What a wonderful morning for an inauguration, Ms. Mayor! Indeed, there was not a cloud in the sky when Breed, the first African-American woman to be elected to San Francisco’s highest office, took her oath at City Hall. Hundreds of supporters turned out for the occasion, including Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom, who led Breed’s swearing-in, and Third Baptist Church’s Reverend Amos C. Brown, who delivered a crowd-pleasing speech that balanced humor with poignancy, proclaiming that San Francisco, with its history of embracing diversity and social justice, was showing the rest of the nation “how to live.” Chiming in via a giant screen positioned next to the podium: Senators Kamala Harris and Dianne Feinstein, wishing Breed well. (Feinstein, of course, became the first female mayor of San Francisco in 1978). When Breed took the stage, she referenced her formative childhood in a Western Addition housing project, which has shaped her worldview and ambition to make a difference. “Together, we can build a San Francisco where the next generation of young people can go from public housing to the mayor’s office,” she said to her constituents, which included many young women of color seated in the front rows and snapping pictures. Also spotted enjoying the historic moment as well as a moving performance by the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus: former Mayor Willie Brown; Jennifer Siebel Newsom; Mary Beth Shimmon; Rabbi Beth Singer; Steve Bowdry; Charlotte Shultz; and an array of SF supervisors. Breed succeeds the city’s first Asian-American mayor, Ed Lee, who died suddenly last December.
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