‘This is your moment,’ President Obama encourages JCSU seniors at virtual graduation
Former President Barack Obama on Saturday encouraged graduates of Johnson C. Smith University and other historically black colleges and universities to continue working to eliminate injustices as they change the world for the better.
“You’re the folks we’ve been waiting for,” Obama told the graduates of 78 schools during their virtual graduation ceremony. “As you set out to change the world, we’ll be the wind at your backs.”
Obama said the country has “big unfinished goals,” including economic and environmental justice and “health care for everybody.”
“That’s why folks with power will keep trying to divide you over the means,” he said. “… 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,” Obama said.
Of the coronavirus pandemic, he said:
“Let’s be honest: A disease like this just spotlights the underlying inequalities and extra burdens that black communities 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, question and shoot him if he doesn’t submit,” Obama said. He was referring to February’s fatal shooting of 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia.
Obama capped an all-star lineup of national African-American leaders in business, politics, sports, entertainment, the arts and other arenas who addressed the grads.
What other graduation draws not only the president but actors Kevin Hart and Wendy Raquel Robinson, NBA greats Chris Paul and Vince Carter, TV show host Steve Harvey and performers Gary Clark Sr., Doug E Fresh, Terrence J and Charlotte’s own Anthony Hamilton?
Former presidential candidate Kamala Harris and such prominent business leaders as Mellody Hobson, president and co-CEO of Ariel Investments, also spoke.
JP Morgan Chase arranged the live-streamed ceremony attended virtually by about 20,000 graduates of 78 historically black colleges and universities.
When JCSU senior Charles Langston heard that Obama would be speaking to the graduates, he told WBTV, the Observer’s news partner, “I think that is the most blessing, the most gifted gift we can be able to receive: for Barack Obama being the person who he is – not only for his love for HBCUs, his love for the black culture. When I heard the news, I was like ‘wow’ – it shocked me.”
Obama noted how many of the grads might be the first in their families to obtain a higher-education degree, “and so many of you overcame a lot to be here,” he said.
“Michelle and I are so proud of you,” he said. “… You’ve earned this moment. You should be very proud.”
He said he realized many of the grads were already working for change, to “fix the status quo.”
“More than anything, this pandemic has fully, finally torn back the curtain on the idea that so many of the folks in charge know what they’re doing,” Obama said. “A lot of them aren’t even pretending to be in charge.”
No generation is better equipped to change that than Saturday’s graduates, Obama said.
And “rather than just say, ‘What’s in it for me,’ stand with and for everyone who’s struggling,” he told the grads.
“This is your time to seize the initiative,” he said. ”This is your moment.”
This story was originally published May 16, 2020 at 5:43 PM with the headline "‘This is your moment,’ President Obama encourages JCSU seniors at virtual graduation."