Hi, everybody. Congratulations to HBCU class of 2020. Michelle and I are so proud of you.
Graduating from college is a big achievement under any circumstances. And so many of you overcame a lot to get here. You navigated challenging classes, and challenges outside the classroom. Many of you had to stretch to afford tuition. And some of you are the first in your families to reach this milestone.
So even if half of this semester was spent at Zoom University, you』ve earned this moment. You should be very proud. Everybody who supported you along the way is proud of you – parents, grandparents, professors, mentors, aunties, uncles, brothers, sisters, cousins, second cousins, and cousins who you aren’t even sure are cousins. Show them some gratitude today.
Now look, I know this isn’t the commencement any of you really imagined. Because while our HBCUs are mostly known for an education rooted in academic rigor, community, and higher purpose – they also know how to turn up. Nobody shines quite like a senior on the yard in springtime. Springfest at schools like Howard and Morehouse is the time when you get to strut your stuff a little bit. And I know that in normal times, rivals like Grambling and Southern, Jackson State and Tennessee State, might raise some eyebrows at sharing a graduation ceremony.
But these aren’t normal times. You’re being asked to find your way in the world in the middle of a devastating pandemic and terrible recession. The timing is not ideal. And let’s be honest – a disease like this just spotlights the underlying inequalities and extra burdens that black communities have historically had to deal with in this country. We see it in the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on our communities, just as we see it when a black man goes for a jog, and some folks feel like they can stop and question and shoot him if he doesn’t submit to their questioning.
Injustice like this isn’t new. What is new is that so much of your generation has woken up to the fact that the status quo needs fixing; that the old ways of doing things don’t work; that it doesn’t matter how much money you make if everyone around you is hungry and sick; and that our society and democracy only works when we think not just about ourselves, but about each other.
More than anything, this pandemic has fully, finally torn back the curtain on the idea that the folks in charge know what they’re doing. A lot of them aren’t even pretending to be in charge.
If the world’s going to get better, it’s going to be up to you. With everything suddenly feeling like up for grabs, this is your time to seize the initiative. Nobody can tell you anymore that you should be waiting your turn. Nobody can tell you anymore 「this is how it’s always been done.」 More than ever, this is your moment – your generation’s world to shape.
In taking on this responsibility, I hope you are bold. I hope you have a vision that isn’t clouded by cynicism or fear. As young African Americans, you』ve been exposed, earlier than some, to the world as it is. But as young HBCU grads, your education has also shown you the world as it ought to be.
Many of you could have attended any school in this country. But you chose an HBCU – specifically because it would help you sow seeds of change. You chose to follow in the fearless footsteps of people who shook the system to its core – civil rights icons like Thurgood Marshall and Dr. King, storytellers like Toni Morrison and Spike Lee. You chose to study medicine at Meharry, and engineering at NC A&T, because you want to lead and serve.
And I’m here to tell you that you made a good choice. Whether you realize it or not, you』ve got more roadmaps, more role models, and more resources than the civil rights generation did. You』ve got more tools, technology, and talents than my generation did. No generation has been better positioned to be warriors for justice and remake the world.
Now, I’m not going to tell you what to do with all that power that’s in your hands. Many of you are already using it so well to create change. But let me offer three pieces of advice as you continue on your journey.
First, make sure you ground yourself in actual communities with real people – working at the grassroots level. The fight for equality and justice begins with awareness, empathy, passion, even righteous anger. Don’t just activate yourself online. Change requires strategy, action, organizing, marching, and voting in the real world like never before. No one is better positioned than this class of graduates to take that activism to the next level. And from tackling health disparities to fighting for criminal justice and voting rights, so many of you are already doing this. Keep on going.
Second, you can’t do it alone. Meaningful change requires allies in common cause. As African Americans, we are particularly attuned to injustice, inequality, and struggle. But that also should make us more alive to the experiences of others who』ve been left out and discriminated against. So rather than say what’s in it for me or what’s in it for my community and to heck with everyone else, stand up for and join up with everyone who’s struggling – whether immigrants, refugees, the rural poor, the LGBTQ community, low-income workers of every background, women who so often are subject to their own discrimination and burdens and not getting equal pay for equal work; look out for folks whether they are white or black or Asian or Latino or Native American. As Fannie Lou Hamer once said, 「nobody’s free until everybody’s free.」 And on the big unfinished goals in this country, like economic and environmental justice and health care for everybody, broad majorities agree on the ends. That’s why folks with power will keep trying to divide you over the means. Because that’s how nothing changes. You get a system that looks out for the rich and powerful and nobody else. So expand your moral imaginations, build bridges, and grow your allies in the process of bringing about a better world.
Finally, as HBCU graduates, you have to remember that you are inheritors of one of America’s proudest traditions. Which means you’re all role models now – whether you like it or not. Your participation in this democracy, your courage to stand up for what’s right, your willingness to forge coalitions – these actions will speak volumes. And if you are inactive, that will also speak volumes. Not just to the young folks coming up behind you – but to your parents, your peers, and the rest of the country. They need to see your leadership – you’re the folks we』ve been waiting for to come along.
That’s the power you hold. The power to shine brightly for justice, for equality, and for joy. You』ve earned your degree. And it’s up to you to use it. So many of us believe in you. I’m so proud of you. And as you set out to change the world, we』ll be the wind at your back.
