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CCNY: White House built by slaves

(2016-06-05 12:40:32) 下一個

10 Nobel laureates thus far from CCNY Graduation... via

White House built by slaves

Michelle Obama Gives Commencement Speech


 

Michelle Obama trashes Trump FULL Commencement Speech At CCNY Graduation June 3 2016

Published on Jun 3, 2016

Michelle Obama offered a scathing, barely veiled critique of Donald Trump on Friday as she delivered her final commencement address as first lady, warning graduates of City College in New York that while their diverse backgrounds are to be celebrated, they should beware of those who "build up walls to keep people out." "They seem to view our diversity as a threat to be contained rather than as a resource to be tapped," Obama said. "They tell us to be afraid of those who are different, to be suspicious of those with whom we disagree. They act as if name-calling is an acceptable substitute for thoughtful debate. As if anger and intolerance should be our default state rather than optimism and openness that have always been the engine of our progress." Invoking her travels as first lady, Obama remarked that she has visited dozens of countries over the last seven years. "And I have seen what happens when ideas like these take hold. I have seen how leaders rule by intimidation, leaders who demonize and dehumanize entire groups of people often do so because they have nothing else to offer. And I have seen how places that stifle the voices and dismiss the potential of their citizens are diminished, how they are less vital, less hopeful, less free." "Graduates, that is not who we are. That is not what this country stands for," Obama continued, before alluding to Trump's Make America Great Again slogan. "No, no, here in America, we don’t let our differences tear us apart. Not here. Because we know that our greatness comes from when we appreciate each other’s strengths, when we learn from each other, when we lean on each other, because in this country, it’s never been each person for themselves, no we’re all in this together. We always have been."

In another allusion to Trump's call to build a wall on the border with Mexico, Obama remarked, "here in America, we don’t give in to our fears, we don’t build up walls to keep people out, because we know that our greatness has always depending on contributions from people who were born elsewhere but sought out this country and made it their home.”

The first lady then ticked through a list of cultural and historical landmarks created by people who were not born in the United States, including Google, eBay, the artificial heart, the telephone, blue jeans, Russian-born Irving Berlin's "God Bless America," the Brooklyn Bridge and the White House.

The greatness of the United States, she mused, has "never come from folks who climbed the ladder of success or who happened to be born near the top and then pulled the ladder up after themselves."

"No, uh-uh," she continued, to applause. "Our greatness has always come from people who expect nothing and take nothing for granted, folks who work hard for what they have and then reach back and help others after them. That is your story, graduates, and that is the story of your families. And it’s the story of my family, too.”

The story of the U.S., the first lady continued, is one of "the son of Polish immigrants named Jonas Salk who toiled for years in a lab until he discovered a vaccine that saved countless lives. It’s the story of the son of Jamaican immigrants named Colin Powell who became a four-star general, secretary of state, and a role model for young people across the country."

"And graduates, it’s the story that I witness every single day when I wake up in a house that was built by slaves, and I watch my daughters, two beautiful black young women head off to school waving goodbye to their father, the president of the United States, the son of a man from Kenya who came here to America for the same reasons as many of you: to get an education and improve his prospects in life," she remarked.

While the United States' founders "never could have imagined this day," Obama said, "all of you are very much the fruits of their vision."
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Authors:First Lady Michelle Obama Delivers 2016 The City College of New York (CCNY) Commencement Address First Lady Michelle Obama delivers the 2016 City College of New York (CCNY). This is her last commencement address as the First Lady of the United States of AMERICA.

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS | Jun. 3, 2016 | 0:59

Michelle Obama said that in America “we don’t build up walls to keep people out” as she delivered the commencement address on Friday at City College in New York.

Michelle Obama Denounces Donald Trump in CUNY Commencement Speech

http://www.nytimes.com/video/us/100000004452294/michelle-obama-gives-commencement-speech.html?t=0&smid=pl-share

 
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Michelle Obama Gives Commencement Speech

Michelle Obama said that in America “we don’t build up walls to keep people out” as she delivered the commencement address on Friday at City College in New York.

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS on Publish Date June 3, 2016. Photo by Sam Hodgson for The New York Times. Watch in Times Video »

In tones both aspirational and political, Michelle Obama on Friday used her last commencement address as first lady to salute graduates of the City College of New York as “living, breathing proof that the American dream endures,” while also criticizing “name-calling” leaders who engage in “anger and intolerance.”

Mrs. Obama did not specifically mention Donald J. Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president. But her intent could not have been clearer as she warned that “leaders who rule by intimidation — leaders who demonize and dehumanize entire groups of people — often do so because they have nothing else to offer.”

“Here in America, we don’t give in to our fears,” she told the class of 2016, with its 3,848 graduates, in an outdoor ceremony on the college’s Manhattan campus. “We don’t build up walls to keep people out because we know that our greatness has always depended on contributions from people who were born elsewhere but sought out this country and made it their home.”

For Mrs. Obama, the address, the last of her three commencement speeches this year, was intended to highlight several issues that have been dear to her, including public education and immigration. Noting the college’s proximity to the Statue of Liberty, she said there was “no better way to celebrate this great country than being here with you.”

Mrs. Obama’s commencement address at City College, the flagship school in the City University of New York system, was the latest high point in its long, distinguished history. In 1847, it was founded as the Free Academy of New York, with a mission to provide an education to anyone, at low cost.

But her visit also came at a precarious time for the CUNY system, which has been troubled by overcrowded classes, shrinking course options and budget cuts, as described in a recent investigation by The New York Times. Faculty members and employees represented by the university’s biggest union, who have worked without a raise for six years, recently voted to authorize a strike in the fall if no contract deal was reached.

Indeed, dozens of faculty and students on Friday morning handed out fliers to people filing past security to enter the campus, in Upper Manhattan, urging public officials to invest more money in the system.

None of the speakers at the commencement directly addressed CUNY’s woes. But in her 24-minute address, which elicited frequent and enthusiastic applause, Mrs. Obama said that “public education is our greatest pathway to opportunity in America. So we need to invest in and strengthen our public universities today, and for generations to come.”

At several points, she mentioned notable immigrants, or the children of immigrants, who had attended City College, including Jonas Salk, Ira Gershwin, Colin L. Powell and Andrew S. Grove, the former Intel chief executive, who died in March. But she also applauded the valedictorian and salutatorian of the graduating class, who delivered rousing addresses on the importance of diversity and the hard-fought battle to break cultural barriers.

Mrs. Obama added some personal perspective, as well:

“It’s the story that I witness every single day when I wake up in a house that was built by slaves, and I watch my daughters — two beautiful, black young women — head off to school, waving goodbye to their father, the president of the United States, the son of a man from Kenya who came here to America for the same reasons as many of you: to get an education and improve his prospects in life.”

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