POTUS Honors Veterans At Arlington National Cemetery

Before he and the FLOTUS hopped aboard Air Force One to start a nine day trip to Asia and the Pacific Rim, President Obama was at Arlington National Cemetery laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and thanking veterans for their service..

Remarks by the President on Veterans Day

11:40 A.M. EST
        THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, Ric Shinseki, for your extraordinary service to our country and your tireless commitment to our veterans; to Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta; to Chairman Dempsey and Mrs. Dempsey; to our wonderful veterans service organizations for the extraordinary work that you do for our nation’s heroes; to all who tend to and watch over this sacred cemetery; and above all, to every active duty member, Guardsman, Reservist, and veteran of the United States Armed Forces.

        There are many honors and responsibilities that come with this job.  But none are more humbling than serving as your Commander-in-Chief.  And I’m proud to be with so many of you here today.
  
     Here, where our heroes come to rest, we come to show our gratitude.  A few moments ago, I laid a wreath to pay tribute to all who have given their lives to our country.  For even though this is a day we rightly honor America’s veterans, we gather today in solemn respect -– mindful that we are guests here; mindful that we share this hallowed space with a family’s moment of quiet grief; mindful that many veterans not far from here are tracing their fingers over black granite for friends who never came home –- and expect us to do all we can to bring every missing American service member home to their families.

        To all our nation’s veterans:  Whether you fought in Salerno or Samarra, Khe Sanh or the Korengal, you are part of an unbroken chain of men and women who have served this country with honor and distinction.  On behalf of a proud and grateful nation, we thank you.

        When I spoke here on this day two years ago, I said there would be a day before long when this generation of servicemen and women would begin to step out of uniform.  And I made them a promise.  I said that when your tour ends, when you see our flag, when you touch our soil -– you will be home in an America that is forever here for you, just as you’ve been there for us.  (Applause.)

        For many, that day has come.  Over the past decade, more than 5 million Americans have worn the uniform of the United States Armed Forces.  Of these, 3 million stepped forward after the attacks of September 11th, knowing full well that they could be sent into harm’s way.  And in that time, they have served in some of the world’s most dangerous places.  Their service has been selfless.  Their accomplishments have been extraordinary.

        In Iraq, they have battled a brutal insurgency, trained new security forces and given the Iraqi people the opportunity to forge a better future.  In Afghanistan, they have pushed back the Taliban, decimated al Qaeda, and delivered the ultimate justice to Osama bin Laden.  In concert with our allies, they have helped end Qaddafi’s brutal dictatorship and returned Libya to its people.

        Because of their incredible efforts, we can stand here today and say with confidence -– the tide of war is receding.  In just a few weeks, the long war in Iraq will finally come to an end.  (Applause.)  Our transition in Afghanistan is moving forward.  My fellow Americans, our troops are coming home.  (Applause.)
        For many military families, this holiday season will be a season of homecomings.  And over the next five years, more than 1 million Americans in uniform will transition back to civilian life, joining the nearly 3 million who have done so over the past decade and embraced a proud new role, the role of veteran.
        This generation of service members -– this 9/11 Generation -– has borne the burden of our security during a hard decade of sacrifice.  Our servicemen and women make up less than 1 percent of Americans, but also more than 1 million military spouses and 2 million children and millions more parents and relatives -- all of whom have shared the strains of deployment and sacrificed on behalf of the country that we love.

        Only 27 years old on average, these young men and women have shattered the false myth of their generation’s apathy, for they came of age in an era when so many institutions failed to live up to their responsibilities.  But they chose to serve a cause greater than their selves.  They saw their country threatened.  But they signed up to confront that threat.  They felt some tug, they answered some call, and they said, Let’s go.  And they’ve earned their place among the greatest of generations.  (Applause.)

        That is something for America to be proud of.  That is the spirit America needs now -- a stronger, newer spirit of service and of sacrifice.  That spirit that says, What can I do to help?  What can I do to serve?  That spirit that says, When my country is challenged, I will do my part to meet that challenge.

