CHADWICK BOSEMAN

What You Fight For?

https://youtu.be/RH58QUkNVis

It is a great privilege, graduates to address you on your day, a day marking one of the most important
accomplishments of your life to date. This is a magical place, a place where the dynamics of positive and
negative seem to exist in extremes. I remember walking across this yard on what seemed to be a random
day, my head down lost in my own world of issues like many of you do daily. I'm almost at the center of the
yard. I raised my head and Muhammad Ali was walking towards me. Time seemed to slow down as his eyes
locked on mine and opened wide. He raised his fist to a quintessential guard.

I was game to play along with him, to act as if I was a worthy opponent. What an honor to be challenged by
the goat, the greatest of all time for a brief moment. His face was as serious as if I was Frazier in the Thrilla
in Manila. His movements were flashes of a path greater than I can imagine. His security let the joke play
along for a second before they ushered him away, and I walked away floating like a butterfly. I walked away
amused at him, amused at myself, amused at life for this moment that almost no one would ever believe. I
walked away light and ready to take on the world. That is the magic of this place. Almost anything can
happen here. HU! You know!

Howard University, I was riding here and I heard on the radio, somebody called it Wakanda University. But it
has many names, the Mecca, the Hilltop. It only takes one hour, one tour of the physical campus to
understand why we call it the Hilltop. Every day is leg day here. That's why some of you have cars. During
my junior and senior years, I lived in a house off campus at Bryant Street. For those of you... That's right,
Brian Street. For those of you who don't know what that means that's at the bottom of the hill where the
incline gets real. Almost every day I would walk the full length of the hill to Fine Arts where most of my
classes were, carrying all of my books, because once you walked that far on foot, you are not walking back
home until it's time to go home for good.

But beyond the physical campus, the Hilltop represents the culmination of the intellectual and spiritual
journey you have undergone while you were here. You have been climbing this academic slope for at least
three or four years. For some of you, maybe even a little bit more. Throughout ancient times, institutions of
learning have been built on top of hills to convey that great struggle is required to achieve degrees of
enlightenment. Each of you had your own unique difficulties with the hill. For some of you, the challenge
was actually academics. When you hear the words Magna Cum Laude, Cum Laude, you know that's not you.
That's not you. You worked hard. You did your best, but you didn't make As or Bs, sometimes Cs. You never
made the Dean's list, but that's okay. You are here on top of the hill.

I want to say something to that. You know, sometimes your grades don't give a real indication of what your
greatness might be. So it really is okay. For others it was financial. You and your family struggled to make

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ends meet. Every semester of your matriculation, you had to stand in one line to get to another line, to get
to another line for somebody that might help you. You had to work an extra job or two, but you are here.
For a lot of you, not all, but a lot of you, your hardest struggle was social. Some of you never fit in. You were
never as cool and as popular as you wanted to be and it bothers you. So your social struggles here became
psychological. Even though you made it up to hill, you carried the baggage of rejection with you, but you are
here.

Some of you went through something traumatic. You made it to the top of the hill, but not without scars
and bruises. Some of you fit in too much. You were on the yard rapping on your frat block when you were
supposed to be in class. Or you got caught up into DC party life. I know how that is. I mean, we are right
here in the midst of the city. Sometimes you forgot you were in school. You probably could have graduated
with honors, but instead you are getting an “Oh yeah” degree today. Oh yeah, I have class. Oh yeah, I have
that paper due. Oh yeah, I have a final. You were literally too cool for school. You waited until the last
minute to do your best work and it's a wonder that you made it up the hill at all because you carry the
baggage of too much acceptance.

Most of you graduating here today struggled against one or more of the impediments or obstacles I've
mentioned in order to reach this hill top. When completing a long climb, one first experiences dizziness,
disorientation and shortness of breath due to the high altitude, but once you become accustomed to the
climb, your mind opens up to the tranquility of the triumph. Oftentimes the mind is flooded with
realizations that were, for some reason harder to come to when you were at a lower elevation. At this
moment, most of you need some realizations because right now you have some big decisions to make. Right
now I urge you in your breath, in your eyes, in your consciousness, invest in the importance of this moment
and cherish it. I know some of you might've partied last night. You should, you should celebrate, but this
moment is also a part of that celebration. So savor the taste of your triumphs today. Don't just swallow the
moment whole without digesting what has actually happened here. Look down over what you conquered
and appreciate what God has brought you through.

Some of you here struggled against the university itself. This year, students protested and took over the A
building, formulated a list of demands and negotiated with our president and administration to determine
the direction of our institution. It's impressive. Similarly, during my years here at Howard, we also protested
and took over the A building in order to preserve Howard's alum, in order to preserve Howard's annual
appropriations from Congress. President H. Patrick Swygert decided to reduce the number of colleges at the
university. By his plan, Engineering would need to merge with architecture. Nursing would merge with Allied
Health and the Fine Arts, my school will be absorbed by arts and sciences. That's how we saw it, absorbed.

