Thank you for welcoming me to Oak Hall. I’m honored and privileged to be an Eagle for the day.
We are here to acknowledge and celebrate the wonderful achievements of some of your classmates. While their accomplishments are impressive, I want to spend my time with you focusing on one key aspect of the success we are here to commemorate – that is, the idea of investment. Specifically, investing of the self.
We most often hear and think of investment in financial terms - one invests some amount of money for a return of more money. I submit to you that the same concept applies to investment of the self. I want to challenge you to invest yourself in your responsibilities, not only as a way to meet them, but as a way to discover more of yourself – who you are and who you can be.
Even more specifically, I ask you to commit to investing yourself in service to the community. Identify a cause, an issue, a problem that troubles you, and invest yourself in changing things. This is the only way that the ills that plague our society will be healed - by young people like you fixing things.
This will require that you invest yourself.
As you heard in the introduction, I started a non-profit agency, Visible Men, that will attack the crisis plaguing too many black boys and men in America. Visible Men is based on the belief that the story of black male strife and struggle isovertold, and that the story of black male success and achievement has goneuntold. Our agency builds an ever-expanding network of accomplished black men, we gather their insights on success and fulfillment, and then we pass these on to black boys in every way we can. We connect black boys to future possibilities by showing them the full story of the black male experience in America.
This is one issue in which I invest myself.
Our end goal is clear. We will work toward our own obsolescence and will strive to become unnecessary. We’ll long for the day when we state the function of our agency and have people respond, “Of course there are large numbers of black men doing great things at home, at work, and in their communities. Doesn’t everyone know that? What’s the big deal?” When we hear that reaction routinely, we’ll be thrilled. We’ll close our doors, and I’ll start my work as a reggae DJ from a hut on the beach, which has been my true lifelong career calling.
Though our focus will be on the positive side of the black male story, we will necessarily confront the negative, namely, the statistics. Slightly less than half of black boys in our country graduate from high school. The unemployment rate for black men is double that of white men. Today, right now, there are more black men in jail in America than there are in college.
Sad statistics. Terrible, tragic, and exasperating statistics. Really, it’s nothing short of a humanitarian crisis, right here, on our own soil, in our own neighborhoods.
There is a long list of reasons that contribute to these statistics. They’re all important. But, the biggest reason for these statistics is the one that’s most maddening to me, and that is that these numbers exist because our society has accepted them as the standard for black boys and men. Somehow, we have settled into a collective belief that this evidence of profound underachievement is suitable – it’s just the way it is.
Well, it’s not suitable or acceptable or tolerable. We are so much better than that. We’re better students, better professionals, better husbands and fathers, and better citizens. We are far more capable and accomplished people than the statistics indicate.
So, why? Why are we apparently ‘OK’ with this plight of so many of our countrymen and boys? I believe there is some other-ness, at play. Too many of us, feel little or no connection with them. Sure, we hope things get better, but really, it’s someone else’s issue.
This sounds harsh. I wish I didn’t feel this way about this and so many other crises afflicting so many people in our world, but sadly, I do. All too often, it’s someone else’s issue.
Other-ness. There’s Us…there’s Them.
So…I arrive at the message I want to convey to you this afternoon. It’s a life philosophy I embrace, one that provides me firm guidance, great clarity, and unyielding optimism. It will do the same for you.
The philosophy is this… there is no “other”, no “them”. There’s only Us.
For much of your lives, you’ve been told to be kind to others, serve others, be mindful and respectful of others. Of course, these are all very well-intended sentiments. But, they unintentionally feed a damaging construct.
There are no “others”. There is only Us.
I am absolutely convinced that thinking in terms of “other” inevitably leads to harmful ‘us’ and ‘them’ thinking. It’s limiting and dividing, and ultimately destructive. It’s isolating, instead of unifying, and it’s preventing us from realizing all that we can be, all that we have to be for one another.
There is only Us - one big, colorful, loud, multi-cultural, multi-racial, multi-ethnic Us.
I know you’ve all been inundated with countless messages of unity. So much so, that I’m teetering dangerously on the doorstep of cliché. Still, I’ll take the risk.
He’s not a Democrat or a Republican – he’s Us, with a different political viewpoint. She’s not a Christian or a Jew – she’s Us, with a different religious identity. He’s not straight or gay – he’s Us, with a different sexual preference. They’re us, living in a country thousands of miles away. And yes, they’re us, with different color uniforms and a different team mascot.
It’s amazing what happens to your perspective when you see the world through this lens. Your sense of community expands beyond limit. Your notion of citizenship grows deeper. Your sense of obligation to elevate those around you feels like a great privilege. Your ability to empathize becomes boundless. Also, the notion of diversity takes on an entirely different meaning, and restrictive words like “inclusion” and “tolerance” give way to inspiring words like “celebrate” and “cherish”.
Think of the sense of Us you feel toward this school, toward this community, as Oak Hall Eagles. Imagine these strong feelings expanded beyond this campus, beyond this town, beyond this country. Envision taking the great energy you’ll unleash on the athletic fields later this afternoon and gifting it to all of Us in need, near and far – all of Us who are hungry or sick or lonely or neglected.
Solve problems. Change lives. Invest in all of Us.
I can say with great certainty that investing yourself to these ends will impact our world far more than any grade you ever earn, any shot you ever make, or any note you ever play. It will be the most meaningful thing you will ever do.
Congratulations to each of you as new Cum Laude Society members. You are all magnificent models of what it means to invest yourself.
Thank you.