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.
It’s Time to Let States Lead on Paid Family Leave
Primary showdown: Polls close in Tennessee as conservative firebrand eyes governor’s office
EXCLUSIVE: Michigan House speaker calls for answers over $300M taxpayer-funded Rx Kids program
Amazon Investigating After Footage of Delivery Driver Refusing to Take ‘Extra Two Steps’ Goes Viral
Senate scrambles for the exit amid outstanding to-do list: ‘Clear as mud’
Death Toll Hits Triple Digits, Thousands of Africans Remain in Spanish City in Aftermath of Invasion
Doctor Charged in Massive Medicare Fraud Scheme That Allegedly ‘Exploited Elderly Patients’ and Taxpayers
Keeping Strait of Hormuz toll-free is paramount concern for international bodies as Iran-Oman negotiations drag
Trump signs executive orders targeting birthright citizenship, birth tourism after Supreme Court setback
Missouri neighbor accused of killing mother and teen daughter after confronting family over dispute
Foreign drunk drivers could face swift boot out of country under Trump’s ‘America first’ crackdown
WATCH: Dashcam captures the split second a routine Tennessee traffic stop goes sideways
Fauci’s Nightmare Worsens – Guess Who Just Got a Copy of His COVID-Era Phone?
Trump allies push to arm president with new tariff weapon to punish countries ‘ripping off’ America
Reporter’s Notebook: Summer ends, but the Senate’s fall crunch begins
“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.
It’s Time to Let States Lead on Paid Family Leave
Primary showdown: Polls close in Tennessee as conservative firebrand eyes governor’s office
EXCLUSIVE: Michigan House speaker calls for answers over $300M taxpayer-funded Rx Kids program
Amazon Investigating After Footage of Delivery Driver Refusing to Take ‘Extra Two Steps’ Goes Viral
Senate scrambles for the exit amid outstanding to-do list: ‘Clear as mud’
Death Toll Hits Triple Digits, Thousands of Africans Remain in Spanish City in Aftermath of Invasion
Doctor Charged in Massive Medicare Fraud Scheme That Allegedly ‘Exploited Elderly Patients’ and Taxpayers
Keeping Strait of Hormuz toll-free is paramount concern for international bodies as Iran-Oman negotiations drag
Trump signs executive orders targeting birthright citizenship, birth tourism after Supreme Court setback
Missouri neighbor accused of killing mother and teen daughter after confronting family over dispute
Foreign drunk drivers could face swift boot out of country under Trump’s ‘America first’ crackdown
WATCH: Dashcam captures the split second a routine Tennessee traffic stop goes sideways
Fauci’s Nightmare Worsens – Guess Who Just Got a Copy of His COVID-Era Phone?
Trump allies push to arm president with new tariff weapon to punish countries ‘ripping off’ America
Reporter’s Notebook: Summer ends, but the Senate’s fall crunch begins
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.
