Transcript: Mayor Adams Hosts Reception Celebrating African Heritage

September 14, 2023

Ama Dwimoh, Special Counsel to the Mayor: Thank you. Thank you, sister. Good evening, everybody! And welcome to Gracie Mansion, to our 110th mayor, his second African heritage event. As we begin our program, first and foremost, let me just say welcome and let me tell you a little bit about me.

You see, I am African. My father was from Ghana, West Africa, outside of Kumasi. We all know one thing for sure, jollof rice, is Ghana. They can talk about jollof in Nigeria or anywhere else, Senegalese, but in Ghana, the home of the jollof rice.

So anyway, I've been honored and I've been blessed because my father was, in fact, an immigrant, when he came to Ghana back in 1957, at the time when Ghana gained its independence.

My father came to this country, never been on an airplane. He flew over the seas with one suitcase, and he built an empire. He was able to do for his family. We brought our family from Ghana. He met my mother, who was an American, a Native American, an Indian, and you know what? They had me.

And you know what, it was his practice of medicine in the urban streets of Baltimore, bringing care to people who didn't have it, just like in the village. And you know what, it was because of the power of the Diaspora we are all here. So, I want to take this opportunity for everyone to always remember, you see, in our continent, we left as kings and queens, lost our crowns along the way when we were enslaved and we came into this country. But through time and change and the fact that you've got a mayor who's Eric Adams tells us the power of the Diaspora.

So, I tell my brothers and sisters, all from the continent of Africa, it's time to pick up your crowns. We've got work to do. We've got work to do in Africa.

We've got work to do in America. We have work to do in New York City. And we always must remember the importance of the immigrants. It is based on immigrants and each and every who have come to this country, the success of this country.

And lastly, in every single one of your bodies there's a DNA cell. It is about the cultural richness of where you come from, where we come from, where it all started, our continent.

So, ladies and gentlemen, I humbly introduce, and he will take the stage shortly, none other than my friend and our mayor, the 110th mayor of the city of New York, Eric Adams.

Deputy Commissioner Aissata Camara, Mayor's Office of International Affairs: That was a test. That was a test. Hi, it's me. That was a test. Who's ready for the mayor? All right. Well, you just have to hear me out just a little bit and then I'll bring him up, okay.

So, you've heard me speak but I didn't get a chance to introduce myself. Again, I am from the Republic of Guinea. I came to New York City when I was 13. All the Guineans in the house.

Good. And I've been working with the mayor, with the administration to promote the African community. And I just want to thank every single person that texts me from 6:00 AM to 11:00 PM to tell me what's going on with the community. I want to thank everyone that is always inviting me to events to speak about the mayor's commitment to the African community.

I want to make something clear for you. Mayor Eric Adams is dedicated to our community. He believes in our community and he wants to help our community. So what we have to do is we have to stand by the mayor. We have to pray for the mayor and we have to build with the mayor.

I can, as an African, an undocumented African, and today I stand as an American citizen and as someone that gets to represent New York City to the world.

This means that your dreams ‑‑ yes, my brothers and sisters ‑‑ your dreams can come true in New York City and it will come true in this administration. So, what we want you to do, my sister Ama and I, we want you to help us in welcoming the greatest mayor in the history of New York City, in the history of the U.S. and the world, mayor Eric Adams.

Mayor Eric Adams: How are you, Africans?

I just want to, first of all, thank my Sister Aissata and my long‑term friend Ama Dwimoh, these two African queens. We've got to pause for one moment because I want to give one of our honorees who must go to his opening, a real good brother, doing some good things, brother Marcus Samuelsson, come on up, Marcus, so we can give you...Marcus is opening a restaurant. He has been doing some amazing things in the spirit of the African Diaspora. And I just want to give him this proclamation so he can go on to open his establishment tonight.

Whereas, today's African heritage celebration provides all New Yorkers with a wonderful opportunity to deepen their understanding of African culture and stand in solidarity with our African sisters and brothers, together we look forward to the many ways in which African New Yorkers will continue to make a positive difference as we take bold steps to get stuff done and forge a brighter, safer future, Eric Adams, mayor of the City of New York, my good brother Marcus Samuelsson.

[Applause]

So before we get started with the rest of the program, I'm just going to come down and take some pictures with you.

Deputy Commissioner Camara: The mayor is in the house.

Mayor Adams: All right, all right. I had to get some of that African energy, you know?

You know, I had to get some of that African energy because you know, when we get ready to go into battle, we know how to do that thing, you know? We know how to do that thing. And we know, as I walked among you, I felt the energy of the ancestors.

