Transcript: Mayor de Blasio Delivers Remarks at Funeral Service for Reverend Clarence Norman, Sr.

July 18, 2015

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

[Applause]

Brothers and sisters, it is well known that Pastor Norman not only wanted everyone to come together, but he wanted them to celebrate and not be filled with too may tears. Well, I think you have fulfilled his instructions here today – congratulations to all the beauty of this celebration.

I want to thank Clarence Jr. He’s been a friend now for almost a quarter-century. I want to thank him for his leadership. And Clarence, I think it’s easy to say this – your dad was so proud of what you did for the people of Brooklyn [inaudible]

[Applause]

Just like him, you broke some barriers and you showed us some new ways to do things. There’s a lot to be proud of. And I think we can safely say the beauty, the power, the impact of life – Reverend Dr. Clarence Normal Sr. came from many causes, many inspirations, many great attributes, and so much of it was also because he chose the right partner to walk through life with. And let us honor the First Lady of First Baptist –

[Applause]

Ellen, you are the love of his life, you were the rock. And in our household – because my first lady is here as well – in our –

[Applause]

In our household, we got rid of that old fashioned saying, behind every great man stands a great woman. We’ve replaced it with a more modern – beside every great man stands a great woman.

[Applause]

To, of course, Clarence Jr. – to Eddie, Beverly, Dawn, [inaudible] and Kendra; to the grandchildren, now great grandchildren; to all members of this extraordinary family, we can always say thank you for what you’ve done for all of us. The imprint that this family has made – you do not need to be a resident of Crown Heights to feel it. You don’t need to just be a Brooklynite to feel it. You could feel it all over this city – the impact this family has made, the impact this church has made. And I want to thank all of the clergy of this church, all the clergy who are here, all of the elected officials who are here – everyone who recognizes that this church has had a transcendent and so deeply positive impact. And we know it came from Pastor Norman, first and foremost. But it was not just because he said let me create an institution or build a building – he built a family. He built the deepest kind of family in a world grasping for family, for connection, for meaning, for purpose. 

This man created something for the ages with such consistency and strength. The people who have been a part of First Baptist know they are accepted and embraced as in the most beautiful of families. That is an achievement that few have reached. And it did not come easy. It was not a given, brothers and sisters. There was no plan that said this was inevitable. It started in his apartment with a small group of people. That fateful day in 1953 when then a very young man read from scripture to just 20 faithful gathered in a modest apartment. Do you think that neighborhood believe that all this would be possible? And yet, look at it. [inaudible] more than 2,000 strong now in this glorious church.

[Applause]

And generations upon generations of the same family built this church because they felt that warm welcome that pastor created. People came here for the word. They came here for the teachings. They came here for the insight, the uplight. They came here also to understand from him the right way to live – and we’ve seen it displayed in this last hour. 

We’ve seen what an example he is – a spiritual example, a human example, a leadership example. He uplifted people. And he did not just uplift them in the abstract – he didn’t just stand up here, preach a sermon, and go home. He uplifted them because every person mattered. Every person mattered. Every family mattered. 

In the scriptures, there’s an instruction to any great leader or minister: “Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.” Pastor did that. He was so connected to the people of this congregation. 

And he didn’t ever forget what you heard – that keen [inaudible], that keen ability to see. If you thought he might have forgotten your name, no – he remembered. Or if you thought he might miss that you weren’t here, oh no – he saw. He had that ability, and he knew when it was time to check-in to see if there was a problem, to see if he could [inaudible] with that helping hand. 

In that, he not only taught people to love God, he taught people to love each other. He taught people to love the very idea of community and believe it was alive and well. Anyone who spent time at this church – and Chirlane and I have been blessed to on many occasions – anyone who spent time here knew he was teaching us that community could exist, even amidst all of the challenges we face in the modern world. 

I know – we commented on this in our family – how lucky we feel in coming here. And pastor always [inaudible] feel welcome, to believe that we all could walk forward together. He encouraged so many of us who now are in public service – so many in this room – I need you to know how much he encouraged us, how much he told us to keep pressing forward, and how powerful his voice was – because it was a voice of such integrity, because we could believe in his voice, because his actions and his words were as one. 

Brothers and sisters, it is also something special in life when you have an “ism” named after you.

[Laughter]

And there are many Norman-isms, aren’t there?

And I want to just very quickly note a powerful one – “If you have a choice to be right or be kind, be kind.”

He had no lack of righteousness. He believed in justice, he fought for justice, he helped so many others fight for justice, but he also understood the fundamental power of community and kindness and inclusion, and reminded us that that was a part of our salvation in our time here on earth – to actually be kind to each other. And he showed us what it looked like.

People came to him – people with a lot of power and a lot of fame – but if you notice, it didn’t matter how quote-unquote “important” you were. He treated everyone the same. Kings and commoners, as they say, he treated the same. And that was something we all could see as a reminder to us of what a human family looks like. 

One member of this congregation said something I hope we all feel today – that this moment, he says, with all the teaching and the preaching, Pastor Norman is more alive than we know. He’s more alive than we even fully accounted for. He’s alive in all of our hearts and he’s teaching us right now – and he will continue to. 

So let’s live – live in his example. In fact, this is a day we’re going to remember for so many reasons, but I hope we also remember – let’s try to be as good as he was. Let’s try to live as he would have us live. Let’s try and see that high bar he set for us. He reached it – let’s believe that we can too. It is what I think he would’ve wanted us to do – to rejoice, to reach farther, to reach out to each other. 

Thank you, and God bless you all.

[Applause]