Knowledge - From @MichaelEDyson's book "Tears We Cannot Stop"- "The historian Edward E. Baptist reminds us that "FUCK" is from the Old English word that means to strike or beat, and before that, to plow and tear open." He adds - "The cops have fucked the lives of black folk."
In @MichaelEDyson's book "Tears We Cannot Stop - A Sermon to White America" he references a controversial graduation speech he made @UNC in 1996 - "Is America Still A Dream?:" reddit.com/r/Rhetoric/com…
20 years later & they're still writing about @MichaelEDyson's commencement address @UNC on December 15, 1996 - Where's the video/audio recording of the speech - I'll read MED's words but nothing like hearing them - blogs.lib.unc.edu/uarms/index.ph…
'@NPR has listed the "Best Commencement Speeches Ever" - @MichaelEDyson's 1996 address, "Is America Still A Dream?"to @UNC Fall Graduates didn't make the cut - apps.npr.org/commencement/
Today I start my @NPR "Best Commencement Speeches ever" Challenge - First up is Arron Sorkin - @SyracuseU May 13, 2012 - "The world doesn’t care how many times you fall down, as long as it’s one fewer than the number of times you get back up." youtube.com/watch?v=hwvilf…
Excellent Commencement Address by Arron Sorkin - @SyracuseU May 13, 2012 - youtube.com/watch?v=hwvilf… 
#2 Commencement Address by @abigailwashburn - @ColoradoCollege on May 21, 2012 -
Bright morning stars are rising
Bright morning stars are rising
Bright morning stars are rising
Day is a-breakin’ in my soul
youtube.com/watch?v=PHNqNW…
Bright morning stars are rising
Bright morning stars are rising
Bright morning stars are rising
Day is a-breakin’ in my soul
youtube.com/watch?v=PHNqNW…
#3 @NPR Best Commencement Speech Adam Savage aka @donttrythis - @SarahLawrence - May, 2012 youtube.com/watch?v=ld5heD…
#4 @NPR Best Commencement Speech - "CLAIMING an Education" by Adrienne Rich - 1977 at Douglass College now @RUDouglass -
"You cannot afford to think of being here to receive an education: you will do much better to think of being here to claim one."
net-workingworlds.weebly.com/uploads/1/5/1/…
"You cannot afford to think of being here to receive an education: you will do much better to think of being here to claim one."
net-workingworlds.weebly.com/uploads/1/5/1/…
Adrienne Rich's 1977 commencement speech (#4 @NPR) at Douglass College, now @RUDouglass was an empowerment speech for the female class. Two central themes - "Claiming an Education" & "taking responsibility toward yourselves" net-workingworlds.weebly.com/uploads/1/5/1/…
'@brainpicker's Best Commencement Speeches - brainpickings.org/2014/05/20/the…
#5 @NPR Best Commencement Speech - Ahmed Zewail @Caltech June 10, 2011 "My message from the outset is simple: always be guided by the light of knowledge and wisdom to shape your future, the future of your country, and the future of the world." americanrhetoric.com/speeches/ahmed…
"My dear graduates, success comes to the prepared mind. Success is not like rain that falls from the sky equally upon everyone. Success is what you reap when you sow with passion and optimism." Ahmed Zewail
#5 @NPR Best Commencement Speech - Ahmed Zewail @Caltech June 10, 2011 - "You need a good education to lead a fuller, richer life; the country needs you to build its future; and the world will be a better place when knowledge replaces ignorance. americanrhetoric.com/speeches/ahmed…
#6 @NPR Best Commencement Speech - @algore @UTKnoxville May 14, 2010 - "You will know the truth and the truth shall set you free"
youtube.com/watch?v=e-yi6G…
youtube.com/watch?v=e-yi6G…
"The dogmas of the quiet past, are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, & we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew, & act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, & then we shall save our country." Abe Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln's concluding remarks to Congress - December 1, 1862 - "Lincoln devoted so much attention to preparing the message that his friend David Davis said, 'Mr. Lincoln's whole soul is absorbed in his plan of remunerative emancipation.'" abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/speech…
#7 @NPR Best Commencement Speech - @alanalda - @ConnCollege June 1, 1980 - Alda's daughter (Eve) is a member of the graduating class & he personalizes the speech. Truly a special speech & Eve had to listen to all of her dad's wisdom with her classmates.
