good afternoon good afternoon how's everyone doing today good good so greetings uh friends family faculty staff alumni and the illustrious class of 2016 Make some noise so my name is Donovan Livingston and I came to address you in the best way I know how but you have to forgive me I have to take this moment in for a little while um when I spoke when I spoke in my high school graduation several years ago uh my high school English teacher threatened to replace me on the program or cut my microphone when she found out that
I was interested in doing a poem as a part of my remarks um so I am eternally grateful for being able to share this piece of myself and my most authentic voice with you this afternoon so spoken word poetry it insists on participation so if you feel so compelled Snap Clap throw up your hands Rejoice celebrate class of 2016 this is your address and this is your day education then beyond all other devices of human origin is a great equalizer of the conditions of men Horus man 1848 at the time of his remarks I couldn't
read I couldn't write any attempt to do so punishable by death for Generations we have known of knowledge's infinite power yet somehow we have never questioned the keeper of the keys the Guardians of information unfortunately I've seen more dividing and conquering in this order of operations a heinous miscalculation of reality for some the only difference between a classroom and a plantation is time how many times must we be made to feel like quotas like tokens and coin phrases diversity inclusion there are days I feel like one like only a lonely blossom in a Brier patch
of broken promises but but hey I've always been a thorn in the side of Injustice disruptive talkative a distraction with a passion that transcends the confines of my own Consciousness beyond your curriculum beyond your standards I stand Here a manifestation of love in pain with veins pumping Revolution I am the strange fruit that grew too ripe for the pop tree I am a Dream Act Dream Deferred incarnate and a movement and amalgam of memories America would care to forget my past alone won't allow me to sit still so my body like my mind cannot be
contained as Educators rather than raising your voices over the rustling of our chains take them off uncuff Us unencumbered by the lumbering weight of poverty and privilege policy and ignorance I was in the seventh grade When Miss Parker told me Donovan we could put all of your excess energy to good use and she introduced me to the sound of my own voice she gave me a stage a platform she told me that our stories are the ladders that make it easier for us to touch the Stars so climb and grab them keep climbing grab them
spill your emotions in the Big Dipper and pour out your soul light up the world with your luminous allore to educate requires Galileo like patience today when I look my students in the eyes all I see are constellations if you take the time to connect the dots you can plot the true shape of their genius shining in their Darkest Hour I look each of my students in the eyes and see the same light that aligned Orion's Belt in the Pyramids of Giza I see the same twinkle that guided Harriet to freedom I see them beneath
their masks and their Mischief exists an authentic frustration and enslavement to your standardized assessments at the core none of us were meant to be common we were born to be comets darting across space in time leaving our Mark as we crash into everything a crater is a reminder that something amazing happened right here an indelible impact That Shook Up the world are we not astronomers searching for the next shooting star I teach in hopes of turning content into rocket ships tribulations into telescopes so a child can see their true potential from right where they stand
and Injustice is telling them they are stars without acknowledging the night that surrounds them Injustice is telling them education is the key while you continue to change the locks education is no equal izer rather it is the sleep that precedes the American dream so wake up wake up lift your voices until you patch every hole in a child's broken Sky wake up every child so they know of their Celestial potential I've been the black hole in a classroom for far too long absorbing everything without allowing my light to escape but those days are done I
belong Among the Stars and so do you and so do [Applause] they together together we can Inspire galaxies of greatness for generations to come so no no sky is not the limit it is only the beginning lift off w
