Former President Barack Obama said in a commencement speech on Saturday that current leaders during the coronavirus crisis were failing 2020 graduates.
“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,” he said. “A lot of them aren’t even pretending to be in charge.”
The former president did not directly criticize Donald Trump, but he repeatedly referred to leaders currently in power.
“Broad majorities agree on the ends,” he said, urging graduates to seek unity. “That’s why folks with power will keep trying to divide you over the means. That’s how nothing changes.”
The former president spoke online to recognize historic black college and university graduates on Saturday, offering a 2020 commencement speech for those who were unable to graduate due to the coronavirus.
Platner courts progressives as Maine Senate race with Mills and Collins tightens
How fears of being labeled ‘racist’ helped ‘provide cover’ for the exploding Minnesota fraud scandal
Poll: Trump Holds Double-Digit Leading Majority Over Democrats Regarding Who Americans Trust to Manage the Economy
New York to spend $2 million providing mental health services to Afghan refugees
After Trump Break-Up, MTG Seeks to Build ‘Bridges’ with Feminist Left-Wing CCP-Linked Activists
Law enforcement expert warns early details ‘often change’ as manhunt intensifies at Brown University
Elite Ivy League campus latest to grapple with mass shooting as violence erupts at Brown University
FBI ousts reinstated whistleblower over unauthorized media talks, ‘poor judgment’
Breaking: Shooting at Brown University, 2 Dead
Op-Ed: The Friendly Housekeepers’ Fraud
Op-Ed: Political Division Is So Severe America Should Split in Two
Trump takes the field at Army-Navy game for coin toss, military flyover
Fact Check: No, Catholic Missionaries Didn’t Put 200 Canadian Natives in Mass Graves Near a School – the Entire Slaughter Was a Fraud from the Start
Op-Ed: One Year After Trump’s Election, Here’s What Changed
At least 2 dead, 8 in critical condition after mass shooting at Brown University; manhunt underway for suspect
“Even though half of the semester was spent in Zoom university, you’ve earned this moment. You should be very proud,” he said.
The president was joined by celebrities Kevin Hart, Steve Harvey, Chris Paul, Debbie Allen, Common the rapper, and Vivica Fox, as well as national politicians such as Sen. Kamala Harris and Sen. Tim Scott.
Obama urged graduates to fight for “economic and environmental justice and health care for everyone” and to fight the “system that looks out for the rich and the powerful and nobody else.”
He said that the virus only enhanced the understanding that the black community continues to suffer inequality in the United States, but that they should reach out and find others who suffered the same struggle.
“Meaningful change requires allies and common cause. As African Americans we are particularly attuned to injustice, inequality, and struggle but also that should make us more alive to other experiences of others,” he said.
Obama urged graduates to stand up for immigrants, refugees, the rural poor, the LGTB community, low-income workers, and women.
Platner courts progressives as Maine Senate race with Mills and Collins tightens
How fears of being labeled ‘racist’ helped ‘provide cover’ for the exploding Minnesota fraud scandal
Poll: Trump Holds Double-Digit Leading Majority Over Democrats Regarding Who Americans Trust to Manage the Economy
New York to spend $2 million providing mental health services to Afghan refugees
After Trump Break-Up, MTG Seeks to Build ‘Bridges’ with Feminist Left-Wing CCP-Linked Activists
Law enforcement expert warns early details ‘often change’ as manhunt intensifies at Brown University
Elite Ivy League campus latest to grapple with mass shooting as violence erupts at Brown University
FBI ousts reinstated whistleblower over unauthorized media talks, ‘poor judgment’
Breaking: Shooting at Brown University, 2 Dead
Op-Ed: The Friendly Housekeepers’ Fraud
Op-Ed: Political Division Is So Severe America Should Split in Two
Trump takes the field at Army-Navy game for coin toss, military flyover
Fact Check: No, Catholic Missionaries Didn’t Put 200 Canadian Natives in Mass Graves Near a School – the Entire Slaughter Was a Fraud from the Start
Op-Ed: One Year After Trump’s Election, Here’s What Changed
At least 2 dead, 8 in critical condition after mass shooting at Brown University; manhunt underway for suspect
The president also referenced 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery, noting that the injustice of “a black man goes for a jog and some folks think they can stop and question and shoot him if he does not submit to their questioning.”
He said the same struggles were not new in the United States and asked all graduates to do their part to fight.
“What is new is that so much of your generation has woken up to the fact that the status quo needs fixing,” he said.
Story cited here.
