I’m deeply
honored to be standing before you to deliver today’s Convocation Address
and to formally usher in Howard University’s 136th year of
academic excellence.
For me, this is a unique privilege. I may be the proudest alumnus ever
to graduate from Morgan State, but I place my loyalty and commitment to
Howard on the same high level.
For one thing, Howard University plays a central role in my personal
well being. Four physicians at Howard University Hospital are
responsible for my medical care. I mention my doctors because, as it
happens, I’m recovering from recent back surgery and all four of them
tell me I should be home in bed.
Normally, I would take my doctors’ advice. But this day was just too
important for me to miss for two reasons:
First off, I’m here to welcome back Howard University’s latest
generation of leaders. As a trustee of this institution, I’m fully
vested in Howard’s legacy as the single most influential producer of
African-American leaders our nation has ever known.
Among them were the architects of the legal strategy that dismantled
legal segregation in this country: the great Thurgood Marshall and
faculty and students of the Howard Law School.
The 50th anniversary of their great victory in Brown v. the
Board of Education provides an appropriate moment to reflect on what
Howard University has meant to America. Fifty years later, every
student in this room has made a sacred pact with the builders of that
legacy to be worthy of it.
That is a heavy responsibility … and if any of you were somehow not
conscious of it when you walked in here this morning, you’re going to be
living and breathing it when I’m through talking … I promise you.
Secondly, I had to be here for the man being celebrated by the Howard
University Board of Trustees later today, the chairman of Johnson
Publishing, my friend and mentor, John H. Johnson.
Much like Howard University itself, John Johnson helped shape the world
you and I live in. And if you walked in here not knowing how important
a man John Johnson is, well, you’re going to walk out understanding
that, too.
On a personal note, I’ve known John and his lovely wife Eunice for 30
years. And I’ve watched their daughter grow into a formidable corporate
leader in her own right. I’d like to ask her to stand . . . Johnson
Publishing CEO Linda Johnson Rice, ladies and gentlemen.
More than anything, students, I’m here to impress upon you the
sacrifices that have been made so that you could be here today. The
hours you will spend at this institution – and the opportunities that
lay before you – don’t belong to you alone. They belong to men and
women who fought battles large and small to ensure that your potential
could be realized to the fullest.
At this point, I’m sure I sound to some of you like one of those old
guys who like to tell young people how hard things USED to be. My
grandfather was one of those guys. When I was around 10, I got up the
nerve to ask him for a quarter on top of my allowance to buy some ice
cream.
Of course all I got was the old story about how he walked five miles
barefoot in 10 feet of snow to get to school each morning. Even at age
10, it occurred to me that they probably didn’t get that much snow in
the West Indies where my grandfather grew up. I might have pointed that
out to him but then I don’t think I’d have lived to see 11.
There’s a serious side to this. My family did not want me to ever
forget that every opportunity that I enjoyed was the result of someone
else’s sacrifice. Your generation has inherited perhaps the greatest
era of opportunity that African Americans have ever known.
It didn’t just happen.
Thurgood Marshall attended Howard because the University of Maryland
rejected him on the basis of color. Just a few years later, Marshall’s
legal brilliance would convince the Supreme Court to unanimously shift
the law of the land to the side of righteousness. Their ruling in Brown
would force the University of Maryland – and every other American
institution – to abandon the policy of racial exclusion.
What does the Brown victory mean to you today, 50 years later? For one
thing, it means that you are attending this historically black
university, not because you HAVE to, but because you CHOOSE to. You’re
here because you’ve elected to be a part of the tradition of social
transformation that Howard represents. You’re here because you want to
move our people … and this nation … forward.
To do that, you must be just as committed to excellence … just as
dedicated to the welfare of our people … as those who came before you.
Because the challenges you will face when you leave this institution are
as great as at any time in our history.
We are a nation at war. The global consequences of our presence in Iraq
and Afghanistan will certainly be with us for some years to come. You
will have to confront them.
Here at home, the AIDS epidemic is wrecking havoc within the African-
American community, a crisis made worse by our collective silence and
the absence of leadership. Your children will live with the
consequences.
And 50 years after Brown, we have not yet rid ourselves of racism,
poverty, and lack of opportunity. African Americans still face racial
disparities in health care, public education, and the workplace.
Affirmative action is on the chopping block. And even the legal
precedents that Marshall and others set in ending segregation are under
constant threat by the far right.
Add to the mix a perilous and uncertain economy that only tightens the
vise on peoples’ hopes.
Unlike my grandfather, I don’t have to talk about how bad things USED to
be … you’ve got your work cut out for you right now.
But remember that tough times are nothing new for us. From slavery to
Jim Crow and onward, “easy” has never been a part of our vocabulary.
You will face challenges. But you will overcome them … and perhaps
change the world in the process … if you stay focused … if you stay
determined … and if you do your best to prepare yourselves for
opportunity.
THIS institution will prepare you. It will challenge your abilities and
enrich your character. It will provide you with a wealth of skills and
experiences that you will draw upon the rest of your days.
