♪♪
This is not in my notes.
But I have to tell you this before I dig in
deep about this beautiful work that you are doing
for this city.
You these organizations and our investment strategy is working.
Before I say that, I got to tell you why
that Curtis Mayfield is special to me.
When I was growing up at a time when, back in the seventies,
the world was much like it is today,
racial discourse, a war we didn't understand,
income inequality, all kinds of things were going on.
And Curtis Mayfield actually changed my life.
And I listen to a lot of his music
and he’d come up with this one song
called “No Thing on Me” and and talked about drugs
being saturated in the Black community.
And I talked about I was always naturally high,
so I stayed again, stay away from this kind of stuff.
And I saw it was doing to our community.
So when I became married and I got to tell you this,
not in my notes, and so just indulge me.
When I started a young family,
I reached out to Curtis Mayfield,
and all my friends knew I had Curtis
Mayfield posters in my room, and I just adored his philosophy.
So I reached out to him, wrote a long letter, says
now that I'm married and have kids of my own,
they're going to know your music, blah, blah, blah.
He'd had an accident, as you may recall,
for those who remember Curtis Mayfield. He was in a wheelchair.
And I told my best friend, his brother lives in D.C.
and I say, man I finally wrote Curtis Mayfield.
So three days later, I got a call
and I was practicing law in a company.
And he said, Hey, Curtis Mayfield's on the telephone.
I said, Yeah, right.
That's my friend Kirby.
Tell Curtis I will call him back.
And I went to my.
Those are the days we had
landlines those days.
Remember those days?
And I listened to my recorder
and it was actually Curtis Mayfield.
And he left me a long message and how my letter touched him.
And so I got my notes again and I called him back.
And from that, a friendship developed
the lasted years where I say that before he passed away.
And I let him know
that through my work, Curtis Mayfield would live on.
And that is why I asked my brother and friend, the DJ,
to play Curtis Mayfield when I came up here.
That was not coincidental.
Now back
to my recorded, prepared remarks.
I'm actually honored to stand with you.
I have a few notes.
I want to stay sort of scripted here
in 2022.
I won't take credit because there's no credit from from me.
I think that royal alley-barnes and the Arts
and Cultural Organization and you all in 2022,
we sort of rewrote
what we're trying to do from Civic Partners to Centering
the Arts on Racial Equity.
And it was the ideas that come from the community.
You are awesome.
We will invest and continue to invest.
We have about 5.7 million over a few years and 241
organizations, and I believe with all of my heart
that as we deal with these toughest issues in this city
and what is tough to you, whether it's coming out of
COVID, whether it's cancer recovery,
whether it's homelessness and housing craziness,
whether it's the fentanyl poison that's being flooded
into our city, whether it's mental illness, drug and alcohol
treatment, whatever the issues are you're dealing with,
it will be our common voice of unity
and love through the arts that will express our pain
and express our love.
And contrary to what to popular belief, I can't sing.
I can't dance,
but I have an appreciation for the culture.
And when I had run for office in a competitive race,
I said, It
will be through the arts community
that will help us get out of this hole that’ we’re in.
And this is why this is
one of the best investments a city can make.
It's in you and the organizations you represent.
So thank you for being here.
So and if I threw a party
and I invited everyone I knew
you would see the biggest gift from me.
You remember the Golden Girl song
and a card attached would say thank you for being a friend
to the city of Seattle
because you will help us get through this.
Now, I tell you, this job that I was crazy enough to sign
up for
that I can't do this alone.
I will work my tail off.
I will read every book,
go to every seminar I've probably been in
in the last five weeks.
I've been to Iceland, Norway, Japan, Korea, you name it.
I'm there.
And I'm there because my federal government
is asking me to serve and do certain things
because I need this country to understand
the magic here in Seattle is you.
The magic in Seattle
is a company that could look beyond my race demographics.
I mean, many of you know, I, I, I,
I like how people identify me.
So he's the he's the first Asian mayor, the second Black mayor.
I don't know what I am.
I'll tell you what, I'm just here for you to serve.
And when I talk about the issue of centering race it’s
because I watched it as an outsider being biracial.
And what astounds me was some level of profundity
when I talk is we're having sometimes the same discussion.
We had 300 years
go 200 years ago, dare I say, when I was a teenager.
The same discussion is when we focus on race.
We're not listening to one another.
The brother that talked about us
all, looking at ourselves as being Indigenous,
that I have an appreciation for race.
You know, I married a Black woman from Washington, D.C.
so, you know, I get an earful every night
about institutional racism and microaggressions and
and what people have to go through.
I have a lot of people
than LGBTQ community around me or in my family.
And we talk about it.
I talk about the intersectionality
in race and gender.
I mean, all of these divisions
and the obvious one being race, that we cannot
we can no longer, as a country become divided on the issue,
fight for your your your, your cultural identity.
But it has to lead to a path of commonality.
And that's why I'm so proud that
I think for the first time of our years
that the average award to Native American Indigenous peoples,
I think as well this is significant.
I have this statistic here.
Let me just I don't want to slaughter
that important data point.
[Humming] Thank you for being a friend.
I don't know.
I just can't get out of my mind here.
But there you go.
That's my sister singing helping me out right there.
