 officer Heather Austin to sing the Black National Anthem and the National Anthem. Please welcome the Commissioner for the Department of Cultural Affairs, Laurie Cumbull. For Juneteenth differently because I usually start out with a big energy because I'm a big energy person. But as I walk around here today, accomplished doers, people doing things, going to speak, everyone to close their eyes for a second. I want to have, I'm gonna take a page, I want to have a meditative moment for a second. I just want everybody to think about 100 years and visualize what this place on this day would look like 100 years ago. I want you to think about what you would be doing if you were here. I want you to think about who would be on the stage if you were here. I want you to think about who would be in power if you were here. I want you to fast forward 50 years from now and think about that same image and how similar it would look to 100 years ago. And I want you to open your eyes now and look at the visual of our excellence, of Black excellence here at Gracie Mansion. We are at Gracie Mansion. Do you understand where we are? Do you understand how far we have come? Do you understand the sacrifice that our ancestors had to make for us to be here, to be sipping on champagne glasses and past hors d'oeuvres and hug kissing and taking selfies and exchanging business cards? Do not take this moment for granted. Do not take the place that you're at at this moment for granted. This is a very special, incredible, momentous time in history never before have we blazed the pan we are standing in in this moment right now. I just want you to think about where we are. I want you to think about the positions that we hold. And I had to write some of them down because there's so many. When we think about Letitia James, our New York State Attorney General. When think about Jomani Williams, first Black man to be public advocate. When we think of Carl Hasty, Speaker of the New York State Assembly. When we think of Andrea Stewart Cousins, Majority Leader for the New York State Senate. When we think of Adrienne Adams, first Black woman Speaker of the New York City Council. We think of Vanessa Gibson and Donovan Richards holding positions as Borough President of the Bronx and Queens. When we think of Hakeem Jeffries on the Congressional floor. First Minority Leader in the halls of Congress, the most powerful position in Congress. When we think of Event Clark, only Black woman in Congress from New York State representing our interests. When we think of Ken Thompson, first District Attorney that sends a tidal wave throughout the nation that we could hold that position. Opened up the doors for Darcelle Clark and Eric Gonzalez and Alvin Braggs. When we think of Rani Bishat, first Haitian woman to be the county leader of the largest borough in this county of Brooklyn. When we think of Chancellor David Banks and what he is going to do with our educational system to turn this city around. When we think of Sheena Wright, first Deputy Mayor, African American woman of New York City and it doesn't end there. It's positioned our entire lives and it's not only here in New York City. We are also celebrating nationwide and right here the 50th anniversary of hip-hop culture and for so many of us our own what has transformed us into so many of the positions that we have held. When we think of Serena Williams, seven Wimbledon championships, we think of Beyonce, 20 of Meghan Markle, whoever thought we would see a Black woman getting married at Buckingham Palace. When we think of LeBron James, hot positions like Dick Parsons, like Ken Chennault making a change for our communities and I could go on and on. Now I'm Commissioner of Cultural Affairs so in my position appointed by Mayor Eric Adams, I'm allowed to oversee a budget where we are funding the new Africa Center in Harlem. 651 Arts and Mocata will have a new building, Studio Museum will have an 80 million dollar new building, National Black Theater, the Afro-Latin Jazz Alliance, CCC AD Open. We're going to have a Bronx Children's Museum with a new African-American Latina director, Alex, the incredible work also of our commissioner positioned. We have positioned what we have to do now. We can't let this moment pass us. We have to make sure that we support each other, that we work together, that we make sure that Mayor Eric, the greatest Mayor of all time, knows what's saying this. When you are all, bless you all, support one another, support our Mayor and let's continue to trail a new pathway for the next generation. Thank you. I really want to thank Laurie. I want to thank all of you and this is Juneteenth and as we reflect on this moment we need to just really pause for a moment. This is not a moment being under this tent where we came here to just drink champagne and just eat all derbs. That's not what this moment is about. This is a moment of, as Laurie pointed out, a real reflection of what Juneteenth means to us and what it represents. I just want to bring up a few of my commissioners to join the stage with me starting with Dwayne Sampson, the chair of the Board of Corrections, a John G. Hart, who's our budget director and who has really put forward real contracts for working class people, NYPD, First Deputy Commissioner Combined, Dina Logan from Mac Jay, Chief of Staff Camille Joseph Vala. You could give it up. Deputy Commissioner Mark Stewart, First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright. Then there's one more. You know, those who know me know how close I am to my family. I had an older sister who I love so much. Right now she's going through some physical challenges. She taught me everything. She taught me how to dance. She taught me how to tie a tie. She taught me how to cup. She was so poised, so disciplined, so beautiful. Everything about her. She raised all five of us while mommy went and wrote. She surrendered her childhood because she could only be there for her siblings. And when I came into office, I saw someone that fit that description. I saw her poisonous. I saw how calm she was. I saw her spirit and I saw her and I thought automatically about Sandra, my sister. I called my sister and I said I met someone just like you. And as difficult as it was for you to raise our family, she's going to have a difficult job. She's going to be attacked and criticized and beat down and call names and say it's not good enough. The same thing you went through, Sandra. She's going to go through. And I was troubled about it. I remember praying over and over again. But God touched my heart. And he said it was the right person at the right time. And I want to say at the last Juneteenth she would be at. I want you to show our police commissioner, Keshon Sue, some love. It is absolutely an honor to be here with all of you to celebrate Juneteenth. I'll be brief, but I just want to say look where we are. It takes a man of history, of tradition, of values to believe that he can put me in this position after 176 years of people not looking like me in this position. I absolutely cannot thank the mayor enough for giving me this extraordinary opportunity to come to this community, to come to the NYPD, to meet all of you and to be your police commissioner. This has been the honor of my lifetime to work with all of these amazing people. And