The Mayflower Hotel
Washington, D.C.
10:09 A.M. EST
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Good morning. (Laughs.) Good morning, everybody. (Applause.)
Good morning. Good morning. (Laughs.) Good morning, everyone. (Applause.)
Good morning. (Laughs.) (Applause.) Oh, good morning, NAN. Good morning to everyone. (Applause.) Please have a seat.
I — I heard everybody was hanging out this morning. I thought I'd come by and say hi. (Laughter.)
And mostly, I just wanted to come by to thank everybody, starting with our Reverend Sharpton.
For the truth tellers who are here, in the spirit of Dr. King and this day that we celebrate him — his birthday, January 15th — and every day, and the spirit with which he did what he did — Reverend Sharpton, you and the leaders of NAN live that legacy in every way that is important.
This is about soldiers who understand the importance of using our feet, praying, doing good works that are about lifting up the people — with a sense of optimism and purpose. Always, NAN, Reverend Sharpton, speaking truth, even when it is difficult to speak and more difficult to hear.
The leaders here understand, as I often say, that the true measure of the strength of a leader is not based on who you beat down. It is based on who you lift up. (Applause.)
I thank you for always lifting me up. But more importantly, I thank you for lifting up whole communities of people who must be seen and heard, and who deserve all the dignity that God gave them to be able to live a life that is productive and a life where they have a quality of life where they know how important they are and how powerful they are.
So, I came by to say thank you.
As you all know, I am a native Californian — born in Oakland, California. (Applause.) But I do want to speak about the California fires and the devastation that has occurred in southern California because of these most recent wildfires.
You know, communities like Altadena — you know, you're talking about generations of families that have lived there. Some of the first hardworking Black families who were able to buy property in California and then pass down those homes through generations. Many of those families who live in those homes and live intergenerationally within a block of each other, who have lost everything.
So, I want to speak about them. I know we pray for them.
But also, I — I've been thinking about it also in the context of what I saw when I was in North Carolina, when I talked to families in Georgia after, most recently, Hurricane Helene.
And so, NAN, as we move forward with this new year, one of the — the requests that I make of the leaders here is let's use the voice of NAN in a way that lifts up what these moments of tragedy and th- — these extreme weather events are doing to the communities that you have historically worked to uplift, because there are a couple things going on that I see as patterns.
One is this, and it's about what the insurance companies are not doing — (applause) — to extend coverage. They are canceling coverage, making it more difficult for young homeowners who are just first time buying their home, not even insuring them. And what that means to those families and whole communities with these predictable extreme weather events, which are increasing.
Climate change is real. We have long known that some of the communities that will be most devastated by them are communities of color, hardworking communities, Black folks — we know when we talk about the Gulf states. Right?
So, that's one issue. The other issue that these extreme weather events are highlighting but is a big issue for all of us to deal with is the rampant amount of mis- and disinformation that is transiting throughout communities and the work that we then must do to not only recognize that it's happening but figure out how we're going to jump into that stream of mis- and disinformation in a way that we, at the very least, can debate it based on the facts that we know to be true, in terms of what's happening on the ground, but also to rebut the sources of that mis- and disinformation because it often leads the people who NAN has historically worked for in a — in a place of despair and in a place of helplessness and hopelessness.
Again, using as the example extreme weather events, when people are being told, "Oh, there will be no FEMA response. Oh, you are not entitled to this or that." Or leading them astray with information that is misinformation about what they will be entitled to, which exceeds what it might be, and then they feel disappointed and they turn the whole system off.
So, I'm here to talk about these couple of things because they've just been on my mind in the last — (laughs) — week — but for quite some time.
But — but again, I'm going to just close my comments by saying this. This is an extraordinary group of leaders. And what Dr. King taught us — and — and the King family is here; you know I'm always quoting Coretta Scott King — (laughs) — ours is a journey. Ours is a journey.
And the fight that we are in, which is the fight to uplift the people, the fight for freedom, the fight for civil rights, the fight for dignity, the fight for human rights must be fought and won with each generation.
And what we know is that our definition of the win is the definition that takes us over a period of time, where part of how we measure the win is: Are we making progress? How we measure the win is based on the knowledge that it is an enduring fight and that we must be strong and that whatever the outcome of any particular moment, we can never be defeated. Our spirit can never be defeated, because when that happens, we won't win.
And as far as I know and am concerned, when I look at the group of leaders here, this is a group of winners. (Applause.) This is a group of winners. So, let's stay in the fight. Let's do what we got to do.
And, again, I thank you, NAN, for all that you have done for me and so many people who are not in this room.
Be blessed. Have a wonderful New Year. Thank you. (Applause.)