In this cycle of C.A.R.E grant funding, 60% of funding dollars
are going to a path going towards BIPOC
and BIPOC-progressing organizations.
For the first time, Indigenous organizations
receiving the highest average grant and 34% of the fund
for BIPOC organization are going toward black organizations.
Now let's give that a hand.
Yeah,
and Kathy Kathy Hsieh
at the Arts and Culture Investment Strategy.
We love the work you did.
We love what you stand for.
You are a tireless champion
in fighting for this equitable framework.
royal, your organization demonstrated what we can do
and what when we're working together.
I close by saying, when I talk about One Seattle,
I'll take my hits all day long, baby.
Let me tell you that I'll take them all day long.
When I talk about that, that I'm sick and tired of us fighting,
I could punch down all day.
I'm in a very powerful position.
I could punch down at people all day.
You don't know my battle scars for me to be able to
look at you in the face with a level of confidence.
You know, a lot of this comes from a position of pain,
a lot of this comes from a position of being a position
of being excluded.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
And every single day I wake up
and I pray for wisdom.
I pray for warriors around me that have the same north star
that we will overcome this together.
We will changed
the conversation in this city, which will
change the conversation in this country.
We cannot do it alone. We are creatures
of faith and love and that is sustainable.
And that's why this investment strategy should be sustainable.
Way after I'm dust.
Thank you for your work.
Thank you for being part of this community
and I'm there for you. Thank you very much.
One Seattle [Applause]
Let's hear it for our mayor.
He can't sing, but he's a pretty good mayor.
Let's hear it one more time.
[Applause]
In every administration,
there's that person who holds it all together
because they have wisdom, they have compassion,
and they have an innate knowledge of cultural humility.
I like to introduce to you Chief Samuels, Jennifer Samuels,
who is the Chief People Officer and Chief Administrator
for the mayor's office.
Chief Samuels?
Director royal alley-barnes.
Thank you so much for that introduction.
And but please, next time, don't
don't schedule me after the mayor.
No, I cannot sing.
But so thank you so much for allowing me
to have an opportunity to say a few words
during this historic event.
I truly want to echo
the words of the mayor that the best investment
that the city has made is right here in
this room and
the community,
the organizations represented in this room
truly embody the spirit of One Seattle.
So I just want to say thank you for stepping up
and serving
to make a difference in your city.
Each of you are being recognized because you demonstrate
your collective commitment
to revitalizing the arts and culture sector.
One artist, one program,
one organization at a time.
And for that, we thank you.
We are bringing together
together all of us, each of you.
We are bringing together individuals from various
backgrounds, including different cultures,
different races, religions and socioeconomic status.
You are creating space
for a diverse range of perspectives.
This diversity enriches
discussions and encourages
a more inclusive environment.
And we are so grateful to you
for what you have done and will do for the next three years.
Have contracts been signed?
Yes. Contracts have been signed.
So as I reflect
on my family's history and journey and my husband's
history, he's of Jamaican descent.
It is just amazing to me
the profound significance of this moment
really means so much to me personally.
And when you focus on centering racial equity,
it really helps all of us
as we stand united as one.
After all, our diversity is our strength.
And by working together, we are shaping a better
and brighter future for our city.
One Seattle.
[Applause]
I'm not going off script.
We are looking at the script of life.
I would like Kathy Hsieh to come forward.
[Applause]
There's a lot of chatter
about what the public sector employee does.
Whenever you hear that, remember Kathy Hsieh.
Kathy?
Thank you so much.
I wasn't told I was going to speak,
so I don't have anything prepared.
But more than anything else, I am always
so inspired by the work that all of you do.
I know as cultural arts workers, you put your heart
and passion into it.
Because we're definitely not doing it for the money.
You're all doing it because you believe and understand
and have been transformed yourself
through the power that arts and culture has
and making an impact in centering humanity and love
and the youth of the future in all that we do.
And so from the bottom of all of our hearts,
we really, really could not lead the city
without having all of you as our cultural partners
in this work.
Thank you for the heart and passion
that you put into your work every single day.
You are the bright star that makes Seattle what it is.
Thank you.
Thank you so.
Thank you, Kathy.
The mayor was talking about our north star.
And I'm going to be so bold as to say
I think we're building a constellation.
I'd also like to introduce if there are any council members
who may have come in, any council members,
other elected officials who've joined us.
I don't see any hands.
I do want to introduce Deputy Director Maritza Rivera.
Are you still with us?
Deputy?
I am.
Yes, I am taller than her.
Thank you.
You know, I don't have anything to add to
all of the amazing comments that we've heard today,
except for one thing, and that is life is art.
Keeping the artist in the forefront,
artists everywhere is how we have art everywhere.
Thank you all so much.
royal
alley-barnes took over the Office
of Arts and Culture about two years ago and
took the helm at one of the most, as you well
know, challenging times in our city's history
and in the world's history.
But the impact on the arts and culture community
was devastating.
And as she took over and got funds into the community,
she has led this office admirably.
And although I've only been here seven days, I've been with
I've been with the city for a while.
And actually I was
a part of the comms team as
she as the previous mayor, as she took the interim role.
So I'd like to invite royal up, please, as we can honor her
for her last event as interim director.
[Applause]