is not who you are out and motivate yourself And so what we're going to do we're going to put the resources in place so that they're able to believe in themselves My election is a symbol It's not me Eric Adams becoming mayor It is a symbol Of the possibilities in this city We are going to unleash the possibilities And trust me when i'll tell you as archbishop desmond 221 stated we spend a lifetime pulling people out of the river No one goes upstream and prevent them from falling in in the first place now ask yourself why Who are we pulling out of the river downstream? Black and brown people And so the mindset is People are making paper or for pulling us out of the river So what i'm doing i'm not threatening The people who are being pulled out of the river I'm threatening the profits that people make from pulling us out of the river See because if you invest in foster care children upstream Then they don't fall in the river and you pull them out downstream from milk to health illnesses and other crises If you invest in dyslexia screening upstream, you're not pulling them out downstream because they are arrested If you invest in health care upstream, then you're not allowing our mothers to have surgery Removing body parts losing their sight if you invest in maternal health upstream Then you won't have black women dying 12 times the rates of white women from maternal morbidity If you take this then you're not going to be wasting money downstream And you're taking money out of the pockets of people who have been eating off of us because of the dysfunctionality of a downstream mindset This is about the profitizing of poverty And why do you go anywhere in this country? Chicago, los angeles, washington, st louis No matter where you go, why is it the same people experiencing the same thing? So that's all of your tax folks All those attacks you see is i'm messing with people paper And so everybody's not going to be with us Some people that even look like us is going to attack us And you just got to say for me from the bottom of my heart you got to say niggro If you're not with eric you need to get out of the way Just get out of the way Get out of the way This is our moment This is our moment And we don't have to leave people behind We don't have to be in a state Where if you're jewish you attack with anti-semitism We don't have to be in a city where if you're from the aapi community And your mother or father or grandfather cannot leave homes because people are attacking you no reason at all We don't have to be in a city if you're a member of the lgp btq plus community people are Assaulting you and attacking you just because of who you choose to be we have to be in a city Where african americans Cannot move up Entitles in rank just because of their ethnicity so as other groups are treated unfairly We don't have to live in a city like that And we don't have to be against Folks to be for something So we have to do We are in this together We're in the same plane together using the metaphor for my sister lory cumble. We're in the same plane together Covey showed us if the plane crashed we're all going down Don't be that crazy Passenger that want to destroy the pilot without realizing he's on it also You cannot destroy me without destroying yourself. That's what this moment is about Don't be so angry That you are going to become so destructive To destroy what we are trying to accomplish And we are moving in the right direction. We are winning We are winning 100,000 new jobs in the first quarter Hotels are returning with their occupancy to hire htc union rookies Tourism is coming back to the city. Just the other day. We're 350 something thousand people in time square People are getting back into the offices People are getting back on our subway system. The energy is returning to the city We are winning don't allow the naysayers to let you believe because you have a successful black mayor That's doing the right thing. We took our bond raising from stable to optimistic because we're making the right decisions with our budget Your tax dollars We're winning new york And we're going to become the symbol for this entire country On how to do it right and how to get it right without leaving anyone behind And i see many of your faces You've been here from the start Never gave up Always stated that eric with with you. I don't know how many years i've known dr. Charles All these years side by side. George hoates So many of you Said that we believe in the mission We believe in accomplishing the task This is a difficult task. You know what i'm not always going to get it right I tell people from the start i'm perfectly imperfect Perfectly imperfect, but i'm dedicated In the years of dedication you can all go back and see I have publicly lived the life of improving the lives of new yorkers publicly And this is the moment when all of it comes together All of our prayers all of our hopes all of our dreams You know last year before taking office i took the trip to gana And went into the dungeon dungeons And i saw those spaces where Our ancestors spent Months living in their own ways Not seeing sunlight Many of them died on this voyage over here Only to come here and live a more horrific journey than what they did on the travel And got here And continued to fortify their beliefs Continue to fight for it so that we can get here And said today On juneteenth celebration They're sitting here right now In the spirit of that bird And they want us to know They're proud of us We could have been broken We could have been torn apart We could have just threw up our hands And we could have given up But instead we kept moving forward We are here Because they were there And yes, it took two and a half years from the time of Slavery the emancipation of proclamation being signed To gabenstein finally getting the word and free But in all sincerity and honesty we still aren't free Physically off the plantation does not mean You are free Let's free ourselves From the things that are binding us to the past This is our moment The year that this may have made Juneteenth a citywide holiday This year that this may is going to continue to knock down those barriers that prevented us before Now it's our time to use this opportunity Think about it for a moment We have a person of color that's mayor We have an attorney general That's of color We have a public advocate That's of color We have the leader of the assembly that's of color We have the leader of the senate that's of color We have one of the most powerful men in washington dc that's heading the democratic conference That's of color We have all of this chocolate If we do nothing with it But fight against each other Then what did we do? This is what we prayed for This is what we asked for We are now at a place of power The power we march for we protest for we fought for you know now we're here Now the question becomes what are we going to do with it? I want to rope together to get stuff done We need to come together to get stuff done This juneteenth let's Rededicate ourselves To the upliftment Of all that we fought for And I cannot thank you enough For believing Never surrender it And allowing me to run my mouth So I can pass the baton off to the next person in the relay. God bless you. Thank you