 We are truly honored and appreciative of this opportunity. For some of us in this room, it will be the first time we have walked through these doors. And it is a humbling experience. The Garifuna people have been contributing to the fabric of New York City for over 60 years in various paths to have a better life for themselves and their family. We are in roles such as EMTs, firemen, police officers, correction officers, teachers, social workers, attorneys, accountants, and business owners of clothing stores, restaurants, men's suits, health and wellness, hair salons, just to name a few. We are strategically and gradually creating generational wealth. We invite you whenever your schedule permits to visit any one of our businesses. In addition, many Garifunas are working or have worked in several elected officials offices. You will also find us throughout some of the government agencies, such as DOE, ACS, and the Department for the Aging. At this time, I would also like to acknowledge and thank all of the elected officials and government leaders who are here and for your continuing support of the Garifuna community. At this time, I would like to introduce to you Jose Francisco Avila, who has been organizing and uplifting the Garifuna community for the last 35 years. He is the chairman of the board of the Garifuna Coalition and an author with the second book being launched next month. Please join me in welcoming Jose Francisco Avila. Wepe Rabau menu. Good evening. Thank you, Rose, for that introduction. I'll be brief because I'll come back because right now I would like to introduce Assemblyman from the 85th Assembly District, Kenny Burgos. Good evening, everyone. So as Jose mentioned, I represent the 85th district in the Bronx. The reason I had to come here today was because we have such a vibrant Garifuna community in my district, especially in the Hunt Point region. Anyone here from Hunt Point right now? There we go. Since being elected, working with the Garifuna community on cultural events, on the opening of Casa Urumeng, I've always been amazed at not just the pride and with the passion the community operates, but always tying themselves to their roots. And as someone who is, unfortunately, an embarrassed man who doesn't speak Spanish very well as a Puerto Rican man, I told myself I'm inspired by the way the Garifuna community ties themselves to their roots. So I'm going to be uncomfortable and give you a quick short speech in Spanish. Buenas tardes. Soy Assemblyman Kenny Burgos, 85th district in the Bronx. Yo representos los vecindarios, Soundview, Castle Hill, Hunt's Point, Harding Park, Class and Point in the south of the Bronx. Tenemos todo tipo de cultura en nuestra comunidad, pero en este momento estamos descarcando la comunidad Garifuna. Para hablar de la comunidad Garifuna, hay que hablar de la cultura bella y extensa que tiene, no solamente la cultura, pero también la comida, como las tabletas de coco, bime cacule y juduto. Además, de eso también se puede admirar la experiencia que la comunidad Garifuna le trae al Bronx como jugar fútbol en el Parque Azul y hangueo en el Parque Huapuru. En el distrito 85 tenemos unos de los barbershops más viejos de la comunidad, el TV Humbo Barbershop. Obstante, no solo los negocios que tenemos en el distrito, pero sabemos que el amor, la cultura y la vivencia que trae la comunidad Garifuna es integral a la experiencia de los que vivimos en el área. Gracias por el impacto y diversidad que le traen a la comunidad de Bronx, disfruten la ceremonia y gracias por tenerme. Thank you, everyone. Hello again. Welcome to Gracie Mansion. As Rosemary mentioned, this is the first time that the Garifuna community has been here. And it's important to know that because this is the 91st anniversary of the Garifuna population migrating to New York City. In about eight to nine years, we're going to be celebrating the centennial of our migration here. But the reason that we're here tonight is because of Garifuna Heritage Month. This is the 15th anniversary of Garifuna Heritage Month, started in 2008 in the Bronx. What is Garifuna Heritage Month? It promotes greater knowledge and interest for the culture, heritage, and history, and the contribution of the Garifuna people to the development of society. And when I speak about society, I'm talking about Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and the United States of America, where the Garifuna passport resides. OK? I'm sure I have some Belizean brothers and sisters here tonight. Where are my Belizean brothers and sisters? Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, St. Vincent, and the Granite, and Yoruba. That is the pan-Garifuna population of New York. People are surprised when I say there are 250,000 of us here, until I explain to them that the largest Garifuna population outside of Honduras is right here in New York City. The largest Guatemalan population outside of Guatemala is right here in New York City. The second largest population of Belizeans is here. The second is in Los Angeles, in California. OK, and there's also a Nicaraguan population. And then the largest St. Vincent and the Granite population outside of St. Vincent is right here. OK, right? That's what makes up the Garifuna population. When I talk about 250,000, everyone thinks that just because I'm from Honduras, I'm talking about Honduras. No, it's the entire diaspora. And again, and it's Garifuna heritage month. March 11 to April the 12th. And what we commemorate is the forcible deportation of the Garifuna people from St. Vincent, today known as St. Vincent and the Grenadines, to an island called Honduras. I'm sorry, Rotan, right in front of Honduras, which is how we got there. But the motherland, the homeland, it's St. Vincent and the Grenadines. OK? All right. But I'm also here. The main reason I'm here is actually to introduce a friend of our community. And when I talk about a friend, I got to give you some background. Talking about Garifuna heritage month, right? So in 2010 was the first time the Garifuna heritage month was introduced in Albany. It was in the assembly. Then