[Applause] thank you Mr President for that introduction Dr Morris thank you for the incredible honorary degree and thank you president Frederick for the invitation and for your leadership and your alma mater Serena student body president College of Pharmacy class speaker [Applause] and uh just remember when you're president United States and they say Joe Biden's out in the waiting room to say hello promise me you will not say Joe who y'all think I'm kidding to distinguish faculty and staff thank you for having me and to the parents and families in the class of 23 2023 congratulations
and by the way by the way we will get to giving you your degrees I promise that's coming you are here with the heart and through the heartache Through Blood Sweat and Tears of everything that's come before everything yet to come you're here at the new moment of Hope and possibilities for graduates before I begin it's mentioned many times tomorrow's Mother's Day stand for your mothers and grandmothers stand and thank them where I come from mom's rule [Applause] my friend and here's my friend Congressman Jim Clyburn the thing that I admire most about you Jim
is your absolute Integrity in everything you do everything you do this is a man of Honor I attended South Carolina State University's Commencement as Jim received his degree he earned 60 years ago but never got a chance to receive it in person Jim it's an honor to join you here today and receive an honorary degree from this great University and it's truly special special to join fellow honorees prime minister Raleigh prime minister prime minister I didn't know you were so talented I just thought you were a foreign policies you know Latin American guy I we
got to talk all kidding aside thank you for being a strong partner in the Caribbean and for addressing climate change and supporting democracies Across the Western Hemisphere I'm also honored that the person here today Dr Tony Allen he's president of my home state PCU Delaware State University where I got politically started I was fortunate to have Tony as a senate staffer for a long time then he got his PhD at a distinguished career in business and became president of HBCU now Tony chairs my White House Board of advisors on hbcus which is designed to support
and Advance HBCU Excellence with a lot more money I'm also proud to say that we're the first White House to formally convene where the real power is the divine nine oh y'all y'all think I'm kidding not a joke the divine not we definitely hear you at the table and they're our first time ever at the White House firmly so folks in 2023 I'm truly honored to be here at Howard Charlotte 156 Years Ago by an act of Congress just after emancipation of the Civil War founded founded on a Hilltop in Washington D.C the mecca the
mecca always promoting Excellence leadership and truth and service it really has a Proving Ground for Future Leaders of science medicine education business Faith Arts entertainment public service trailblazing intellectuals lawyers doctors the first black I might say vice president United States of America say that again Thomas sends her love and she sent a clear message that today I have the privilege he points out of speaking at the real Hu foreign that's going to cost me at home it's a no there's enormous pride in this University founded in the verses of Howard Anthem and I quote reared
against the Eastern Sky proudly there on Hilltop High there she stands for truth and right sending forth a rays of light it matters it matters it matters we're living through one of the most consequential moments in our history with fundamental questions at stake for our nation who are we what do we stand for what do we believe who we be you're going to help answer those questions let me take you back to January 2009 I stood in Wilmington Delaware on the train station of Amtrak caring my folder waiting to be picked up by a guy
named Barack Obama first black man elected president United States I was there to join him as vice president on the way to Historic Inauguration in Washington a moment of extraordinary hope but also as I stood there this is the God's truth I couldn't help think about another day I stood there it wasn't much more than your age I just got out of Law School I was a public I'd gone to work for a big firm but my state because of when Dr King was assassinated parts of the Mystic parts were burned to the ground we
had a very conservative Governor he's stationed a National Guard in every corner of drawn bayonets for 10 months I couldn't became a public defender I used to have to introduce my clients I was not so Noble I asked to interview my clients Dr Wilmington train station when they were arrested on East Side that's where they'd be taken the aftermath of the riots that burned Wilmington following his assassination in 2009 while waiting for Barack I was both living history at the same time I was reliving it a vivid demonstration when it comes to race in America
hope doesn't travel alone it's shadowed by fear by violence and by hate but after the election in the re-election of the first black American president I had hoped that the fear of violence and hate was significantly losing ground after being killed no longer being vice president I became a professor at the University of Pennsylvania for four years for the 2017. in Charlottesville Virginia craze neo-nazis and angry faces came out of the fields literally with torches carrying Nazi banners from the woods in the fields chanting the same anti-semitic bile hurt across Europe in the 30s something
I never thought I would ever see in America accompanied by klansmen and white supremacists emerging from dark rooms and remote fields and the anonymity of the internet confronting decent Americans of all backgrounds standing in their way into the bright light of day and a young woman objecting to their presence was killed what did you hear that famous quote when asked about what happened a famous quote there are very fine people on both sides that's when I knew and I'm not joking that's when I knew I had to stay engaged and get back into public life
