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SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- San Francisco Mayor London Breed Friday urged all African Americans to register and vote so that their voices can be heard in U.S. politics, vowing to fight for their rights and their better future.

Addressing the kick-off celebrations of Black History Month, which began on Feb. 1, at City Hall in downtown San Francisco, Breed lashed out at the current political system in the United States, where "discrimination still exists" and African Americans are fired from their jobs more than anyone else.

She said San Francisco has a less than 6 percent population of African Americans, but among the people who are homeless on the street, 37 percent are African Americans.

Breed told the audience that many African American children are dropping out of high school, and many challenges including crime, homelessness and poverty among the blacks "continue to plague our community more than any other community, even in liberal San Francisco."

Citing local elections in November last year, when Breed was re-elected as the first African American woman mayor of San Francisco, she said, "it breaks my heart that in a city with less than 6 percent of an African American population ... less than about 7,000 African Americans turned out to vote."

By the end of 2017, San Francisco had a total population of 8.85 million, according to statistics released by the U.S. Census Bureau more than two years ago.

Breed said it's not enough to have an African American woman to serve the city as mayor. "We deserve better, and I will continue every single day as your mayor to fight for better."

She urged African Americans to come out and vote for their representation in political life, especially registering in the upcoming 2020 census so that they can be counted and represented.

The annual observance of "Black History Month" was first proposed by U.S. historian Carter Woodson in 1926 to fight for equality and freedom for African Americans.

Friday's celebrations at City Hall were organized by the San Francisco African-American Historical and Cultural Society.