        So on this Veterans Day, let us commit ourselves to keep making sure that our veterans receive the care and benefits that they have earned; the opportunity they defend and deserve; and above all, let us welcome them home as what they are -- an integral, essential part of our American family.  (Applause.)

        See, when our men and women sign up to become a soldier or a sailor, an airman, Marine, or Coast Guardsman, they don’t stop being a citizen.  When they take off that uniform, their service to this nation doesn’t stop, either.  Like so many of their predecessors, today’s veterans come home looking to continue serving America however they can.  At a time when America needs all hands on deck, they have the skills and the strength to help lead the way.

        Our government needs their patriotism and sense of duty.  And that’s why I’ve ordered the hiring of more veterans by the federal government.  (Applause.)  Our economy needs their tremendous talents and specialized skills.  So I challenged our business leaders to hire 100,000 post-9/11 veterans and their spouses over the next few years and yesterday, many of these leaders joined Michelle to announce that they will meet that challenge.  (Applause.)

        Our communities have always drawn strength from our veterans’ leadership.  Think of all who have come home and settled on in a quiet life of service -- as a doctor or a police officer, an engineer or an entrepreneur, as a mom or a dad -- and in the process, changed countless lives.  Other veterans seek new adventures from taking on a new business to building a team of globetrotting veterans who use skills learned in combat to help after a natural disaster.

        There are also so many in this young generation who still feel that tug to serve, but just don’t quite know where to turn.  So on this Veterans Day, I ask every American, recruit our veterans.  If you’re a business owner, hire them.  If you’re a community leader -- a mayor, a pastor or a preacher -- call on them to join your efforts.  Organize your community to make a sustained difference in the life of a veteran because that veteran can make an incredible difference in the life of your community.

        If you’re a veteran looking for new ways to serve, check out Serve.gov.  If you’re a civilian looking for new ways to support our veterans and our troops, join Michelle and Jill Biden at JoiningForces.gov.  Find out what you can do.  There is no such thing as too small a difference.  That effort you make may have the biggest impact.

        I say this because recently, I received a letter from a Vietnam veteran.  She wasn’t writing to tell me about her own experience.  She just wanted to tell me about her son, Jeremy.  Now, Jeremy isn’t deployed, Jeremy’s not a veteran, or even in the military at all, as badly as he wants to follow in the footsteps of his family and enlist.  You see, Jeremy has Down Syndrome.

        So Jeremy chooses to serve where he can best -– with his local Vietnam Veterans of America chapter in Beaver, Pennsylvania.  He calls them “the soldiers”.  And one day last spring, Jeremy spent the day with several of these veterans cleaning up a local highway.

        “He worked tirelessly,” wrote his mother.  “He never asked to take a break.  He didn’t stop to talk about his beloved Steelers.  He didn’t even ask for anything to eat or drink.  He only asked for one thing, several times –- ‘Mom, will President Obama be proud of me for helping the soldiers?’”

        Well, Jeremy, I want you to know, yes, I am proud of you.  I could not be prouder of you, and your country is proud of you.  Thank you for serving our veterans by helping them to continue their service to America.

        And Jeremy’s example -- one young man’s example -- is one that we must all now follow.  Because after a decade of war, the nation we now need to build is our own.  And just as our Greatest Generation left a country recovering from Depression and returned home to build the largest middle class in history, so now will the 9/11 Generation play a pivotal role in rebuilding America’s opportunity and prosperity in the 21st century.

        We know it will be hard.  We have to overcome new threats to our security and prosperity, and we’ve got to overcome the cynical voices warning that America’s best days are behind us.  But if there is anything our veterans teach us, it’s that there is no threat we cannot meet; there is no challenge we cannot overcome.  America’s best days are still ahead.  And the reason for that is because we are a people who defy those voices that insist otherwise.  We are a country that does what is necessary for future generations to succeed.  (Applause.)

