Here They Come, Y’all

I just heard one of the best commencement speeches ever. Clark-Atlanta University, as the name suggests, is in Atlanta, Georgia. It is a historically Black university, or one of over 100 HBCUs in the United States. This year, Dr. Daniel Black was the commencement speaker, and he inspired me, and I’m not even graduating.

Daniel Black is from Kansas City, so you might think I’m biased. I’m not. I didn’t learn about his hometown until after I saw the speech and cried tears of joy because of the care and concern he displayed while celebrating the educational and career aspirations of all the graduates.

It might seem that I am biased because I also graduated from an HBCU—North Carolina A&T State University.

I am not.

I had no idea Black was an alum of Clark-Atlanta until halfway through his speech.

Although I have read several of Black’s novels, I was listening to the speech while still in bed with my eyes closed. I didn’t know who was speaking, what he looked like exactly, or any accolades about him or his qualifications. After he finished speaking, I ran straight to Google to view his Wikipedia page. To my surprise, there wasn’t one.

He has several books published by St. Martin’s Press, and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Alice Walker read one of his books and described it, saying, “a spellbinding novel that kept me reading late into several nights…. It is a gift to have so much passion, so much love, so much beautiful writing.”

I have not read them all, but I have read The Sacred Place (2007), Perfect Peace (2010), and The Coming (2015). The book club that formed as a result of every thing that happened in 2020, read Perfect Peace based on my suggestion, and their minds were opened. Each of Black's novels have kept me up reading into the night, too. He's an exceptional writerBut good writers are not always captivating orators. Dr. Black certainly is!

He began the speech with a thunderous but joyful roar of “Here they come, y’all. Here they come,” and went on to acknowledge every single degree in the audience. He praised them for their resilience and tenacity. He described them and, in that description, reminded them who they are just in case they lose their confidence. He shared with them that the “Holy Ghost was at Clark-Atlanta” and was with them every time they thought they couldn't. He assured them that the Holy Ghost would be right there with them in the future, saying “Hell yeah!” and helping them along the way.

The speech was about 15 minutes of pure motivation and an uplifting call for each student to lean into whatever is in their spirit to do. From styling hair to curing cancer, he affirmed every person in that space. I will get a chance to give a commencement speech again one day. When I do, I will channel Daniel Black.

As a fellow Kansas Citian, THIS is the commencement speech I will remember for the rest of my life.