buzzz worthy. . .
President Obama was the 2016 commencement speaker at Howard University in Washington, DC on Saturday. As one of the nation’s top Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Howard University is recognized for its rigorous education and legacy of building lasting bridges of opportunity for young people. After talking about the strides the U.S. has made as nation he spoke on racism and encouraged the students to remain proud of their heritage.
The President provided advice around three points abbreviated here:
1. Facing the world with confidence. "Be confident in your blackness."
2. Remembering struggle and injustice binds African Americans. "We have to not only question the world as it is, and stand up for those African Americans who haven’t been so lucky -- because, yes, you've worked hard, but you've also been lucky. That's a pet peeve of mine: People who have been successful and don’t realize they've been lucky. That God may have blessed them; it wasn’t nothing you did. So don’t have an attitude."
3. Have a strategy for change. "We have to not only question the world as it is, and stand up for those African Americans who haven’t been so lucky -- because, yes, you've worked hard, but you've also been lucky. That's a pet peeve of mine: People who have been successful and don’t realize they've been lucky. That God may have blessed them; it wasn’t nothing you did. So don’t have an attitude.
Ever the activist, Obama told the 2016 class of Bisons they have no excuse not to vote in every election, alluding to the upcoming general election in November.
View the speech in the above video.
President Obama was the 2016 commencement speaker at Howard University in Washington, DC on Saturday. As one of the nation’s top Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Howard University is recognized for its rigorous education and legacy of building lasting bridges of opportunity for young people. After talking about the strides the U.S. has made as nation he spoke on racism and encouraged the students to remain proud of their heritage.
The President provided advice around three points abbreviated here:
1. Facing the world with confidence. "Be confident in your blackness."
2. Remembering struggle and injustice binds African Americans. "We have to not only question the world as it is, and stand up for those African Americans who haven’t been so lucky -- because, yes, you've worked hard, but you've also been lucky. That's a pet peeve of mine: People who have been successful and don’t realize they've been lucky. That God may have blessed them; it wasn’t nothing you did. So don’t have an attitude."
3. Have a strategy for change. "We have to not only question the world as it is, and stand up for those African Americans who haven’t been so lucky -- because, yes, you've worked hard, but you've also been lucky. That's a pet peeve of mine: People who have been successful and don’t realize they've been lucky. That God may have blessed them; it wasn’t nothing you did. So don’t have an attitude.
Ever the activist, Obama told the 2016 class of Bisons they have no excuse not to vote in every election, alluding to the upcoming general election in November.
View the speech in the above video.