Congratulations Class of 2020, and God bless you all.
大家好。Aniyah，感謝您的精彩介紹。我為您在歐巴馬基金會期間所做的一切感到自豪。
當然，對即將畢業的2020級，我不能為你們所有人感到更驕傲，你們的老師、教練、以及最重要的是引導你前進的父母和家人都為你們感到驕傲。
在任何情況下，畢業都是一項重大成就。你們當中有些人必須克服各種嚴重的障礙，無論是生病，父母失去工作，還是住在人們經常把你拒之門外的社區中。除了成長過程中常見的挑戰，你們所有人都必須應對社交媒體帶來的更大壓力、學校槍擊事件的報導、以及氣候變化的陰影。然後，就像你即將慶祝成功一樣，就像你一直期待著畢業舞會和典禮，說實話還有一堆派對，而現在受到全球大流行性病影響整個世界都處於顛覆狀態。而且，我當然肯定，你們愛父母，但我敢打賭，與父母呆在一起，玩棋盤遊戲或在電視上看Tiger King並不是你們對畢業前最後幾個月的預期。
現在，我對您說實話，缺少現場畢業典禮的失望，這些很快就會過去。我不太記得自己高中畢業的時候。我知道不必坐在那裡聽演講，這不是很糟糕-我的經歷是演講通常會持續太久。而且，並不是很多人都喜歡這些帽子，特別是如果你有像我這樣的大耳朵。一旦迫在眉睫的公共衛生危機結束，你們將有足夠的時間與朋友保持聯繫。
但是，真正的事實是，畢業標誌著你們進入成年，這是你們開始掌控自己的生活的時刻。當你們決定對自己重要的事情時：你們想要從事的職業。你們想與誰建立家庭。你們想賴以生存的價值觀。鑑於目前的世界狀況，這可能有點嚇人。
如果你們打算去上大學，那麼秋天就到校園裡上學，這已不再是一定的了。如果你們打算在上學時工作，那麼找到第一份工作將變得更加艱難。即使是相對富裕的家庭也面臨著巨大的不確定性。那些曾經在掙扎中的人們，他們更困難。
所有這些意味著你們將必須比某些世代成長更快。這種大流行病動搖了現狀，暴露出我國許多深層次的問題，從嚴重的經濟不平等、持續的種族差距、到缺乏為需要它的人提供基本醫療服務。許多年輕人意識到，舊的做事方式行不通;如果周圍的每個人都飢餓、生病，那你賺多少錢都沒有意義;而且我們的社會和民主，只有在我們不僅思考自己，而且思考彼此時，才能發揮作用。
這也揭開了另一個真相，這是一旦我們的童年結束，所有人都必須最終接受的。你們曾經認為的所有那些成年人，都在承擔責任，並且知道他們在做什麼。事實證明他們並沒有所有答案。他們中的許多人甚至都沒有在問正確的問題。因此，如果世界會變得更好，那將取決於你們。
這種認識可能有點嚇人。但我希望它也能激發靈感。面對這個國家目前面臨的所有挑戰，沒有人能告訴您「不，您太年輕了，無法理解」或「一直以來就是這麼辦的。」因為存在如此多的不確定性，突然之間所有事情都可以做，這就是你們這一代人的世界。
由於我是老傢伙之一，因此我不會告訴你們如何處理這種掌握在你們手中的力量。但是，我給你們提供三個簡單的建議。
首先，不要害怕。美國經歷了艱難的時期，奴隸制、內戰、饑荒、疾病、大蕭條和9/11。每次我們變得更加強大時，通常是因為新一代的年輕人，像你們一樣，從過去的錯誤中吸取教訓，並弄清楚了如何使事情變得更好。
第二，做你認為正確的事。做感覺好、方便、容易的事情-那就是小孩子的想法。不幸的是，許多所謂的成年人，包括一些擁有高級頭銜和重要工作的成年人，仍然以這種方式思考，這就是事情如此混亂的原因。
我希望相反，你們決定以持久的價值觀為基礎，例如誠實、勤奮、責任、公平、慷慨、尊重他人。你們不會每次都做對，你們會像我們所有人一樣犯錯誤。但是，如果你們傾聽自己內心的真相，即使很難，即使不便，人們也會注意到。他們會被你們吸引。你們將成為解決方案的一部分，而不是問題的一部分。
最後，建立一個社區。沒有人獨自做大事。現在，當人們感到害怕時，很容易產生憤世嫉俗的聲音，說出：讓我只為自己、家人，或跟我看起來、思考或信仰與我相似的人。但是，如果我們要度過這些困難的時期，如果我們要創造一個每個人都有機會找到工作、並負擔大學學費的世界;如果我們要保護環境、並戰勝未來的流行病，那麼我們將不得不一起做。因此，要為彼此的鬥爭而活著。捍衛彼此的權利。拋棄所有使我們分裂的舊思維方式-性別歧視，種族偏見，地位，貪婪-並使世界走上一條不同的道路。
當你們需要幫助時，我和米歇爾已將基金會的使命，賦予了像你們這樣的年輕人，以技能和支持來領導自己的社區，並使你們與全國和全球的其他青年領袖建立聯繫。
但事實是，他們不需要我們告訴他們該怎麼做。
因為在很多方面，他們已經開始發揮領導作用。
恭喜，2020級。繼續讓我們感到驕傲。