For many of us in Fine Arts, this signaled to us that our curriculums, all the curriculums of students following
us might become watered down concentrations. This undermined the very legacy we were proud to be a
part of and aimed to continue. The Fine Arts program had produced Phylicia Rashad, Debbie Allen, Isaiah
Washington, Richard Wesley, Donny Hathaway, Roberta Flack, just to name a few. We felt that... Yes, yes.
You could go on and on. You can go on and on. You can go on and on. We felt that we could compete with
students from Juilliard, NYU and Carroll Arts as long as we continued to have a concentrated dosage that
rivaled a conservatory experience, but without it...

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Although we took over the A building for several days and presented our arguments to President Swygert
and the administration, the schools were still merged. Thus, the current collection or formation of schools
exists. That's why I view your recent protest is such an accomplishment for both sides of the debate, student
and administration. I didn't come here to take sides. My interest is what's best for the school. A Howard
University education is not just about what happens in the classroom, students. In some ways, what you
were able to do exemplifies some of the skills you learned in the classroom. It takes the education out of the
realm of theory and into utility and practice. Obviously, your organizational skills were unprecedented. I'm
told that you organized shifts so that you could at least continue some of your classes. We missed all our
classes. We were in the A building. I'm told that through donations, there was always an ample helping of
food. I probably ate a slice of pizza during the entirety of our three day protest.

Your organization and planning was impeccable. You received the majority of your demands, making a
significant impact on those who came after you. As is often the case, those that follow most often enjoy the
results of the progress you gained. You love the university enough to struggle with it. Now, I have to ask you
that you have to continue to do that even now that you received your demands. Even if you are walking
today, you have to continue to do that. Everything that you fought for was not for yourself. It was for those
that come after. You could have been disgruntled and transferred, but you fought to be participants in
making this institution the best that it can be. But I must also applaud President Wayne Frederick and the
administration for listening to the students.

Your freedom of speech was exercised in a way where you can contribute to this place. It also shows that
you can contribute to the democracy. The administration and the campus police at the time when I was
protesting were not nearly as open-minded as this current one. I know this was a difficult time, but because
of both of you, I believe Howard is a few steps closer to the actualization of its potential, the potential that
many of us have dreamed for it. Students, your protests are also promising because many of you will leave
Howard and enter systems and institutions that have a history of discrimination and marginalization. The
fact that you have struggled with this university that you love is a sign that you can use your education to
improve the world that you are entering.

I was on a roll when I entered the system of entertainment, theater, television and film. In my first New York
audition for a professional play I landed the lead role. From that play, I got my first agent. From that agent, I
got an onscreen audition. It was a soap opera. It wasn't Third Watch. It was a soap opera on a major
network. I scored that role too. I felt like Mike Tyson when he first came on the scene knocking out
opponents in the first round. With this soap opera gig, I was already promised to make 6 figures, more
money than I had ever seen. I was feeling myself. But once I got the first script and was so problems. You
very often get the script the night before and then you shoot the whole episode in one day with little to no
time to prepare.

Once I saw the role I was playing, I found myself conflicted. The role wasn't necessarily stereotypical. A
young man in his formative years with a violent streak pulled into the allure of gang involvement. That's
somebody's real story. Never judge the characters you play. That's what we were always taught. That's the
first rule of acting. Any role play honestly, can be empowering, but I was conflicted because this role
seemed to be wrapped up in assumptions about us as black folk. The writing failed to search for specificity.

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Plus, there was barely a glimpse of positivity or talent in the character, barely a glimpse of hope. I would
have to make something out of nothing. I was conflicted. Howard had instilled in me a certain amount of
pride and for my taste this role didn't live up to those standards.

It was just my luck that after filming the first two episodes, execs of the show called me into their offices
and told me how happy they were with my performance. They wanted me to be around for a long time.
They said if there was anything that I needed, just let them know. That was my opening. I decided to ask
them some simple questions about the background of my character, questions that I felt were pertinent to
the plot. Question number one: Where is my father? The exec answered, "Well, he left when you were
younger." Of course. Okay. Okay. Question number two: In this script, it alluded to my mother not being
equipped to operate as a good parent, so why exactly did my little brother and I have to go into foster care?
Matter-of-factly, he said, "Well, of course she is on heroin".