no I I don't say for that reason except for the journey I don't have to tell you that Fearless progress toward Justice often means ferocious pushback the oldest and most Sinister of forces that's because hate never goes away I thought when I graduated we could defeat hate but it never goes away it only hides under the rocks and when it's given oxygen it comes out from under that rock that's why we know this truth as well silence is complicity it cannot remain silent we have to live through this battle for the soul of the nation
and it is still a battle for the soul of the nation what is the soul of a Nation well I believe the souls of breath the life the essence of Who We Are the soul makes us us the soul of America is what makes us unique among all nations we're the only country founded on an idea not geography not religion not ethnicity but an idea the sacred proposition rooted in scripture and Shrine in the Declaration of Independence that were all created equal in the image of God and deserve to be treated equally throughout our lives
while we've never fully lived up to that promise we never before fully walked away from it we know that American history has not always been a fairy tale from the start it's been a constant push and pull for more than 240 years between the best of us the American ideal that we're all created equal in the worst of us a harsh reality that racism has long torn us apart it's a battle that's never really over but on the best days enough of us have the guts and the hearts just stand up for the best in
US to choose love over hate Unity over disunion progress over retreat so stand up against the poison of white supremacists I did my inaugural address to a single out as the most dangerous terrorist threat to our homeland is white supremacy [Music] I'm not saying this because I'm at a black hpcu I say Wherever I Go to stand up for truth over lies lies told for power and profit to confront the ongoing assault to subvert our elections suppress our right to vote that assault came just as you cast your first ballots 20 and 22. record turnouts
you delivered historic progress I made it clear that America Americans of all backgrounds have an obligation to call out political violence that has been Unleashed and emboldened as was mentioned already bomb threat to this very University and hbucus across the country to put democracy on the ballot to reject political extremism and reject political violence protects fundamental rights and freedom for women to choose for transgendered children to be free for Affordable Health Care and housing for the right to raise your family and retire with dignity to stand with leaders of your generation who give voice to
the people demanding action on gun violence only to be expelled from State legislative bodies to stand against books being banned and black history being erased I'm serious think about it to stand up for the best in US and today I come here to Howard to continue the work to redeem the soul of this nation because it's here where I see the future and I'm not that's not hyperbole we can finally resolve those ongoing questions about who we are as a nation that put strength of our diversity the center of Americans life the future that celebrates
and learns from history a future for all Americans the future I see you leading and I'm not again exaggerating you are going to be leading them again let's be clear there are those who don't see you and don't want this future there are those who demonize and pit people against one another and there are those who do anything and everything no matter how desperate or immoral to hold on to power that's never going to be an easy battle but I know this the oldest most Sinister forces May believe they'll determine America's future but they are
wrong we will determine America's future you will determine America's future and that's not hyperbole no graduating class get to choose the world under which they graduate every class enters the history of a Nation up to the point has been written by others a few classes once in every several Generations centers at a point in our history where it actually has a chance to change the trajectory of the country you face that inflection point today I know you'll meet the moment I just think about the many ways you already have with your voices and votes I
was able to fill my commitment to put the first black woman on the Supreme Court of the United States of America by the way she's brighter than the rest she is one bright woman because of you more black women have been appointed to the federal appellate courts under than under every other president in American history combined by the way I mean it I mean it because of you because of you you turned out you spoke up you knew you showed up in the votes counted and you made people say whoa wait a minute what price
will I pay if I don't do the following you feel the promise and Peril climate change because of you we're making the biggest investment ever in the history of the world in climate change don't ever think your voice doesn't matter I'm keeping my promise that no one should be in jail merely because of using possessing marijuana their records should be expunged just expunged my student Deputy plan would help tens of millions of people especially those on Pell Grants 70 percent of black college students receive Pell Grants many of you the savings would be significant and
even wiping out student debt completely for some but this new Republican party is dead set against it suing my Administration to stop you from getting student debt relief the same opposition who receive relief loans I might add to keep their businesses afloat during the pandemic members of the Congress were thousands even millions of dollars most of which didn't have to be paid back yet they say it's okay for them but not for you I found it outraged find it outrageous to reduce your student debt service payments when you graduate we're also ensuring that no one