        You, our veterans, fight so our children won’t have to.  We build and we invent and we learn so that we will know greater opportunity.  America leads so that the next generation, here and around the world, will know a more hopeful life on this Earth.

        So today, I thank you all for making that possible.  God bless you.  God bless our veterans and our troops, and God bless the United States of America.  (Applause.)

POTUS 2011 ALC Speech

I didn't go to this event while I was in Washington DC for OUT on the Hill and the CBCF-ALC, but some of the NBJC board members did.

Here's the video of President Obama's speech to the 2011 Congressional Black Caucus Foundation-Annual Legislative Conference Phoenix Awards Dinner.


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Monica's 2011 Esteem Awards Acceptance Speech.

This is the speech I wrote for the 2011 Esteem Award that I'll be getting on July 3.   Thought I'd share it with you TransGriot readers and everyone who couldn't be in Chicago for the awards ceremony.

***

Giving honor to God, the Esteem Awards distinguished founder, judges, attendees of the awards ceremony, friends and allies

I am pleased, excited and thankful that I am being honored with a 2011 Esteem Award in the Outstanding Service, Transgender - Nationals category and humbly accept it.  I just wish I could be in Chicago during this festive Black Pride weekend in person to do so.

When I started my transition in 1994 and the activism part of it with my first Capitol Hill lobbying trip four years later, little did I know or expect that I was beginning a journey that was more than just simply wanting to do something to fight for my human rights as a trans person of African descent and be a role model to others like me. 

Along the way I’ve learned a lot of things about myself, met people around the country and the world that I’m blessed to call my friends who share a common vision of a world in which transpeople have the same codified human rights as everyone else.  I’ve become an iconic figure in the trans community, made some history, and edit a blog that has registered over 2.5 million hits since I started it on New Year’s Day 2006.

And because I tell it like it T-I-S is on TransGriot about a lot of subjects, pissed a few people off, too. 

Dr. Cornel West has a quote about leadership that I tweaked to better reflect the African descended trans constituency I serve:

'You can’t lead trans people if you don’t love trans people. You can’t save trans people if you don’t serve trans people.'

I love my people and have been leading and serving them in various capacities for over 15 years   But the journey to save them is far from over.  I won’t rest until my African descended trans brothers and sisters become and feel comfortable enough to believe they are full fledged participants at the African American family table inside and outside our rainbow community.

It’s nice any time you receive an award that recognizes you for the work you do on behalf of others.  It’s even more meaningful when that award comes from your own people 

Thank you for honoring me with this 2011 Esteem Award.      

Michael Moore-America Is NOT Broke

Michael Moore's speech to a Wisconsin rally.

State Of The Union Speech 2011

In a few hours all of us political junkies will be tuned in to our favorite news channel or C-SPAN to watch President Obama's second State of the Union address.

This one not only comes at the midpoint of his first term, it comes during a time when his poll numbers have rebounded after a bruising fight to enact health care reform legislation and a disastrous midterm election in which the Democrats lost control of the House

So it will be interesting to see what the president has to say about more than a few issues and his thoughts as to how this legislative year should play out..

President Obama's Tucson Speech.

President Obama's speech from Tucson, AZ

50th Anniversary of JFK 'What Is A Liberal' Speech

Republifools have attempted to make 'liberal' a dirty word and sadly,we've let them do it. I think it needs to be reclaimed and spat back in their faces since conservatism is and has repeatedly proven itself to be a failed political philosophy.

To give you an idea of what liberalism and what its guiding principles really are beyond the conservalies, I thought it would be appropriate on this day that you see and read the words of one of the Democratic Party's heroes, former president John F. Kennedy.

Today is the 50th anniversary of Kennedy's speech accepting the Liberal Party's nomination in New York, so the words of the 35th president of the United States on the subject bear repeating because they still ring true today.