Howard will do all this and more for you …IF… and only IF … you accept
the challenge … IF you accept responsibility for the future you want to
live in … IF you agree to carry the mantle of excellence and social
reform that is the hallmark of Howard University.
And don’t think that I’ve forgotten the mantle of financial success.
You’re not going to college to end up martyrs on poverty row. You want
to do good while also doing well for yourselves. I’m a businessman. I
fully believe that if you earn the trappings of success, by all means
take them.
Just remember that the house, the Mercedes, and the Breitling watch
carry the same price tag – responsibility. In short, I want you all to
be financially secure so you can give back.
In this regard, you have no shortage of role models if you’re in need of
inspiration … none are more inspirational than the man being honored
today, my friend John Johnson.
Here, students, is a life worth emulating.
He was a child of Jim Crow segregation. To ensure her young son’s
education, John Johnson’s widowed mother moved the family to Chicago
from Arkansas City, Arkansas, in the 1930s. She had to, because at that
time there was no public school in Arkansas City that would admit an
African-American child.
It was a temporary obstacle. From the start, John Johnson was ambitious
and not afraid of hard work. Before long, he hatched his vision to
create a series of publications that would reveal and honor the lives of
African Americans, in all our diversity, depth, and dignity. It was an
ambitious vision for a black man in the pre-Civil Rights era. But he
was determined.
Starting with a loan for $500, he went on to build an empire that
encompassed Ebony and Jet magazines, TV and radio
programs, an insurance firm, hair care and beauty product companies and
fashion shows.
John Johnson was the first publisher to open the eyes of Madison Avenue
to the multi-billion dollar influence of the African-American consumer
market. By showing the profitability of using black models and
black-themed campaigns, he literally changed the way American companies
market their products to black consumers.
Finally, John ushered into being the first generation of
African-American professionals in publishing and advertising. I’m not
exaggerating when I say there would be no Earl Graves without John
Johnson.
His personal success has been great. And all of you can learn a lot
from his tenacity and his integrity. But the real lesson to be learned
from John Johnson is that he has not forgotten where he came from … or
the sacrifices others made on his behalf.
Time and again, he has contributed his time and money to nurturing the
next generation of leaders. His recent $4 million gift to the
communications school here at Howard University speaks to the depth of
his commitment.
Students, that kind of commitment has no price. For each of you, it
translates into greater opportunity and a better chance at success.
Don’t waste it.
Remember, the choices before you are limitless. Take a good look
around. Somewhere in this room is the next John Johnson … the next
Thurgood Marshall. Indeed, the first African-American president of the
United States may be in this room … and perhaps I’ll be able to say I
helped inspire her.
But whatever heights you reach, you must reach back. Whatever success
you acquire, you must be willing to leverage that success into
opportunities for all African Americans.
That is what a “leader” is … and building leaders is what Howard
University is all about.
As I’ve said, each of you has a heavy mantle to carry. I want you to
show me that you’re worthy to bear the weight. Now students, I’m going
to issue six challenges. And whether you’re a freshman or starting your
last semester, when I issue a challenge you’re willing to take on, I
want you to stand and say “I accept.”
And if you’re still sitting when I’m done, you get to don’t graduate,
OK?
Just to make sure you’re serious, I want John Johnson to stand with me
as I issue The Six Challenges. John …
If you’re a member of Howard’s School of Communications, I challenge you
to carry the mantle of John Johnson … to fight for accurate
representations of our people. I challenge you to refuse to wallow in
the negativity, violence, and modern minstrel behavior that pass for
black media representation today. Do you accept?
If you attend the Howard University School of Law, I challenge you to
carry the mantle of Thurgood Marshall and fight all attacks on liberty
and equality in our courts – a battle that still continues 50 years
after Brown v. the Board of Education. Do you accept?
If you attend the business school, I challenge you to carry the mantle
of A.G. Gaston and other business pioneers. I challenge you to rebuild
our communities, restore confidence in the economy, create jobs, and
heal the economic wounds we've suffered in the wake of war and
recession. Do you accept?
If you’re attending the Howard University School of Medicine, I
challenge you to carry the mantle of former faculty member Dr. Charles
Drew and now, today, Dr. LaSalle LeFall.
I challenge you to find new treatments for AIDS and hypertension and
diabetes and other illnesses that disproportionately affect our people.
Do you accept?
If you are in ROTC, I challenge you to carry the mantle of the millions
who’ve died defending our democratic freedoms and to protect our shores
from the threat of terrorism. Do you accept?
And finally … If you are here in preparation for a career in education,
in social work, in nursing, in engineering, as a member of the clergy,
or any other field of endeavor … then I challenge you to carry on the
Howard University tradition of achievement and service that Dr. Swygert
leads us in every day… I challenge you to be worthy of that tradition …
I challenge you to carry the mantle of your predecessors faithfully and
with honor. DO YOU ACCEPT?
Outstanding.
Each of you has a responsibility to be a leader ... to be the architects
of a new era of opportunity, equality, and justice for African Americans
and all Americans. I know you will do your best …and inspire
generations to come by the light of your example.
John, do you think they’re ready?
Then good luck and God be with you. Thank you.