Mayor Eric Adams: When I became the borough president, I took on an awesome task and a difficult task. And I had to figure out exactly who was going to assist me as I move forward as the borough president and later on my journey to become the mayor of the City of New York.
And that is when I went and visited sometime earlier, I visited Peru many years before becoming the borough president. And I saw hard working people. I saw committed people. As I watched some of the climbers as they climbed up Machu Picchu. And I looked and saw the hard working, dedicated people in Lima.
And as faith would have it, and as God would have it, God put people in your life for a reason to help you manage the difficult challenges you were having. And I bumped into, as borough president, my first year, Gladys. And I saw, I saw that Peruvian energy. And when she told me she was from Peru, I said, you're the person I'm looking for. And she has managed and organized our office. But she also had a story that is often not told.
We're defined far too often by our dialect. Because of our fluency in the pronunciation of English words, people have a tendency to believe you do not have the academic and the intelligence to get things done. And I said we need to shatter that myth.
And Ydanis Rodriguez is the first Dominican to be in charge of the Department of Transportation, with his dialect, he still has the intellect to do the job. And over, and over again, the first Dominican deputy mayor. First Dominican deputy mayor, with her dialect and how she speaks, it shows her intelligence.
But what did we do in the process? We shattered the myth. Because being mayor is not only being the second mayor of color in the city. If I come alone, then I accomplish nothing. I must bring all of us together. This has been a city that has ignored groups.
We should not have to be the first mayor to invite the Peruvian community into Gracie Mansion. We should not have to be the first mayor to raise your flag at Bowling Green and many, many other ethnic groups who are part of this city.
Once we shatter the myth and once we kick open the doors of opportunities, we will take the doors off the hinges so they can never close again for any group in this city or in this country. That's what this is all about.
So when we celebrate you, we celebrate our diversity. We celebrate what we have to offer. We celebrate that all of you bring something to this great city. And this country is the only country that tells you, don't abandon your motherland as you embrace your adopted land. You are important to us.
And remember, America doesn't tell you to put America first. It says put your country first. I am an African-American. You're a Peruvian-American. A German is a German-American. A Caribbean is a Caribbean-American. I'm not American-African. I'm an African-American. You're not American-Peruvian. You are a Peruvian-American.
So never take away your culture, your food, your dance, your intellect, your spirit, your feistiness. Always be you. And don't ignore your rich history. Because I was blown away when I climbed to the top of Machu Picchu. Even when history is temporarily lost, when you go back and revisit how far advanced your culture is, and your children need to know that.
Yes, they should know about George Washington. Yes, they should know about President Lincoln. And they should know about other heroes and sheroes that’s part of the American experience. But they need to know about your culture. If all your children know is about what happened in America and not what happened in their motherland, that would be a tragedy of epic proportions. It can't happen.
That's what Hidden Voices is about. That is why we bring more cultures into our Department of Education. So when that child sits next to another child from another region of the globe, they can sit there with the same level of prowess that a child that is reared in America is sitting there for.
And so these are great moments and great opportunities. And I know people hear about the challenges and struggles that's happened all across the entire country, if not the entire globe. And they say that times are hard. But ask yourself, when were times not hard? When weren't we going through difficult situations? When weren't we trying to get through a moment?
Times are always hard. But life is easy when you believe in your faith. You cannot pray to God and then be afraid. If God is going to protect you on Sunday, he's going to be there on Monday. And he will never forsake or abandon you.
We're in the greatest city on the globe. New York. And New York City is the Lima of America. One of the largest Peruvian groups of people is here in New York City. And you bring so much to us. I'm proud to be the mayor of New York and the mayor of the Lima of America. Thank you so much.
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