A Liberal Definition by John F. Kennedy:

Acceptance Speech of the New York
Liberal Party Nomination

September 14, 1960

What do our opponents mean when they apply to us the label "Liberal?" If by "Liberal" they mean, as they want people to believe, someone who is soft in his policies abroad, who is against local government, and who is unconcerned with the taxpayer's dollar, then the record of this party and its members demonstrate that we are not that kind of "Liberal." But if by a "Liberal" they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people -- their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties -- someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a "Liberal," then I'm proud to say I'm a "Liberal."

But first, I would like to say what I understand the word "Liberal" to mean and explain in the process why I consider myself to be a "Liberal," and what it means in the presidential election of 1960.

In short, having set forth my view -- I hope for all time -- two nights ago in Houston, on the proper relationship between church and state, I want to take the opportunity to set forth my views on the proper relationship between the state and the citizen. This is my political credo:

I believe in human dignity as the source of national purpose, in human liberty as the source of national action, in the human heart as the source of national compassion, and in the human mind as the source of our invention and our ideas. It is, I believe, the faith in our fellow citizens as individuals and as people that lies at the heart of the liberal faith. For liberalism is not so much a party creed or set of fixed platform promises as it is an attitude of mind and heart, a faith in man's ability through the experiences of his reason and judgment to increase for himself and his fellow men the amount of justice and freedom and brotherhood which all human life deserves.

I believe also in the United States of America, in the promise that it contains and has contained throughout our history of producing a society so abundant and creative and so free and responsible that it cannot only fulfill the aspirations of its citizens, but serve equally well as a beacon for all mankind. I do not believe in a superstate. I see no magic in tax dollars which are sent to Washington and then returned. I abhor the waste and incompetence of large-scale federal bureaucracies in this administration as well as in others. I do not favor state compulsion when voluntary individual effort can do the job and do it well. But I believe in a government which acts, which exercises its full powers and full responsibilities. Government is an art and a precious obligation; and when it has a job to do, I believe it should do it. And this requires not only great ends but that we propose concrete means of achieving them.

Our responsibility is not discharged by announcement of virtuous ends. Our responsibility is to achieve these objectives with social invention, with political skill, and executive vigor. I believe for these reasons that liberalism is our best and only hope in the world today. For the liberal society is a free society, and it is at the same time and for that reason a strong society. Its strength is drawn from the will of free people committed to great ends and peacefully striving to meet them. Only liberalism, in short, can repair our national power, restore our national purpose, and liberate our national energies. And the only basic issue in the 1960 campaign is whether our government will fall in a conservative rut and die there, or whether we will move ahead in the liberal spirit of daring, of breaking new ground, of doing in our generation what Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman and Adlai Stevenson did in their time of influence and responsibility.

Our liberalism has its roots in our diverse origins. Most of us are descended from that segment of the American population which was once called an immigrant minority. Today, along with our children and grandchildren, we do not feel minor. We feel proud of our origins and we are not second to any group in our sense of national purpose. For many years New York represented the new frontier to all those who came from the ends of the earth to find new opportunity and new freedom, generations of men and women who fled from the despotism of the czars, the horrors of the Nazis, the tyranny of hunger, who came here to the new frontier in the State of New York. These men and women, a living cross section of American history, indeed, a cross section of the entire world's history of pain and hope, made of this city not only a new world of opportunity, but a new world of the spirit as well.

Tonight we salute Governor and Senator Herbert Lehman as a symbol of that spirit, and as a reminder that the fight for full constitutional rights for all Americans is a fight that must be carried on in 1961.

Many of these same immigrant families produced the pioneers and builders of the American labor movement. They are the men who sweated in our shops, who struggled to create a union, and who were driven by longing for education for their children and for the children's development. They went to night schools; they built their own future, their union's future, and their country's future, brick by brick, block by block, neighborhood by neighborhood, and now in their children's time, suburb by suburb.

