Mayor Eric Adams: Thank you. And the clear indicator that when you speak to everyone on the stage that participated in a meeting, there were common denominators that allowed us to come into the room together. Public Advocate Williams had to go to another event, but we were able to look at common faces that said that we can come together. Hazel Dukes is… We all call her Mom Dukes, Mother Dukes. She has been here for so many years and the level of comfortability that we were able to sit in the room. The civil rights legend, Reverend Sharpton, all of us know him. Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins talked about it, how many times throughout the years we called on him when we needed him for something. And so we were simultaneously calling on him to say we want to convene together in the manner that we did today.
But one thing we came through, and I strongly feel, and I'm sure the other leaders strongly feel, that this is something we should have done January 1st, 2022. We all fought to speak on behalf of those voices that have gone unheard for so many years. And we allowed 2022 for outside forces and entities to define our success and what we were able to accomplish. The unprecedented level of things I received to assist the city from the speaker in the City Council, from the speaker in the Assembly, from the majority leader in the Senate, all of that was lost because our success of fighting on behalf of people who were in need for generational poverty and generational issues was ignored because we allowed others to hijack what our success were. And they took the narrative with it. The Black and brown people of this city have fought to get district attorneys that understand their plight like Darcel Clark and Alvin Bragg and Eric Gonzalez.
They have fought long to get leaders in our chambers across this state. All that we marched for, all that we fought for, or that we prayed for materialized in 2022. We were successful in some of the most significant things that people fought for for years. We were able to accomplish in Albany and we were able to accomplish in the City Council. All of that was lost. It was lost because we didn't do this. We didn't demand that people see the unification of a city. The most important city in America is led by Black and brown people that have fought on behalf of helping people for generations. And we understand the plight of all ethnic groups in the city and state, and we are uplifting all groups. But we are clear on this systemic poverty, the systemic racism that has been in place that denied people the opportunities to leave poverty. That's what this conversation was about today. It's not narrowing in on one section or one issue.
We wanted to get together and thank each other for the successes that we have accomplished and say in 2023, we will never again allow anyone to hijack those successes and do anything to give the impression that we are not united in dealing with the institutional, historical problems that prevented far too many people in this state from moving forward. I cannot say thank you enough for all of us coming in the room together and stating we are going to define our own narrative. We are going to define our own destiny. We are going to define our own solutions to our problems. This is what our ancestors prayed for, is standing on this stage right now. And we are going to live up to those prayers, those sacrifices, all the things they went through. Every person of color that hung from a tree, every person of color that was whipped, every person of color that had to come to this place and be treated unjustly, every person of color that marched and fought, every person of color that sacrificed. They prayed for this moment and we won't betray this moment. Thank you.