Amir’s Commencement Speech
Albany has been my home for the last seven years, and I would not choose any other
place to be
Members of the faculty, parents, guests, and graduates, have no fear. I am well aware that
on a day of such high excitement, what you require, first and foremost, of any speaker is
brevity. I shall not fail you in this respect. There are exactly eighty-five sentences in my
speech, four of which you have just heard. It will take me about twelve minutes to speak
all of them. Two words that I wish to speak to everyone about today is support and
sacrifice. These two words have resonated in my mind for the last 12 years of my life.
I would not be the man standing in front of your today without support. I will not stand
up here and preach that I did this all but myself or that I was a self-made man. I believe
that one is only as strong as the support unit behind that person. If someone told me that I
would be alive today near the age of 25, I would laugh in their face. If someone told me
that I would go to college at the age of 18 and graduate at 21, I would shrug them off. If
someone told me that I would go for my Master’s Degree at 23 and would dare to obtain
a PhD, I would flat out think that they were crazy. These are important instances in my
life where I did not believe in myself, but other people believed in me and I accomplished
this goals. They saw within the potential I possessed and invested in my future, when I
did not myself. That is truly a definition of future sight.
Without my family, friends and great mentors, I have no clue where’d I be right now.
They say it takes a village to raise a child and I was surrounded by kin. I owe them all a
great debt of gratitude.
If there is one entity that has truly shaped and put me on the path that I am on, it the
Africana Studies Department here at the University at Albany. I did not find them, they
found me and they welcomed me with open arms. Maybe it is fate, divine intervention or
simple luck, whatever you call it, I am happy that I got it. When I was found, I thought I
was “the man.” I was well paid, had a girlfriend, a nice car, a dog and I was college
educated. I was on top of the world. I really did not think much of graduate school
because I was living for the now and not worrying much about my future. The day that
Professor Slade found me, will always be a day I’ll cherish as my “Great Awakening.”
He came to my office in the EOP Complex and kindly said: The Department of Africana
Studies is looking for some recent grads that would be interested in a Master’s Program,
is that student you as he pointed to me. I quickly dismissed the idea in my head because I
thought I was well-off. My supervisor at the time sternly said: “Amir would definitely be
interested,” and gave me a stern look that said: “Boy you betta go.”
So I arranged a meeting with Professor Slade and I met him in his office. He talked to me
about my lifestyle and why I never considered an advanced degree. I told him that I was
comfortable with my life at this moment. Professor Slade told me to never be comfortable
with the temporary riches of life and that education is forever. Since that day, I have
never settled for anything in my life and have lived my life to be uncomfortable, always
in the search of something to new to learn in the pursuit of constant growth. Without him
I would not be on the pathway that I am today.
Riding on this journey, I have met a lot of wonderful people in my life. The faculty here
is above all the best. They really take time to work with you and give you the necessary
tools to be a great student and professional. Everyday they challenge you to be the best –
they challenge your thinking, writing, ethics, and always demand more from you. This
program has further developed my awareness and consciousness as a Black man and
allowed me to focus on the struggle and hypocrisy of equal access and rights of
minorities in America and across the world. It is the persistent drive for excellence and
academic scholarship that I am grateful for. I am also grateful for having amazing
colleagues that I am honored to call my friends. Without their support and admiration,
this road would have been very bumpy. The graduate students kept me “whole” as person
as I was riding through the emotions of getting a PhD. They were in my corner and
always saw the potential of my dreams. It is support like this which truly makes a person,
creates a community, and can change the world.
Sometimes I ask myself: how do we as a person replicate that support; how do you
realign the world with a paradigm of support? The answer is sacrifice. To make the world
a better place, we all must sacrifice something to generate that change. My ancestors and
your ancestors have all sacrificed their lives, their jobs, and their time to better the world
around them for the future generations. From slave rebellions on the slave ships and on
the plantations, to marches and protests in streets all the way to Washington D.C, the
Black community has sacrificed all to topple oppression and liberate our people. History
always repeats itself and the call for people to sacrifice to create a better world is now.
The future is now and the question that I ask you all is: What are you willing to give up to
help benefit the lives of others? It costs nearly nothing to help another person, so why do
we not do it more often? Why are we so comfortable with the bubble that we live in?
What are we so comfortable with our lifestyle when other people are in need? We all
must see beyond what we possess and seek ways to help people.
Samuel Johnson said: “ The true measure of man is how he treats someone who can do
him absolutely no good.”
Eric E Thomas said: “ The value of a man is not measured by what he does for himself to
make his life easier, but measured by what he does for others to make their lives easier.”
Martin Luther King said: The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in
moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and
controversy.”
I am ready to sacrifice my time, my job and my life to make the world a better place. It is
with great hope that my Doctoral degree will allow me become a social justice educator,
which would allow me to enrich and empower the lives of the Black community through
education. African Americans and other people of color are systematically denied equal
educational and employment opportunities and the right to an equal life due to enhanced
punishment paradigms such as the war on drugs and zero tolerance policies in schools.
These sociopolitical policies have redefined teachable moments for people into increased
targeting and the criminalization of African Americans and other minorities, channeling
them towards prison and a second-class status. I want to implement paradigms of
compassion and support to dismantle the oppressive institutions that we are forced to live
in and to eliminate educational disparities and increase our global consciousness as
human beings. I will forever challenge the status quo. I will forever strive to be
uncomfortable to create change. I will forever strive to be uncomfortable to continue to
grow.
My post-secondary education was the impetus for me to become an agent of change and
help better the lives of people in marginalized communities. It is the key that unlocks a
multitude of opportunities in one’s life and can lead to liberation and empowerment.
Education can be a tool for freedom by creating new perspectives and eliminating
prejudice. I would like to utilize my education from the Africana Studies Department to
be an agent of change. As I wrap up my speech I want to leave you all with a quote from
a man that was visionary and an intellectual. Steve Jobs in a 2005 commencement at
Stanford said this: Your time is limited; so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't
let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important,
have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. Understand that the journey, my
journey, your journey will be difficult, but you am ready to tackle the rigorous and
challenging world. Continue to push yourself to the limits to achieve the highest level of
excellence by immersing myself with all the tools that the community and the world can
provide for you.
From now on, we will be taking our talents and beliefs with us wherever we go .If we
have learned anything it is that we have to be adaptable. Be ready to take chances and go
different routes. The day of a job for life is almost gone. These days we have to be ready
to update our knowledge, add to our skills and be ready to cope with change.
That’s the challenge before us and it is one that we will all meet in our different ways.
Some of us will want to stay at home, others to travel the four corners of the earth. Some
will like to work alone while others will want to work in a partnership. Whatever we do
our wherever we go we won’t forget today. Hopefully in years to come we will meet up
and discuss our lives and endeavors.
Finally, I would like to wish my fellow graduates, fellow graduates now that has a nice
ring to it doesn’t it? I would like to wish them health and happiness in the future and the
satisfaction of knowing that whatever they do they will do it well. After all they are
graduates of University at Albany and that is just another name for the college of
excellence.
Thank you all and safe travels on your road to success.