Tonight we salute George Meany as a symbol of that struggle and as a reminder that the fight to eliminate poverty and human exploitation is a fight that goes on in our day. But in 1960 the cause of liberalism cannot content itself with carrying on the fight for human justice and economic liberalism here at home. For here and around the world the fear of war hangs over us every morning and every night. It lies, expressed or silent, in the minds of every American. We cannot banish it by repeating that we are economically first or that we are militarily first, for saying so doesn't make it so. More will be needed than goodwill missions or talking back to Soviet politicians or increasing the tempo of the arms race. More will be needed than good intentions, for we know where that paving leads.

In Winston Churchill's words, "We cannot escape our dangers by recoiling from them. We dare not pretend such dangers do not exist."

And tonight we salute Adlai Stevenson as an eloquent spokesman for the effort to achieve an intelligent foreign policy. Our opponents would like the people to believe that in a time of danger it would be hazardous to change the administration that has brought us to this time of danger. I think it would be hazardous not to change. I think it would be hazardous to continue four more years of stagnation and indifference here at home and abroad, of starving the underpinnings of our national power, including not only our defense but our image abroad as a friend.

This is an important election -- in many ways as important as any this century -- and I think that the Democratic Party and the Liberal Party here in New York, and those who believe in progress all over the United States, should be associated with us in this great effort. The reason that Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman and Adlai Stevenson had influence abroad, and the United States in their time had it, was because they moved this country here at home, because they stood for something here in the United States, for expanding the benefits of our society to our own people, and the people around the world looked to us as a symbol of hope.

I think it is our task to re-create the same atmosphere in our own time. Our national elections have often proved to be the turning point in the course of our country. I am proposing that 1960 be another turning point in the history of the great Republic.

Some pundits are saying it's 1928 all over again. I say it's 1932 all over again. I say this is the great opportunity that we will have in our time to move our people and this country and the people of the free world beyond the new frontiers of the 1960s.

The Grand Marshal Speaks

As many of you TransGriot readers are aware of, at this moment I'm in Northampton, MA exercising my duties as the Grand Marshal for the Northampton Trans Pride March and Rally.

I'm not only honored to be following in Miss Major's and Gunnar Scott's footsteps as the previous Grand Marshals for this event, I'm getting the opportunity to see and hang out with my friends in the area, meet some new one and say what's up to my loyal New England TransGriot readers.

Best of all I get out of Houston for a few days.

I got to BDL a little after 5:30 PM EDT because of the headwinds we were battling on the flight up from the ATL. I did get to Ericka and Trystan's place in time to watch the kickoff of the Coogs successful C-USA home opener against UTEP.

Eat em' up!

If somebody shoots the video of the parade, I'll post it later.

Once again I want to thank my gracious Northampton Trans Pride hosts for the invitation and another opportunity to spend some time partaking of some Western Massachusetts hospitality.

Things have been kind of up and down personally for me lately, and this trip is just what I needed to turn my personal lemon situation into pink lemonade.

The FLOTUS ' 2010 NAACP Convention Keynote Speech.

First Lady Michelle Obama arrived in Kansas City on Monday to deliver the keynote address for the 101st annual NAACP convention. Here's the video of her keynote address.

Dr. Hedy Fry's Remarks on C-389

TransGriot Note: I took some time to watch the Canadian Parliament proceedings online yesterday with Bill C-389 that now has successfully moved on to committee.

Will be keeping an eye on it along with my Canadian trans cousins. In the meantime, check out the words of Liberal MP for Vancouver Centre Dr. Hedy Fry in support of this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the bill. The hon. member who moved the bill has worked very hard on this for a long time and is very committed to the issues of equality for all.

I support the bill for many reasons. When I first became a Member of Parliament in 1993, as a physician, I saw what discrimination based on sexual orientation cost my patients. I saw the high levels of suicide and discrimination. I saw the law discriminated against access to medical care, to dental benefits, to medical benefits in every way.

Persons who were same sex couples and had lived together for many years were unable to do the simple things that a heterosexual couple that had been together for a year could do. In other words, if a partner was dying or ill, the person did not have the right, no matter how long he or she had lived with that partner to make decisions with regard to care and with regard to funeral arrangements in the event the partner passed away.