thank you so much for being a part of my life. I will miss you all. Have a good night. The young child of a friend hated going, hated going to the doctor. He broke his leg and he said he'll just work it out. He never fully healed and he walked. Thank you, Sheena. He walked with a limp his entire life because he never got the real treatment that he deserved. And my people, that's where we are. Slavery did something to us. We may act like we are right. We may go through the motion. Matter of fact, we dress well, we drive nice cars, we live in big houses. But the reality is, from Juneteenth, two years after slavery was actually dismantled, the reality is that time does not automatically heal brokenness. And this Juneteenth, we need to go backwards and really deal with the pain of slavery and what it did to us as a people. Because you cannot see all that our ancestors went through. All the marching, all the praying, all of the dying, all the dogs, all the water hoses, all the picking cotton and then delivering babies in the cotton field only to go pick it again. Watching the slave master break into your cabin and take your wife, your daughter, and even your son. Watching the hanging and forcing those black men across all parts of this country, even to the point that you had to create a song called Strange Fruit of so many black men and women hanging from trees, burnings, all of that. Just to get to resiliency as Commissioner Combo stated. The resiliency, the magnificence of who we are to where we are right now. What does that look like? Four of the major cities in this country are headed by black folks. She did the roll call. She talked about Hakeem Jeffery. She talked about Latisha Jane. She talked about the district attorneys and three of the boroughs. She talked about the borough presidents. She talked about the leader of assembly, the leader of the Senate. She talked about the leader of the city council. She talked about all of the various heads of the colleges are being led by people of color and then digging to each one of those chambers. The major committees that determine who and what we're going to become are headed by people of color. All that we have, public advocate of color, mayor of color. All that we have, we cannot use this moment as backbiting and tearing each other down and attacking each other and destroying each other and coming out of this time with nothing to show for the power that our ancestors created for us. When I stood on the shores of Senegal and looked out from the door of no return, I realized that we left Africa in slavery and I returned with the mayoralty. That's how powerful we are. You don't use this strength to implode as a people. This is the moment we're in right now and why we petty squabble and attack each other. Our black boys have carbon highways of death with nine millimeter bullets through our community. Homelessness is on the rise. While we attack each other, we cannot pass legislation to build more housing. While we attack each other, we're seeing unemployment increase in the black community at a rate higher than others. While we attack each other, 200,000 black folks are leaving the city because they cannot afford to live in the city. While we attack each other, we're not seeing the productivity that we can produce. That's what Juneteenth is about. It's not a ceremony of time that takes place on the calendar of the year. It's a moment of reflection. Who are we going to become? Who are we going to become? And so I'm forever energized and you need to really have a close look at what's happening right now. They say that being the mayor of the city of New York is the second most difficult job that you could have in politics. And I say, when does the hard part start? Let me tell you, let me tell you what being hard is. Hard is picking cotton from sun up to sun down. Hard is watching someone beat you with a whip. Hard is watching yourself in Tulsa, Oklahoma building wealth just to have it burned down. Hard is going down a block and seeing your ancestors hanging from a tree. Hard is being a mother raising six children and having to have three jobs to do so. I know what hard is. There was a scene in the movie Glory when Dizelle Washington went off to see his lady friend and when they came back, they brought out a whip to beat him and they pulled up his shirt and they saw the scars on his back and he held on to the will as to say, bring it on. So I know every day I read the articles. I know you think you can whip me and make me go from saying kute kente to toby but dammit kute kente is all I know. I know, I know you think that you can write what you want. I know you think you can talk about what you want but watch how I'm turning around the most important city in the most important country. You're watching the city come back at a level that no one expected. Those who monitor how you invest in cities gave us a double A bond rating. You're watching tourism come back jobs are returning our cities become safer and safer because of police commissioner that was laser focused. People are back on the subway system again walking on streets that prosperity is returning. They didn't think that I can do it. Who is this boy headed earring wearing black guy think he's going to come and run this major city. I can run this city because our families ran households with nothing. We know what crisis is. We know what hard times are. Listen. Only God can take you from being dyslexic arrested rejected and now I'm elected to be the mayor of the city of New York. That's who I am. Well, well, well, well, we don't we don't like him. You know, we don't like him. We don't like him. We don't know what it is. You can say whatever you want but just make sure you end it with mayor Adams. Don't get it mixed up. Don't get it mixed up. Yes. Yes. Yeah, I know it frustrates you. You know, I know I walk around like I got diamonds in my thighs. I know that. I know it gets you upset. I know it. But right now, in this city, the 110th mayor is Eric Adams. And you look across the board, first Korean to head small business services, first Indian to be a deputy mayor, first Dominican to be a deputy mayor, first African American woman to be the first deputy mayor, first African American woman to be a police commissioner, first woman to be a fire commissioner, first Philippine to be a deputy deputy mayor, first person of Hispanic to be in charge of the Department of Correction. Just go down the list and see what's happening all around us. People who sat on the sideline for years and only could be number two are moving to positions of number one and they run in the city. Do you know what happened across America when Keshon Sewell became the police commissioner? You know what happened? So they want to tear all of us apart. We've been there before. We know the script. We're not going to fall for a victim again. And so I want to say to you, my people, I want to say that no matter what you're feeling, no matter what spares around us, we did not come this far to fail. We did not come this far to fail. This Juneteenth, let us remember that people gave their lives for us to sit on this grass today. We are in Gracie mansion because our presence graced this country and we deserve to be here. God be with you. Let's continue to move forward together. Back with never.