To the distinguished members of the Black Graduating Class of the year 2000, to their parents, families and friends, and to the distinguished students, staff and faculty in attendance this evening, please join me in congratulating the graduates for a job well done!  (applause)  Ya’ll done good!

It is an honor and a privilege to be a member of the faculty of The Claremont Colleges precisely because of these students.  [To the students:]  Your brilliance inside and outside of the classroom has been inspiring and intellectually challenging.  Just as you have learned something from we, the faculty, it is even more true that we have been challenged by, and have learned from, you.  So, thank you for your brilliance, for your integrity, for your hard work, and for your inspiration.  I will be a better scholar and teacher in the future because of you.

You must recognize that you are brilliant.  You are hard working.  They are not giving any degrees away here.  You have earned them.

Your effort has paid off!  Your Bachelor’s Degree shows that you have what it takes to succeed in a difficult and highly competitive environment.  Let your success here give you the self confidence to succeed in the difficult and highly competitive environments that you will encounter in the future.  In the words of Marcus Mosiah Garvey, “Up you mighty race!  You can accomplish what you will.”

I come here tonight to both congratulate you and to challenge you.  Here, then, are five challenges to the graduating class of the year 2000.

First, you must know that what you have accomplished is both an ending and a beginning.  To graduate from college is a great achievement, but what you have done, more than anything else, is learned how to learn.  You must recognize that the learning process is a lifelong one.  As Wade Nobles has put it, “Every process ends in a product, even though the process never ends.”

As the Chairman of the Intercollegiate Department of Black Studies, I want to suggest to you that you continue your education in Black Studies.  If you have not taken any courses in Black Studies, then shame on you; you should begin your re-education right away.  If you have taken one or many courses in Black Studies, then you already recognize that it is in this disciplinary approach where we gain true knowledge about Africa and where we gain true knowledge about Africans throughout the Diaspora.  It is, indeed, in Black Studies where we challenge conventional wisdom about the entirety of the store of knowledge that comprises a liberal arts (mis)education.

As Africans in America, you know that we are living in the belly of the beast.  And although you and I are doing quite well according to most standards of success, the majority of our people remain in psychological and material bondage.

So, one reason why we study Africa and her peoples is that we learn to appreciate ourselves for our past, present and future contributions to the world in which we live.  Too many of us have halted our education after we have been thoroughly mis-educated within a culture that despises everything Black or African.  As Malcolm X said,

“You can’t hate the roots of a tree, and not hate the tree.  You can’t hate your origin and not end up hating yourself.  You can’t hate Africa and not hate yourself.”

Please do not expect anyone to undertake this re-educational process for you.  And I know you don’t believe that everything that you have learned over the past four years has been true or beneficial.  As John Henrik Clarke said, “…powerful people cannot afford to educate the people that they oppress, because once you are truly educated, you will not ask for power.  You’ll take it.”  So my first challenge to you is to continue your education for the remainder of your lives.  Focus on an education that teaches an appreciation of what Africa has contributed and continues to contribute to the world.  Please recognize that knowing our past is a key to our future.  “If you don’t know where you have been, you cannot know where you are.  If you don’t know where you are, then you cannot know where you’re going.  And if you don’t know where you’re going, then any old fool can take you there” [Morris Jeff].

 My second challenge is that you must take the mantle of being an advocate for social and racial justice.  I have found James Baldwin’s quote to be absolutely true:  “To be Black, and to be aware, is to be in a constant state of rage.”  We are Black, we must continually cultivate our awareness, and we must translate our rage into productive actions that promote justice and equality.

None of us is here tonight solely because of our merit.  African men and women have struggled and sacrificed for us for hundreds of years.  We would not be here with our B.A. degrees were it not for the fact that people tore down the doors of segregation so that we could sneak in and compete.  We would be riding in the back of the bus were it not for the courage of Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King and the other architects of the Montgomery Bus Boycott.  We would still be shackled in the chains of slavery were it not for the sacrifices of Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, and the thousands of others who fought and died for emancipation.

So we have a debt to our group and to our society.  We have a debt that must be repaid in our recognition of injustice and our commitment to do whatever we can to create a more just and equitable world. “The only thing necessary for the perpetuation of evil is for good people to do nothing” [Jane Elliot].  Keep in mind those ten two-letter words of self empowerment:  “If it is to be, it is up to me!”

Many of you have already shown your commitment to social justice issues; and I commend those of you who have engaged in struggle at the Claremont Colleges for Irvin Landrum, Jr. or for the cafeteria workers.  Your sacrifices in these struggles have borne much fruit as the Presidents of the Claremont Colleges are agreeing to student demands for non-intimidation agreements with the workers; and the L.A. County District Attorney, just this week, has re-opened the investigation into the officer involved shooting of Irvin Landrum, Jr.

You can’t claim to be hungry for freedom and justice and then sit down to the table of apathy and complacency and expect to be well fed [modified from Thomas A. Parham].  You must continue to be advocates for social change and social justice.  This is not an option, it is a mandate.  And the instances of social injustice are so many that only a few key ones can be briefly named:  racial profiling, criminal injustice, three strikes legislation, the death penalty, the second-class citizenship of women around the world, structured inequality in access to educational and health resources, and war and the threat of war.  And as Margaret Mead has reminded us, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever does.”

The third challenge is that we must also advocate for our physical environment.  Just as the doctrines of Manifest Destiny have brought about great human tragedies, they have also wreaked havoc on the environment.  From reckless disregard in oil drilling, to worldwide deforestation, to the accumulation of millions of pounds of nuclear waste that will mar our world for the next 20,000 years, we must seek environmental integrity and environmental justice.  In this, I share with you a very valuable Indian proverb: “We don’t inherit this earth from our parents, we borrow it from our children.”

The fourth challenge: Please understand that being Black is more than a fortuitous accident of birth:  it is a mandate that we continue the tradition of working hard for ourselves, our families, and our communities.  We all know of students who did as little as possible to get by; and we know of those who worked hard—who went the extra mile—to produce excellence in their academic achievements and in their lives.

Working hard—and going the extra mile—is the only way to assure success in your lives and in our collective struggle.  “You may not get all that you pay for in this world, but you must certainly pay for all that you get” [Morris Jeff].  The easy road is wide and flat; it is crowded with those who slide by; the hard road is high and rugged, it is thinly populated with those who walk single file.  Take the high road; take the rugged road; work hard to make a positive difference for yourself, for your family, and for our community.

Finally, have faith.  Too many of us are miseducated to the point where we think that this universe came about through some kind of spontaneous generation.  Resist agnosticism and keep God in your life.  Walking hand in hand with God will give us the confidence that our private and public struggles will be won!

And so I close with these words of struggle, with these words of commitment, and with these words of faith:  A luta continua lasima tushinde mbilishaka:  The struggle continues and we will conquer, without a doubt!

This paper was read at the Black Graduation Ceremony of The Claremont Colleges, May 13, 2000.  The author may be reached at Hfairchild@pitzer.edu.