“Strong men keep coming, strong men kept a coming on”
In the words of Sterling Brown…..“strong men get stronger”
President Massey,
members of the faculty and staff,
family, friends, alumni and the distinguished graduates of Morehouse College;
I am honored to be your guest and to celebrate this academic milestone with you.
As the mother of a Morehouse man,
I know that the family and friends of today’s graduates
must be proud of their accomplishments.
Today I am especially proud
to be standing on the campus that will house the most significant historic private collection of Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King earned his undergraduate degree from Morehouse,
he received an honorary degree from Morehouse,
he delivered the commencement speech to the class of 1959,
he became a trustee of the college,
he delivered the keynote at the 100th anniversary,
his funeral was held on this campus,
and the Chapel on this campus bears his name…..
there is not and never was a question about where his papers belong.
We have the Atlanta community and Dr. King’s legacy of human rights to thank for the Goliath effort that brought the papers to Atlanta.
As we celebrate the King papers coming home to Morehouse,
it is even more important for us to ask
how we can personally contribute to Dr. King’s legacy.
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
History has recorded where the Morehouse men before you stood in times of challenge and controversy:
we know where Benjamin Mays stood,
we know where Maynard Jackson stood,
we know where Martin Luther King stood
so Class of 2006…….where do you stand?
There is no doubt that these are times of challenge and controversy…
Where do you stand?
Brother Martin challenges you and me to stand for justice, fairness and love not just in times of comfort but asks the question where do we stand in difficult times
These are times of challenge:
Because the gap between the wealthy and those struggling to make ends meet in this country is widening. Median family incomes have risen by less than 1% for a total of 18% over the past 25 years…
yet the top 1% they have seen a 200% income increase…
some of our neighbors are struggling to just feed their families and
the “working poor” are simply trying to stay above the poverty level.
Where do you stand in the fight to eradicate poverty?
These are times of Challenge:
Because while there is no formal Poor People’s Campaign, there probably should be; more than 14% of Georgians live in poverty and 21% of those living in poverty are children.
We know that any child who goes to school hungry diminishes their chances of receiving a quality education, no matter what grade level.
Where do you stand in the fight to eradicate hunger?
These are times of Challenge:
Because we live in a time where peace is barely given a chance in place in the world…from Bagdad, to the Sudan to Lebanon…war is viewed as the solution rather than the last option. Fighting for peace in the heat of war cannot be justified.
The tradition and legacy of Martin and Coretta King require our recommitment to nonviolent methods
to resolve our differences in Atlanta,
in our families,
in the US, and in the world.
How are we to teach peace to our children when we use the language of violence in our songs….or we use violence against our friends and in our families?
How are we to teach peace to our children when wars rage all over the world? A new bombing, a new violent attack dominates the world news every day?
The celebration of Dr King must,
MUST
Focus on celebrating his legacy
Remembering his life and
Personal sacrifice
MY friends remembering and celebrating are fine…
But the true followers of Martin King
will act with conviction for peace and justice
persistently
consistently
steadfastly
True followers will
do as Martin,
Act with conscience when others demur
Martin until his last breath acted with conscience and integrity
regardless of the personal consequences…
These are times of Challenge:
Vote or Die isn’t just brutally honest,
it is rebelliously accurate.
Vote or Die is as true today as ever in America
Now we have the right to vote and we don’t use it.
In fact millions of eligible African Americans are too busy or disillusioned to register to vote…
Too many leave their destinies in the hands of others because they don’t exercise their right to vote.
Too often we suffer from local state and federal policies that ignore our pain.
Less than a year ago we witnessed every day on TV what it means
to be underpaid, poor and disenfranchised in America
when America couldn’t and didn’t rescue its own citizens
from the flood waters and devastation in New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast.
I hope that once you begin your professional lives that you will not ever be:
too busy-to vote;
too wealthy-to give back
and too stubborn to forgive.
These are the lessons of Martin King.
This is a time to remind ourselves of the value of Hard Work,
Taking responsibility and achieving excellence.
These are prerequisites for success.
Having successfully completed your studies here at Morehouse
I fully expect that these ideals are an intrinsic part of your character by now.
But today I want to charge you to become the kind of person who takes advantage of life’s “unexpected opportunities” as well.
In my lifetime, I have taken advantage of the opportunities to maximize moments that were not planned.
For instance, I never planned to run for Mayor but after much convincing from Andy Young and Maynard Jackson and actually finding the self-confidence to do it-I have to say I love my job and it was an unexpected opportunity.
It was an unexpected opportunity to assist 13 young men from Atlanta join the ranks of Morehouse men last year. These are students who needed summer jobs
and financial support. This was an unexpected opportunity.
My role in the acquisition of the King Collection was an unexpected opportunity. Andy Young saw me one day and said we needed to do this in Atlanta and a few days later we were seriously working on bringing the collection to Morehouse.
Look for and seize the unexpected opportunities to serve our community
In this competitive global workforce,
it will take courage to become
the kind of person
who values commitment equally with compensation
who seeks pragmatic fair solutions to issues
and who offers ideas and acts unselfishly
But yours is in the tradition — the Morehouse tradition of “strong me who keep coming”
Your degree comes with a compelling responsibility—to be strong men in the face of all the odds.
Follow the Morehouse tradition……
To have the courage of your convictions,
To dare to take risks,
To be present and engaged
To serve others and your community
To respect yourself enough to respect others.
As the adage goes, “Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step”
Be strong Morehouse men
Listen to your inner voice.
When you are on your true path
your talents, interests and spiritual inclinations are in complete accord.
Be strong Morehouse men
Take a leap of Faith to make right what is wrong or unfair….
So today in these times of challenge, war and injustice…stand because the world needs your leadership
stand because so many others…..Martin, Benjamin and Maynard
have created the steady foundation
on which you stand
And finally “to whom much is given much is expected” so stand because you’re a Morehouse man….
“Strong men keep a coming on. Strong men keep coming on. Strong men get stronger.”
Congratulations and God bless you!!!!