Isabel Wilkerson Instagram – Here I am onstage at Wellesley College, feeling inspired and summoning calm, minutes before the first of three commencement addresses I was to deliver during the recently concluded commencement season.
What do you say to graduates who entered college in the throes of a pandemic and are now about to enter the storms of this era? What do you say to the families and faculty and loved ones gathered to cheer them on while managing their own uncertainties?
I chose to turn to humanity’s instruction manual — history — and to humanity’s teachers — the ancestors — for guidance and solace. At one point, I said:
“Every single one of us in this gathering, every single one of us on this planet, is here because the ancestors of all of us found a way to somehow survive war, famine, drought, floods, depression, plagues and pestilence, upheavals of every kind imaginable.
“Not one of us would be here if they had not found a way to survive. Every single one of us is a product of every single decision that every single ancestor throughout our lineage ever made.
“We each have been given a code of instructions for survival deep in our marrow. How can we harness the wisdom of the ancients to survive and to transcend humanity’s current upheavals?”
The answers reside deep within the hearts of every one of us.
With gratitude to Wellesley College, Grinnell College and Carleton College for the honor of delivering their commencement addresses, and with heartfelt blessings to the Class of 2025 as these newly minted graduates take on the world. 💫
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Slides 1, 2, 3: Wellesley College
Slides 4, 5 and 7: Grinnell College (forced inside due to rain)
Slide 6: Carleton College | Posted on 01/Jul/2025 03:20:12