That could be real, I guess, but I didn't want to assume that's what it was. If we are around here assuming
that the black characters in the show are criminals, on drugs and deadbeat parents, then that would
probably be stereotypical, wouldn't it? That word stereotypical lingered. One of the execs pulled out my
resume and began studying it. The other exec was now trying to live up to what they had promised me only
a few moments before, “If there is anything you need, just let us know”. She said, "As you have seen, things
move really fast around here, but we are more than happy to connect you with the writers if you have
suggestions". "Yeah", I said that. "That would be great". I said, because I'm just trying to do my homework
on this. I didn't know if you guys have decided on all the facts, but maybe there are some things we could
come up with, some talent or gift that we can build. Maybe he is really good at math or something. He has
to be active. I'm doing my best not to play this character like a victim.

"So you went to Howard University, huh?" The exec holding my resume interrupted, peeking over the pages.
"Yes". I said proudly. He slid my resume back in his desk and said, "Thank you for your concerns. We will be
watching you". I left the office. I shot the episode I had come in to shoot on that day. Probably the best one I
did out of the three because I got one was bothering me off my chest. I was let go from that job on the next
day. A phone call from my agent, they decided to go another way. The questions that I asked set the
producers on guard and perhaps paved the way for less stereotypical portrayal for the black actor that
stepped into the role after me.

As the scripture says, "I planted the seed and Apollos watered it, but God kept it growing”. God kept it
growing. Yet and still, when you invest in a seed, watching it grow without you, that is a bitter pill to
swallow, a bitter pill. Anybody that has ever been fired knows what I'm talking about. Even if you really don't
want the job, when they let you go, it's like any break up, you act like you don't care. I didn't need that
damn job anyway. I didn't need them. But when you have those moments alone, you start to wonder if
there was a better way to handle it. If you could have handled it better maybe you could help your family.
Then before you know it, you are broke. You find yourself scraping together change just so you can ride the
subway so that you could get the next job. May be if you could book something else that would eclipse the
feeling of doubt that’s building, but it seems like you can't pay them to hire you now.

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My agents at the time told me it might be a while before I got a job acting on screen again. Well, that was
fine because I never wanted to act in the first place. And I definitely didn't want to be caught dead going
after a fake Hollywood pipe dream. I'm more of a writer, director anyway, so forget their stories. I can tell
my own stories. But am I actually black balled. We are hesitant about sending you out to some people right
now because there is a stigma that you are difficult. As conflicted as I was before I lost the job, as adamant
as I was about the need to speak truth to power, I found myself even more conflicted afterwards. I stand
here today knowing that my Howard University education prepared me to play Jackie Robinson, James
Brown, Thurgood Marshall and T'Challa.

But what do you do when the principle and the standards that were instilled in you here at Howard closed
the doors in front of you. Sometimes you need to get knocked down before you can really figure out what
your fight is and how need to fight it. At some point, my mind reverted back to my experiences here, to the
professors that challenged me and struggled against me, Professor Robert Williams, Doctor Singleton,
George Epstein, to name a few, the ones that will fail you out of the goodness of their hearts. This may be
hard to grasp for some of you right now, but I even considered President Swygert and how negotiating with
him was practice for a world that was considerably more cruel and unforgiving than any debate here, one
that had no interest in my ideals and beliefs. How would I maneuver through all of this?

Finally, I thought of Ali in the middle of the yard in his elder years, drawing from his victories and his losses.
At that moment I realized something new about the greatness of Ali and how he carried his crown. I realized
that he was transferring something to me on that day. He was transferring the spirit of the fighter in me. He
was transferring the spirit of the fighter to me. He was transferring the spirit of the fighter to me.
Sometimes you need to feel the pain and sting of defeat to activate the real passion and purpose that God
predestined inside of you. God says in Jeremiah, "I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and
not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future".

Graduating class, hear me well on this day. This day, when you have reached the hill top and you are
deciding on next jobs, next steps, careers, further education, you would rather find purpose than a job or
career. Purpose crosses disciplines. Purpose is an essential element of you. It is the reason you are on the
planet at this particular time in history. Your very existence is wrapped up in the things you are here to
fulfill. Whatever you choose for a career path, remember, the struggles along the way are only meant to
shape you for your purpose. When I dared to challenge the system that would relegate us to victims and
stereotypes with no clear historical backgrounds, no hopes or talents, when I questioned that method of
portrayal, a different path opened up for me, the path to my destiny.

When God has something for you, it doesn't matter who stands against it. God will move someone that’s
holding you back away from the door and put someone there who will open it for you if it's meant for you. I
don't know what your future is, but if you are willing to take the harder way, the more complicated one, the
one with more failures at first than successes, the one that has ultimately proven to have more meaning,
more victory, more glory then you will not regret it. Now, this is your time. The light of new realizations
shines on you today. Howard's legacy is not wrapped up in the money that you will make, but the challenges
that you choose to confront. As you commence to your paths, press on with pride and press on with
purpose. God bless you. I love you, Howard. Howard forever!

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