Black leaders, celebrities pass the torch of wisdom to the class of 2004

It has been said that wisdom is more precious than silver, more valuable than gold and if that be the case, then the graduates this year were offered a treasure of advice by today's top leaders, authors and celebrities to make them wealthy for a lifetime. Several of the commencement speakers were also awarded honorary degrees in recognition of their career accomplishments.

KOFI ANNAN The United Nations Secretary-General and Nobel Peace Prize winner urged graduates at Harvard's commencement ceremony to not "... abandon our system of rules, but ... adapt it to new realities, and to find answers to some difficult questions ... Whatever our views about the war in Iraq, we should never have let it divert our attention and resources away from the goals of reducing extreme poverty, ... making sure all girls, as well as boys, receive at least primary education; slashing infant and maternal mortality; and stopping the spread of HIV/AIDS. "Annan received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Harvard.

SAMUEL L. JACKSON The incomparable actor challenged graduates at Vassar College's 140th commencement ceremony to travel their lives with intelligence, independent thinking and grit.

"It is a revolutionary world we live in, and ... it is young people who must take the lead ... Each time a man--and I will add or woman--stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression."

CORETTA SCOTT KING The widow assassinated civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.; addressed graduates at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, and informed them of the many ways to dedicate oneself to the struggle of human rights.

".... This afternoon I would challenge you to dedicate your talents and labors to creating and performing music that holds up human rights, peace and justice for all people. You are also challenged to pass on some of what you have learned and share your knowledge and expertise with other young people ... Musicians and the music industry have a critical contribution to make toward fulfilling the dream of Martin Luther King, Jr. Your labors can help to awaken the hearts, souls, and spirits of the coming generations to greater truth, beauty, peace and harmony ..."

DR. MICHAEL L. LOMAX The newly appointed President and CEO of the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) and former president of Dillard University, reminded graduates during the university's commencement ceremony to help others as they climb the ladder of success.

"All of us need you. We need you to continue to set high standards. To aim for the stars and to achieve big results. We need you to persist academically by going on to graduate and professional school. We need you to succeed in your chosen careers. We need you to climb the ladder of success, but, as Mary McLeod Bethune reminds us, we need you to lift others as you climb ... So use your education and the time you have on earth to do more, however, than just advance yourself ... use it wisely, use it well, make a difference now. Time will pass more quickly than you think!"

TONI MORRISON The best selling author and Pulitzer Prize winner encouraged Wellesley College graduates to be "your own story" and "always choose the tone."

"... The process of becoming [an adult] is not inevitable. Its achievement is a difficult beauty, an intensely hard-won glory, which commercial forces and cultural vapidity should not be permitted to deprive you of ... The theme you choose may change or simply elude you, but being your own story means you can always choose the tone. It also means that you can invent the language to say who you are and how you mean ... I see your life as already artful, waiting, just waiting and ready for you to make it art."

ALAN PAGE The Minnesota Supreme Court Justice and former NFL defensive lineman told Notre Dame graduates that they are obligated to help those who are less fortunate.

"Grabbing what we want for ourselves and ignoring everyone else is simply not acceptable. We can use the magic of this place to do good ... We seem to have lost sight of affirmative action's original purpose--to help eliminate the present effects of past discrimination. The fact is, if we had equal opportunity today, we wouldn't need to talk about affirmative action." Page, a Notre Dame graduate, received an honorary Doctorate of Human Letters, his second honorary doctorate from Notre Dame. He received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree in 1993.

COLIN POWELL The first Black Secretary of State addressed the conscience of new graduates at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC, asking them to "Do the right thing."

"Simple words. Childhood words. And you've heard it since childhood.... Do the right thing, even when you get no credit for it, even if you get hurt by doing the right thing. Do the right thing when no one is watching or will ever know about it. You will always know."