As a physician, this did not allow me to do my job or to take care of my patients in a manner that should be beyond any kind of discrimination whatsoever, as stated in the Canada Health Act. As a result, the Liberal government brought forward these issues, and today we have equality based on sexual orientation.

However, the bill speaks to another issue where, as a physician, I saw a great deal of discrimination. This is a medical diagnosis. The concept is there are persons who we like to call transgender persons. They have problems coming to grips with their sexual identity. They then go to see a physician. There is a definite medical diagnosis that states these people need to look at their identity gender change. There are many things they need to access. They need to access psychiatric care in terms of decision making and in terms of the diagnosis. Once that is done, there are all sorts of medical options available such as the necessary medication for the change to occur, surgical interventions, et cetera.

Depending on what province these patients live in, many do not have access to that kind of medical care. The Canada Health Act states very clearly that we cannot discriminate against people if they require medically necessary care. As a diagnosis, this falls under the heading of medically necessary care and all of the pieces that come in between.

For a medical reason alone, we once again have a group of Canadians that do not have access to the care it needs when it needs it regardless of its ability to pay, or geography or pre-existing conditions, portability and all the pieces of the Canada Health Act about which we need to talk.

For medical reasons alone, even if we did not bring on the reasons that pertain to discrimination, to equality within the country, to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, to the concept that we cannot discriminate against any Canadian because of his or her particular group identity, this fits into all of those things.

However, as a physician, I really want to speak to the fact that we are denying certain members of our society, based on their group and identities, access to good care when they need it.

I have had many patients who struggled to decide if they did have a gender identity problem or if they needed to move into the next stage, which is to have whatever medical care they need to help them to deal with this issue. They were the transgender patients. Not only did they not have access to the health care they needed, or access to the ability to deal with a lot of psychological as well as the physical trauma they underwent during that period of time, many of these people faced a totally different kind of discrimination.

They faced discrimination from the heterosexual community and, in many instances, from within their own communities sometimes because no one knew who they were. They did not have access to simple things like washrooms because they were considered neither fish nor fowl. No one had decided who they were. That kind of discrimination is psychologically devastating to a person, if we put aside the medical needs for a minute.

When people do not know who they are and do not have access to counselling to help them deal with these issues in a real way in order to find out who they are and why they are trapped, the whole concept of lack of control over anything they do affects their psychological ability to live normal lives, to walk into a community and to express themselves once they have had a diagnosis made.

For people who had money and were able to go to another country to get whatever medical care they needed to become transgendered persons, when they returned to Canada the discrimination was extraordinary. As a physician, as an MP and as a Vancouverite, I have been around the community and I have seen the pain, the discrimination, the isolation and the inability to be welcomed anywhere by anyone because of the concept of people not accepting people for who they are. This is an extraordinary thing to live with.

We need to look at the number of suicides and the different addictions people have to help them get out of the place where no one accepts them. We need to deal with this issue because it is of profound importance to a group of Canadians.

If we believe in our Charter of Rights and Freedoms and we buy into our Canada Health Act, we must take every step necessary to, first, make every Canadian equal under the law, and, second, by being equal under the law, the law and the nation makes a statement that we will not accept people being discriminated against in this country where we have chosen to set up a charter that speaks in section 15 to the issue of minority rights.

We cannot say that one minority has more rights than another. The minute we start saying that someone has more rights than another person, we immediately set up a criteria of different levels of people who are accepted in society. One thing we all know is that when people are not accepted in society, they will rise up to seek their rights.

We are talking about basic human rights and with human rights comes access to all of the things that human beings can enjoy: the ability to live in freedom and seek opportunity and potential wherever we can; to have access to justice, education, health care and all of the things that allow us as human beings to realize whatever it is that lies within us and in our potential to live meaningful lives; and to be a part of communities that accept and embrace us.

