[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]
ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT.
ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT. SETTLE DOWN, SETTLE DOWN.
>> I AM AT A LOSS FOR WORDS FOR
THE FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE.
>> WE LOVE YOU. >> I LOVE YOU TOO.
>> I LOVE YOU TOO.
>> I AM HERE MARINE CORPS,
MOTIVATED, DEDICATED.
SO I AM HERE BECAUSE OF YOU.
I AM HERE BECAUSE YOU VOTED FOR
ME, I AM HERE BECAUSE YOU PUT
YOUR TRUST IN ME THAT IS THE
ONLY REASON I’M HERE. THANK YOU.
THANK YOU.
I’VE GOT MY SPEECH.
I WANT TO INTRODUCE TO YOU MY
HUSBAND, HARRIS.
HE IS ANOTHER MARINE.
MY DAUGHTER, TOSHA.
AND MY OTHER DAUGHTER DONAL.
I’M TELLING YOU, THAT WHAT YOU
ARE LOOKING AT IS THE AMERICAN
DREAM.
THE AMERICAN DREAM.
WHEN MY FATHER CAME TO THIS
COUNTRY AUGUST THE 11TH OF 1963,
HE CAME AT THE HEIGHT OF THE
CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT FROM
JAMAICA.
HE CAME, AND I SAID TO HIM IT
WAS SUCH A BAD TIME FOR US WHY
DID YOU COME, AND HE SAID BECAUSE AMERICA WAS WHERE THE
BECAUSE AMERICA WAS WHERE THE JOBS AND THE OPPORTUNITIES WERE.
JOBS AND THE OPPORTUNITIES WERE.
AND HE ONLY CAME WITH $1.75.
$1.75.
TOOK ANY JOB HE COULD FIND AND
HE PUT HIMSELF THROUGH SCHOOL
AND STARTED HIS AMERICAN DREAM
AND NOW HE IS COMFORTABLY
RETIRED AND THEN HE CAME AND GOT
ME WHEN I WAS SIX YEARS OLD.
WHEN I STEPPED ON THAT PAN AM BOEING 737 AND LANDED AT JFK, I
BOEING 737 AND LANDED AT JFK, I
LANDED IN A NEW WORLD.
SO LET ME TELL YOU THIS, I AM
NOT EVEN FIRST GENERATION
AMERICAN, WHEN I JOINED THE
MARINE CORPS I WAS STILL A
JAMAICAN, BUT THIS COUNTRY HAS
DONE SO MUCH FOR ME, I WAS WILLING, WILLING TO DIE FOR THIS
WILLING, WILLING TO DIE FOR THIS
COUNTRY.
USA.
>> USA.
USA.
>> END SO I SAY TO YOU, VICTORY
INDEED.
BUT I SAY TO YOU, THERE ARE SOME
WHO WANT TO DIVIDE US AND WE
MUST NOT LET THAT HAPPEN.
THEY WOULD LIKE US TO BELIEVE WE
ARE BACK IN 1963 WHEN MY FATHER
CAME.
WE CAN LIVE WHERE WE WANT, WE
CAN EAT WHERE WE WANT, WE OWN
THE WATER FOUNTAINS.
WE HAVE HAD A BLACK PRESIDENT ELECT, NOT ONCE, BUT TWICE, AND
ELECT, NOT ONCE, BUT TWICE, AND
HERE I AM LIVING PROOF.
IN CASE YOU HAVEN’T NOTICED, I
AM BLACK, AND I HAVE BEEN BLACK
ALL MY LIFE. BUT THAT’S NOT WHAT THIS IS
BUT THAT’S NOT WHAT THIS IS
ABOUT.
WHAT WE ARE GOING TO DO, IS WE
ARE GOING TO NOW BE ABOUT THE
BUSINESS OF THE COMMONWEALTH.
WE HAVE THINGS TO TEND TO.
WE ARE GOING TO FULLY FUND OUR
HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGES AND
UNIVERSITIES.
YOU ARE GOING TO HEAR FROM YOUR
GOVERNOR ELECT GLENN YOUNGKIN,
AND HE HAS GOT A DAY ONE PLAN
THAT I’M ALREADY TIRED ABOUT.
I DON’T KNOW HOW WE’RE GOING TO
MAKE IT TODAY TO.
BUT HE IS GOING TO MAKE SURE WE
KEEP MORE OF OUR MONEY IN OUR
POCKETS BECAUSE HE’S GOING TO
GET RID OF ALL KINDS OF TAXES.
WE ARE GOING TO HAVE SAFER
NEIGHBORHOODS, SAFER COMMUNITIES
, AND OUR CHILDREN ARE GOING TO GET A GOOD
ARE GOING TO GET A GOOD
EDUCATION.
BECAUSE EDUCATION LIFTED MY
FATHER OUT OF POVERTY, EDUCATION
LIFTED ME OUT OF POVERTY,
EDUCATION LIFTS US ALL OUT OF
POVERTY BECAUSE WE MUST HAVE
MARKETABLE SKILLS SO OUR
CHILDREN CAN NOT JUST SURVIVE, BUT THEY WILL THRIVE.
BUT THEY WILL THRIVE.
THAT’S WHAT THIS IS ABOUT. EIGHT IS A HISTORIC NIGHT,
EIGHT IS A HISTORIC NIGHT, HE
HAS IT IS, BUT I DIDN’T RUN TO
MAKE HISTORY, I JUST WANTED TO
LEAVE IT BETTER THAN I FOUND IT.
AND WITH YOUR HELP, WE ARE GOING
TO DO THAT WE ARE GOING TO HAVE
TRANSPARENT GOVERNMENT IN IS I
USED TO SAY WHEN WE WERE ON THE
TRAIL, HOLD ON, VIRGINIA, HELP
IS ON THE WAY.
THE CALVARY HAS ARRIVED.
THANK YOU. GOD BLESS YOU.
GOD BLESS YOU.
AND FINALLY, AND FINALLY I WANT
TO THANK MY STAFF BECAUSE I
COULDN’T HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT
THEM, WE WERE A RAGTAG BUNCH OF
PEOPLE.
WE RAN AN IMPOSSIBLE IMPROBABLE
CAMPAIGN.
AGAIN, GOD WAS EXACTLY WITH US,
OTHERWISE WE WOULD NEVER HAVE
MADE IT AND SO I WANT TO FINISH
UP BY THANKING YOU JESUS, HOW SWEET IT IS.
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]