no one with an undergraduate loan today or in the future we'll have to pay more than five percent of discretionary income to repay their loans down from 10 and 20 years is gone Republic officials are fighting that as well but I'll always keep fighting for you and many others will and many in the Republican party as well will fight for you you know we also know there's more to do because of your power we took the most significant law on gun violence we passed it we'll see give me law in 30 years but we will
not give up I got the assault weapons ban past 30 years ago we're going to pass it again we must pass there's more to do on police reform on Public Safety during the State of the Union I asked the rest of the country to imagine having to talk to their children their families like your families had to talk to you it's about your security it's about your dignity it's the meaning degraded and deadly winners have to stand there and say when you're stopped turn the interior light on put both hands in the wheel don't reach
for your license what in the hell is going on no think about it I ask all the parents not minority children ask what they would say what they would do I know you're frustrated because there's so many elected officials refused to pass a law that will do something common and I stood next to the family of George Floyd and civil rights leaders and law enforcement officials to sign the executive order I came up with requiring the key elements of the George Floyd Bill be applied to federal law enforcement Banning Chokehold restricting no knock warrants established
in the database police misconduct advancing effective and accountable community policing that Bill's public Trust and we'll keep fighting to pass the reforms Nationwide Equal justice as a covenant we have with each other it must not just be an ideal it has to be a reality you're leading the way on this and so much more that's why Kamal and I are so committed to investing in you and hbcus hpus helped produce 40 percent of black engineers 50 percent of black lawyers 70 80 percent of black judges look we see HBCU excellence in every day we staff
at every level at the White House and administration because I decided when I was elected I promised I was going to have my Administration look like America but we all know that hbcs don't have the same endowments and funding as other major colleges universities for example denying the opportunity to build and fund research Labs that will lead to new technologies and good paying jobs that's why I asked that we've invested six billion dollars in county and hbcus including to create new research and development Labs that prepare students for jobs in the future in high income
fields from cyber security engineering biochemistry Health Care standing here I think the last time I came to Howard with President Frederick and others was in my final year as vice president to host the cancer moonshot on campus because you're leading the way you're the scientists the doctors The Advocates who bring and do big things like any cancer as we know it and even curing some cancers was around their way to doing here's a diplomats and Global Citizens making democracy work for people around the world lawyers defending our rights artists shaping our culture Fearless journalists this
is real though you're this is what you're doing Fearless journals journalists and intellectuals pursuing the truth and challenging convention you're the leaders of tomorrow but it's coming on you really quickly because of you I see a future we can finally move away from the narrow and cram View promise to America is a zero-sum game if you succeed I fail if you get ahead I fall behind maybe worst of all if I can't hold you down I can't lift myself up instead of what it should be if you do well we all do well that's what
I see that's what I see in America the more Americans are the future of possibilities for all Americans look no matter that's future what it holds my sincere hope is that each of you find a sweet spot between happiness success and ambition a good life a life of purpose because here's the thing you don't know where or what fate will bring you or when you just have to keep going you have to just keep the faith and just get up and you can find the balance between ambition and happiness and success that good life a
purpose of family and as you know here at Howard of Excellence leadership and truth and service there's no quitting you there's no quit in America so let me close to this in our lives in the life of the nation we know that fear can Shadow hope but it's also true that hope can defeat fear in January 2021 I stood in the U.S Capitol be inaugurated as president United States just days before on that very spot of violent Insurrection took place a dagger at the throat of democracy for the first time in our history an attempt
to stop the peaceful transfer of power in this country and they failed our democracy held again hope prevail and this time I was standing with a black woman about to take a two-mile procession down Pennsylvania Avenue as President and Vice President United States of America and who was marching alongside her the Howard University marching band and lockstep and solidarity you were I've given my words a bite class of 2023 you're the reason I'm so optimistic about the future and I give my word I really mean it you're part of the most gifted tolerant talented best
educated generation in American history that's a fact and it's your generation more than anyone else's will answer the questions for America who are we what do we stand for what do you believe what do we believe what do we want to be I'm not saying you have to share this person all on your own task at hand to hand is the work of all what I am saying is you represent the best of us and that's the God's truth you represent the best of us your generation will not be ignored will not be shown will
not be silenced so on The Hilltop High keep standing for truth and right and send your rays of light congratulations you all we need you God bless you and may God protect our troops