We are discussing a fundamental human rights issue. As I said, the subsets of it are access to medical care, freedom and equality under the law. Those are just chunks of things that we bring in under the subheading of the basic human right to life, to the freedom to be who we are, to choose who we wish to be, to live in a manner that co-exists with other people and to live as a lawful human being who does not harm others and can become a productive and contributing member of society.

Those are fundamental things that we all want. We can deny other people for all sorts of trumped up reasons. There are always great reasons. We can cite legal precedents and discuss the fact that we do not understand the meaning of the words and what they pertain to, but that is a red herring. The bottom line is that we actually know in medicine what this means. There is no question in medicine what this means, no question at all.

Therefore, we need to start thinking about the people who live in our country and what kind of government and Parliament we are that we would allow people to live in fear with discrimination and without access to the basic human rights that other people have. I support this bill and I will be voting for it to go to committee.

Katie Washington's Historic ND Valedictory Address

I posted the wonderful news a month ago about Gary, IN native Katie Washington, who became the first African-American valedictorian in Notre Dame history.

Today is graduation day at Notre Dame, and she will be giving her highly anticipated valedictory speech this morning. As soon as it's up and posted, I'll add the text or video of it to this post.

In the interim, you can check out this video about a remarkable young woman.



And now, Katie's valedictory address!

Good morning, Mr. Williams, Mr. Gioia, Fr. Jenkins, distinguished faculty and guests, family, friends and loved ones. Thank you all for being here with us to celebrate our commencement. To my fellow classmates, congratulations, again, for making it to this momentous occasion. Our accomplishments during the last four years give us ample reason to celebrate.

But at some point during the next few months, the excitement surrounding our commencement will wane, and many of us will be forced to confront challenging realities. What happens after the applause stops? The spotlight fades, the crowd clears, and there are moments of complete silence. While applause is accompanied by feelings of safety and security, this silence can bring vulnerability and uneasiness. Through my experiences at Notre Dame, I’ve found that these silent, uneasy moments usually spring up right after I get comfortable with self-praise and appreciating my own accomplishments.

Earlier this year, the Notre Dame Voices of Faith Gospel Choir spent our Spring Break touring the East Coast. Although our thirty-four choir members came from many different cultural and religious backgrounds, our unique style of worship originates from African-American Christian traditions. I was a student director this year, and as the week started, I was ready and excited to give my all to an organization that has been part of my college experience since freshman year. During our first concerts, as we sang and worshipped with loud and exuberant praises to God, we met all kinds of people who were willing to sing, clap and worship with us.

Then, during a concert at a church in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, the applause stopped.

There were at least 150 people at the concert, but somehow, no sound or movement seemed to come from the pews. Apparently, the congregation had never experienced a musical ministry quite like ours. We continued with our concert, in spite of the silence, but I wasn’t sure that our rehearsals had prepared us for that moment.

Now, I can reflect upon a conversation that I had with a tearful parishioner after the concert. Had Voices given up when the applause stopped, we might have been gone when the woman arrived late, after sitting for hours at her sick mother’s bedside. She told me that, while we were singing, it seemed like we were talking directly to God. She was so grateful that we were there to pray with her through song.

Over the last four years, I hope that all of us have taken the opportunity to step outside of our own comfort zones to build relationships with people from different places and backgrounds. Through service, time spent abroad, and our experiences with each other right here on campus, we’ve had the chance to find unity in the diversity of gifts with which God has blessed us. We’ve been given many opportunities to let self-acceptance blossom, and to develop mutual respect and understanding for all members of the Notre Dame family. In doing so, we’ve learned to build relationships in light of our differences and in spite of our fear.

After today and beyond the applause, we can continue to escape normative ideals and find the freedom to understand the unique and special qualities that make all of us human. We can put solidarity into action, for love of all our neighbors, near and far.