in 2012, 2011, it was introduced in the Senate. And in 2012, we went to Albany, and there was a senator from Brooklyn called Eric Adams, who stood up to speak, to commemorate Garifuna heritage month. And I remember it as, if it was today, he pointed to the gallery and said, it's not only the Bronx, it's Brooklyn also. Furthermore, he said, Vilma Arzou, with T is there and she's my constituent. And next year, when I get to Brooklyn, borrow precedent, we will have the first celebration in Brooklyn. Guess what? In 2014, he kept his word. And he invited us, and we had the first Garifuna heritage month celebration in Brooklyn Barrow Hall. There's a brother right in front of me, George Hulse, who never forgets because he was there. He was an integral part of that event. And tonight, the same person has invited us for the first time to the people's house. Gracie mentioned. Ladies and gentlemen, it's quite an honor for me to introduce New York City Mayor, Mr. Eric Adams. Thank you. You missed one part of that story. When I became the borough president, I stated that in eight years, when I become the mayor, we're going to have the first Garifuna celebration in Gracie Manchin. Because I knew if I planted to see, many people don't want to acknowledge. They acknowledge your success in business. They acknowledge your success in civil service. They acknowledge your success in education. But they don't know. You have a direct communication with the ancestors. And I planted to see with you, you made it happen. And you created what was to come into existence. I am just really proud here. Everywhere I go, someone pulls me over from an agency. They pull me over and they say, I'm from Garifuna. I'm Garifuna, and I'm Garifuna, and I'm Garifuna. You know, if there's someone from St. Vincent, if there's someone from Honduras, if there's someone from Trinidad, if there's someone from the Grenada, it doesn't matter where I am. I am around my Garifuna families. And I just really appreciate the support that you have showed me. Vilma is my sister. You know, if someone ever said anything negative about me, she'd put Vaseline on her face, put her hair in the ponytail, kick off her heels, and go into fighting gear. But your strength is so larger than the Bronx. As our assemblyman stated, your population is strong. And you are multiplying throughout the city. But you are a powerful force. And deep in your ancestry, think about it. And sometimes I think that as time moves forward, we don't really acknowledge who we are. It gets sort of watered down throughout the history. But it's imperative that your young children know your history, that you were free and you free yourself from slavery. That's so rich. You were fighters. You were warriors. And when colonial powers attempt to colonize you, you said no. And you fought for your freedom. And so you did not fight for your freedom physically to be emotionally and intellectually enslaved here. Time to reach into your history and rise up as the mighty people you are. What does that mean? Every Garifuna who can vote need to register to vote. Use the power of your vote. And we are moving around the city in what we call hiring halls. We have thousands of vacancies in the city. It's time now for you to join the others who are in civil service. If we know the quality of service we want to provide for our communities, then we need to be part of the providers who are doing that. I see some of my brothers and sisters from the law enforcement community who are in the back. You know, EMT, EMS, Fire Department, DCAS, HRA, all of these services, all of these agencies, the success of a city is determined by its agencies and the success of an agency is determined by the people who are inside those agencies and the quality of goods and services that we provide for the people of the city of New York. No one knows it better than the Garifuna community. I need you to be part of this team the same way you were part of the team that allowed me to get elected. I would not have gotten elected if I didn't have the strong support from your community. Now I need you to help me run this city the way we know this city could be run in the correct way. This is our opportunity. And so we may come with different dress, different style, but we have one baseball cap, and that's the Garifuna cap. Like George, we're on one team, one team. And so this is the first, but it won't be the last. As long as I am mayor of the city of New York, we will come into this place and acknowledge the rich history of this powerful community and the real tragedy that I went through my entire educational experience. And at one time did we know the history of this powerful community. We need to change that. And I might ask of you is not only to change it in our official settings, but also in what we're doing with Breaking Bread Building Bonds. Many of you know about it. We rolled it out when we were the bar president. 1,000 dinners across the city, 10 people at a minimum at each dinner. Every person there coming from a different ethnic culture and religious background. Every Breaking Bread Building Bond dinner we have, someone from the Garifuna community should be there talking about this rich culture that you have. And when we talk about African American history and the Caribbean diaspora and the African diaspora in our schools, that month that we do Black History Month, they need to know about this history. You talk to the average child, the average child, they don't know about this history. They don't know about the richness of this culture. I was blessed to have people in my setting that told me about the richness of this community. And I want everyone to know that and know what you contributed. Not only to America, but to the African diaspora. So I thank you as we acknowledge this moment here in Gracie Mansion. We have a lot to do, a lot to accomplish, but the same energy you bought when you released the shackles off your physical body. Let's release the shackles off our mental bodies here in this country. Thank you so much. Happy Garifuna. You're not Garifuna, what you doing there?