I can't get over at how amazing and inspiring this commencement speech that John Legend delivered at The University of Pennsylvania's 258th commencement ceremony.
The following is probably my most favourite part of his speech;
"Think about that. It's a pretty radical notion. It means your daughter or son, your neighbor's daughter or son and the daughters and sons of people who live thousands of miles away, all deserve the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
It means we let go of fear and see each other's humanity. It means we don't see Trayvon Martin as a walking stereotype, a weaponized human. We see him as a boy who deserves the chance to grow into a man, even if he makes boyish mistakes along the way. It means American lives don't count more than Iraqi lives.
It means we see a young Palestinian kid not as a future security threat or demographic challenge, but as a future father, mother and lover. It means that the nearly 300 kidnapped girls in Nigeria aren't just their problem. They're "our" girls too. It's actually quite a challenge to love humankind in this way.
Professor Cornel West gives us a word for what this kind of love looks like in public. That word is justice.
If you're committed to loving in public, it requires you opening your eyes to injustice, to see the world through the eyes of another. This is not a passive activity. You have to read. You have to travel to other neighborhoods, other parts of the world. You may have to get your hands dirty. You have to allow people to love you, and you have to love them back."
I love when people try to instill in others to open their minds to someone who speaks, looks, and thinks differently from you. It opens up a whole new world, challenges your assumptions and allows you to see the world through a different lens. Empathy is a beautiful thing.
On a more personal note, every minute is now a minute closer to the end of my degree (yes, I'm finally finishing sooner than later!). For those who don't know, the decision to go to university at a mature age was a difficult choice on my part (yes, I am quite old), and I definitely sacrificed a lot of other areas of my life just to be here. It was a struggle. And, sometimes I began to wonder along the way if it was a wise choice after all.
However, time has flown and the most important thing was I DID NOT give up, and that's a huge achievement. I've completely changed from the person I was when I began university in 2011. And, considering how much time I've invested to be here and now that it's finally ending, saying that I will not miss uni is definitely not true.
Anyway, this speech actually felt like he was personally speaking to me, but this is definitely something everyone should take the moment to take in.
Lots o' Love, Linda