Last December, after a year and half working in Dr. David Severson’s laboratory, I saw my study of mosquito population genetics in Haiti in its published form, for the first time. Through the collaborative efforts of the members of Dr. Severson’s lab and the Notre Dame Haiti program, we were able to demonstrate that human activities are likely responsible for the distribution of infectious mosquitoes throughout Haiti. Each year, mosquitoes transmit diseases that kill more than 1 million people, mostly in impoverished countries. I was pleased to know that I had made an important contribution to the global health community. But on January 12, after only a few weeks of celebration, an earthquake hit Haiti, and the applause stopped.

At first, it was exciting to know that my work could help solve problems that many people don’t even know about. However, the earthquake reminded me that I had done so from the safety, security and comfort of a lab here, at Notre Dame. The cities that I wrote about in my paper have been reduced to rubble, and many of the lives that I hoped to protect were claimed by immediate and overwhelming tragedy.

Now, I can reflect on conversations with my research advisor and other outstanding scientists at Notre Dame. Over and over again, they have reminded me that our work is not about being celebrated and rewarded. Instead, it gives us an opportunity to add value to a world that has given us much more than our fair share. To do science at a place like Notre Dame, a University where our sense of faith informs everything we do, is to commit to innovation and discovery because of our personal moral convictions. In the College of Science and throughout the entire University, our faculty has committed themselves to the mission statement. And our learning has become service to justice. We learn, we think, and we work in our different disciplines to address tough problems because we all know that it’s the right thing to do.

After today and beyond the applause, we will experience the freedom to challenge the conventional. We can engage in strokes of genius, enlightened moments, and great ideas that will improve planet Earth and heal her inhabitants. Together, we can pool our knowledge to define the undefined, and combine our efforts to prepare for the unexpected.

I started Fall Break of this year in anticipation of all that I hoped to learn during my CSC seminar on Youth Violence. My friend Jeremy and I spent weeks helping Kim, the director of the Indianapolis Peace Institute, to plan our weeklong immersion. I was excited to work with ten other students, and to learn about innovative approaches to address youth and violence. At first, the experience was transformative. I was proud of the work Jeremy and I had done.

Then, on the day our group visited a juvenile re-entry program, the applause stopped.

I realized that I had grown up in the same neighborhood as one of the young men in the program. He had been sent to a juvenile detention center after participating in a series of illegal activities. He’d joined the re-entry program in hopes of building healthier relationships and pursuing goals that would help him to avoid further involvement with the judicial system.

In any other situation, his story of redemption might have left me feeling hopeful for other youths. Instead, my heart ached. All of my reading on urban poverty, structural violence, and peace building seemed meaningless in light of the real obstacles that he faced. At one point during our childhood, I called him my little brother. Meeting again in adulthood, it felt like our lives were worlds apart.

Now, I can reflect upon conversations that I had with him after the seminar was over. If he and the workers at the juvenile re-entry program had given up when the applause stopped, he could have been just another offender, lost in the judicial system. Instead, he is now in college and working to help other young men overcome the challenges that he, himself, faced. I can also reflect upon talks with my fellow seminar participants – my friends. We were 11 Notre Dame students, from different backgrounds with different majors and personal interests. Yet, the young man we met, from my neighborhood, touched each of our lives in a way that we couldn’t have imagined.

After today and beyond the applause, we can continue working to understand our own privilege. We can use real empathy to recognize violence and injustice. We can build relationships with people who are confined to the margins of society. And maybe one day, each and all persons will be able to participate in every dimension of life as they wish.

Throughout my time here at Notre Dame, I’ve grown a bit wary of moments of accolades and applause, because of the unnerving silences that often follow. But our commencement is a momentous occasion worth celebrating. The applause and praise from our friends, family, mentors confirms the value of our hard work, dedication and sacrifice. We have done many things of which we can be proud.

So after all of the applause is over today, I hope that we embrace the silence as much as we’ve embraced our senior week and commencement weekend celebrations. Instead of being afraid, we can cherish the examples set by our often unapplauded heroes: our parents and siblings, professors who have pushed us to do more than we’ve ever dreamed, and you, the members of the Class of 2010 who have set the standard for excellence in and out of the classrooms at the University o Notre Dame.

Thank you and God bless you all.