digitalcommons.conncoll.edu/cgi/viewconten…
digitalcommons.conncoll.edu/cgi/viewconten…
"You knew I wanted to amend the Constitution, but you probably didn't know I
wanted to amend the Golden Rule as well. Here's my Golden Rule for a tarnished age: Be fair with others but then keep after them until they're fair with you." @alanalda digitalcommons.conncoll.edu/cgi/viewconten…
wanted to amend the Golden Rule as well. Here's my Golden Rule for a tarnished age: Be fair with others but then keep after them until they're fair with you." @alanalda digitalcommons.conncoll.edu/cgi/viewconten…
'@alanalda on Logic - June 1, 1980 @ConnCollege Commencement Speech - digitalcommons.conncoll.edu/cgi/viewconten…
"It's always better to be wise than to be smart... It takes a long time to find wisdom because nobody knows where wisdom can be found. It tends to break out at unexpected times like a rare virus and mostly people with compassion and understanding are susceptible to it." @alanalda
'@alanalda on Existentialism - "Life is absurd & meaningless & full of nothingness...... life is meaningless unless you bring meaning to it; that it is up to us to create our own existence. Unless you do something, unless you make something it's as though you aren't there."
"When the new draft was proposed a few months ago, some kids raised signs that said "Nothing is worth dying for." I don't agree. I don't feel that nothing
is worth dying for, but since I was very young I questioned if anything is worth killing for." @alanalda
is worth dying for, but since I was very young I questioned if anything is worth killing for." @alanalda
"Why - on a day of such excitement and hope should I be talking of
nothingness and decay? Because I want you to focus that hope and level that excitement into coherent rays that will strike like a laser at the targets of our discontent." @alanalda @ConnCollege Commencement 6/1/80
nothingness and decay? Because I want you to focus that hope and level that excitement into coherent rays that will strike like a laser at the targets of our discontent." @alanalda @ConnCollege Commencement 6/1/80
Strong closing comments by @alanalda - "I want you to have chutzpah. Nothing important was ever accomplished without chutzpah." Truly a memorable, thought provoking & enlightening commencement speech given @ConnCollege on June 1, 1980. digitalcommons.conncoll.edu/cgi/viewconten…
@alanalda @ConnCollege #8 @NPR Best Commencement Speech - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn - @Harvard - June 8, 1978 - "A World Split Apart" - americanrhetoric.com/speeches/alexa…
English reading of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn @Harvard Commencement speech, "A World Split Apart," that was given on June 8, 1978 - youtube.com/watch?v=QC_3xn…
"My Harvard Speech in Retrospect" by ALEKSANDR SOLZHENITSYN & ALEXANDRA DESANCTIS
nationalreview.com/magazine/2018/…
nationalreview.com/magazine/2018/…
"How many hasty, immature, superficial, and misleading judgments are expressed every day, confusing readers, without any verification....A person who works and leads a meaningful life does not need this excessive burdening flow of information." Alexandr Solzhenitsyn - 6/8/1978
#9 @NPR Best Commencement Speech - @alexisohanian at @carthagecollege on 5/28/2014 - "Failure is an Option" - graduationwisdom.com/speeches/0166-…
@NPR @alexisohanian @carthagecollege '@alexisohanian speaks on the wisdom in graduation speeches & then ends with this wish for the graduates of @carthagecollege - "Here's what I wish for every one of you, these two things.
That you're constantly thinking.
That you're constantly flowing with ideas."
That you're constantly thinking.
That you're constantly flowing with ideas."
@NPR @alexisohanian @carthagecollege #10 @NPR Best Commencement Speech is actually not a commencement speech - It's the "Class Day" Speech (6/9/04) that occurs @Harvard the day before graduation - Enjoy the unique flavor that only Ali G aka @SachaBaronCohen can bring - youtube.com/watch?v=GUCy75…
@NPR @alexisohanian @carthagecollege @Harvard @SachaBaronCohen "I look out & see 1000s of people with different hopes, but it's important never to forget where you come from. Black, White, Brown, or Pakistani, we all comes from the same place, The Punani." Ali G wisdom in 2004 @Harvard Class Day speech.
@NPR @alexisohanian @carthagecollege @Harvard @SachaBaronCohen #11 @NPR Best Commencement Speech by @alicegreenwald at @SarahLawrence on 5/18/2017 - "Why Memory Matters" - “If we stop remembering, we stop being." {Elie Wiesel} humanity.org/voices/commenc…
Why Does Memory Matter? @alicegreenwald quoting John K. Roth in her Commencement Address @SarahLawrence on May 18, 2007 - humanity.org/voices/commenc…
"The space between cognitive understanding and emotional intelligence is where memory resides." @alicegreenwald
#12 @NPR Best Commencement Speech - @Goal_Cast edited version of @timminchin "Occasional Address" @uwanews - "Nine Life Lessons" - 9/2013 youtube.com/watch?v=ZpMYK1…
Complete #12 @NPR Best Commencement Speech given by @timminchin at @uwanews 9/2013 - "Nine Life Lessons" timminchin.com/2013/09/25/occ…