All of our energy coming together from all the parts of Africa. There's never been a mayor in the City of New York that has been on Africa as much as your brother Eric Adams.

From North Africa, Morocco, going down in Nigeria, to Senegal, to the Ivory Coast, to Ghana, to South Africa, going all the way up into Egypt, all over the continent, I have been there, and I know the power of the continent of Africa.

And I also know what this moment represents because if you look at the historical analysis that many, many, many years ago we were ripped from the bosom of Africa and we came here in the hulls of slave ships engulfed in slavery, but when I went back to Ghana, I went back with the mayoralty of the most powerful country and the most powerful city on the globe.

You cannot accomplish that task without the ancestors looking down on you and lifting you up and covering you and protecting you! And I say to you, who's under this tent, I say to my cousins and my uncles and my aunties and my brothers and my sisters, we are finally united together. Up, you African people, you can be what you will!

This is our moment to reunite the continent of Africa. This is our moment to no longer allow the natural resources of Africa to be exploited by those who are not from the continent of Africa.

We need to be in control of our cocoa, of our diamonds, of our gold, of our coffee, of all the natural resources that Africa has to possess. We need to be the leaders in technology. We need to be the leader in medicine and water purification. We should not be fleeing the continent. We should be lifting up the continent and showing the strength of the African continent.

We must use this moment and opportunity. As your mayor, I am going to continue to bring together the power of the African Diaspora. We raise the African union flag for the first time at Bowling Green to show how we are unified together.

And when you look at the large number of Africans who are here, we must leave here tonight knowing each other. If you're from Nigeria, reach out to your brother from the Ivory Coast. If you're from the Ivory Coast, reach out to your brother from South Africa. If you're from South Africa, reach out to your brother from Ghana and Senegal.

We must know each other because there may be many countries on the continent, there's still only one Africa.

There's only one Africa. The cradle of civilization. The cradle of mankind. The cradle of technology. The cradle of first school system. The cradle of understanding and knowledge and wisdom. It is time for us to regain our rightful place on the throne of knowledge, independence and strength and viability. That's what this moment represents.

And so I thank you for what you have done and what you will do. Let's continue to lift up ourselves together during these times. You are what makes us great, and we know the alliances that we're forging will last a lifetime. Let's continue to build and use this moment as the first celebration in Gracie Mansion of the African Diaspora. We are saying this may be the first but it will not be the last. We will do it as long as I'm the mayor of the city of New York. You will be here to celebrate the African Diaspora.

We want to honor some of the great people here and sister will bring them up, some of the great Africans as we give them their due now.

Deputy Commissioner Camara: Let's hear it for Mayor Eric Adams. Let's hear it for him again. How lucky are we to have in Africa in Gracie Mansion. How lucky are we? We're lucky.

So now we're going to be honoring Dr. Jane Kani Edward for all the work that she has been doing for the African community.

And the next person that we are going to honor is Imam Omar Niass for all the work he's been doing to help with the asylum crisis and to help with our African brothers and sisters.

Mayor Adams: It's all good. All good. We want to bring up to say a few words our Deputy Secretary General Amina Mohammad.

Deputy Secretary General Amina Mohammad, United Nations: Thank you so much. Hello, New York! Africa in the room?

[Applause]

Nigeria in the room?

[Applause]

I didn't hear you, Nigeria in the room?

Thank you so very much, Mayor Adams, for this honor, and I'm truly humbled to have received it from my brothers and my sisters, but much more importantly, we need to be really, really, really proud of having an African in this house. So thank you.

At the United Nations, Africa is front and center, and I can say that because as the number two of the United Nations, the highest African woman for civil service in the world. So be proud of that office we hold. Use it. The UN is yours. Africa is at the center. Africa has a new narrative. It is not following the narrative of those who came before us. We are crafting our way, our path. We are setting our own narrative.

So, be with us this week in the UN at the global African initiative, be with us as Africans stand tall and chart the way for a better future. Thank you.

Deputy Commissioner Camara: And now the mayor is giving to the Deputy Secretary General Amina Mohammad a citation for all the work she's done on behalf of the African people. Let's give some love to the Deputy Secretary General Amina Mohammad. Here's the mayor once more.

Mayor Adams: So we had a terrible natural disaster in Morocco and Libya, so we're just going to take a moment of silence and let our positive energy go out to Morocco and Libya. If you are standing next to someone talking, ask them, just give us a moment of silence, a moment of silence, brother. Shhh. A moment of silence for Morocco and Libya.

[Moment of silence]

Thank you so much. Love you.