Transcript: Mayor de Blasio Delivers Remarks at Commission of Religious Leaders Interfaith Worship Service

July 14, 2015

Mayor de Blasio: First, I want to give honor to God. Without him this day would not be possible.

[Applause]

Brothers and sisters, I can say that phrase – and we’re all feeling together. We’re all feeling as brothers and sisters tonight, as we should, as we must. It’s been nearly a year since the heartbreaking loss of Eric Garner. And eight months ago, we stood in this very church together, and then we all offered our condolences; we all offered our support. And I want to offer it again to the Garner family.

I want you to know, all of you, what Cardinal O’Connor – Cardinal O’Connor, I’m sorry – Cardinal Dolan – I’m going back in time.

[Laughter]

What Cardinal Dolan said is right. People all over the city, people all over this nation have felt closeness to you. And so, it is profoundly sad that that closeness has come through grief, but still people have felt family with you. So we mourn with you tonight. And we pray that you have found some peace amidst this struggle. This has come against the backdrop across our nation. Tragedy after tragedy – we have felt this tragedy at home the most deeply. But we’re all affected by the times we’re living in. It’s been a long cold season of sorrow, but we remember that seasons change. Now, in every sense summer has come. We feel its warmth. We feel its warmth in the air outside this sanctuary tonight. We feel the warmth in here because we are together. And we are healing together.

We saw a depth of warmth and understanding that was almost impossible in its [inaudible] from our brothers and sisters in Charleston in the aftermath of unspeakable tragedy. We saw something that uplifted us at a moment when we thought it least possible. They showed us all something about reconciliation and grace. And it’s a beacon to us. So tonight, let’s embrace that warmth; let’s embrace that unity. Let it fill us up with a spirit of hope. Let’s hope again. Let’s believe again in each other. And we can indeed look to scripture for guidance. The scripture commands us be strong and of good courage – be not afraid. Brothers and sisters, it actually takes courage to believe we can walk a path together. It takes courage to overcome the division – decades even centuries of division. It takes courage to believe something new, but you can see it around you tonight. You can see the possibilities. We are the ones who get to write a new chapter – a new chapter for every community – people of every faith; a new chapter in the relationship between our police and our communities. And that will make us a better people. That will make us a more just city. It will make us a safer city.

I have to take a moment to thank some of the people here, very quickly. Bishop Brown, you’re not only our host – and we thank you and the first lady, but in the aftermath of tragedy you were a rock; you were an example. Let us thank Bishop Brown for all he has done.

[Applause]

You’ve heard from Dr. Bernard; you’ve heard from Cardinal Dolan; you’ve heard from Reverend Sharpton about the power of faith leaders coming together through the Commission of Religious Leaders. This is something very good for this city – the warmth among the leaders of so many people of faith. I want to thank all of the leaders of CORL who are here tonight.

[Applause]

I want to thank all members of the clergy who have joined with is. We depend on you every day in every neighborhood. And every day in every neighborhood we depend on the men and women of the NYPD. And I want to thank the leaders of the NYPD.

[Applause]     

We all minister in different ways, don’t we?

And we thank our elected officials who were shepherds as well – our Public Advocate Tish James; our Comptroller Scott Stringer; our Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito. And two women I just have to note because I remember so vividly these days – in the aftermath of tragedy and pain there are two women who distinguished themselves by reaching out – transcending, again, that role of elected official, and being pastors in their own right – Councilmember Debi Rose and Councilmember Vanessa Gibson.

Thank you both.

[Applause] 

I’ll be brief. I’ve been to enough services to know when a minister says he’ll be brief that is not a guarantee.

[Laughter]

But, I will be brief. The root – the roots of the problem we are overcoming together. They are deep. They’re historic. They’re painful.  They’re challenging, but that doesn’t stop us.

Harrowing incidents that could create an impossible and impassable boundary don’t stop us. It’s been difficult, sometimes, for people to find each other. It’s been difficult, sometimes, for police and community to come together. But it’s all of our mission to overcome that.

We do that because it is right. We do that because it’s what was meant to be. We do that so no family should have to go through this pain again.

And that will take work. That will take change. That will take reform. But the kind of change we seek is not just through policies and laws. It’s in the hearts of people.

It’s at the grassroots where real change occurs. It’s neighborhood by neighborhood. It’s house by house. It’s apartment by apartment. That’s where the real and lasting bond between police and community will be forged – will be forged.

I have believed this always, but I have never believed it more than in the last year, even with the pain. I believe it so much more deeply because it is that much more necessary.

So, we’re beginning a new era. We announced some important things recently, and we announced them with a message. We said the vision now is “One City: Safe and Fair – Everywhere,” for everyone.

[Applause]

And those are lofty ideas, but we mean them as our own roadmap. People have rarely progressed without lofty ideas that they actually sought to put into action.

We’re going to give our officers a chance to truly get to know the people they serve, to truly bond with them. We’re going to give the people of neighborhoods a chance to see – beyond that uniform is a man and woman who is here to serve.

[Applause]

It will become common for officers to know the clergy, the shopkeepers, the parents. It will be like the village we all we come from in our ancestral past – where there were guardians, and we knew our guardians, and we honored them. And they knew us.

Our officers will learn our communities deeply. And this will be something different, and it will something better. And it will build a trust that we’ve dreamed of before, but we’ve never seen – we’ve never touched.

And when we work hand in hand, we will stop trouble. We will stop crime. We will stop pain and tragedy before it ever happens.

Brothers and sisters, Eric Garner did not die in vain. His life mattered. It mattered to these good people of his family. It mattered to his community. And it came to matter deeply to his city and his nation. And we all started thinking about things a little differently.

And I want to use a phrase that we did not hear as much in all the discourse, but we should say it because it’s evident tonight – all lives matter.

[Applause]

And because we are grappling with a challenging past, it’s also important to yet again say a phrase that should be self-evident, that should not need to be said. But until we make more progress, we will say it again – black lives matter.

[Applause]

And we add, as you’ve heard referenced tonight, we’ve lost good people. We lost some good young men wearing a uniform to protect us. Also we should say – blue lives matter.

[Applause]

No one is pretending that we will travel this course overnight, or that it will always be easy. But we know it’s a journey we must go on together. And each step forward builds – builds upon the last and toward a future together – where safer streets come from stronger bonds among all the people of this city.

That is what we are determined to do. It’s driven by hope. Change is driven by hope. No matter how much despair, no matter how much frustration – those attributes don’t lead to change. Hope leads to change. And it’s in our hearts.

Let’s build that hope on every corner, on every block, in every school of this city. Let’s walk that path together.