Speeches / page 6

Portia Simpson Miller
categories: Commencement/Baccalaureate/Convocation Address, Speeches
“Balancing the Books While Balancing People’s Lives” Commencement Address at Lafayette College - May 24, 2014
May 24, 2014
Honorable Members of the Board of Trustees Madam President, Professor Alison Byerly Ambassador Stephen Vasciannie Distinguished faculty members, honored guests, Fellow recipients of honorary degrees, Members of the graduating Class of 2014, Family and friends… It is my pleasure to be here with you today in the historic and lovely town of Easton. I am proud to be at an institution named in honor of the ideals of the Marquis de Lafayette. Graduates, today is your day! Accept my sincere congratulations on the attainment of this important milestone. Now is […]
Portia Simpson Miller
Speeches
Emancipation Day Message - Aug. 1, 2015
August 1, 2015
O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. My fellow Jamaicans: Today we celebrate One Hundred and Eighty One years of Emancipation. We celebrate today the struggle of our forefathers and mothers who were displaced, mistreated – whipped, chained raped and bludgeoned. Often they screamed out in pain. Yet, year after year their anguish transformed into resolve and their spirits were never broken. These valiant men and women fought to emancipate us, their forbears, from the cruelty of slavery. Their struggles against slavery, […]
Portia Simpson Miller
Speeches
Address to the Special Delegates Conference - March 26, 2017
March 26, 2017
Comrade PJ Patterson Comrade Chairman Comrade Peter Phillips Comrade Vice Presidents Comrade General Secretary and Deputy General Secretaries Other Officers of the Party Delegates Members and Supporters of the People’s National Party My fellow Jamaicans! I speak with pride today as we witness this smooth transition from one leader of our People’s National Party to another. As I exit the stage as your party leader and pass the baton to Comrade Dr Peter Phillips, I know that my party, our party, the greatest party in the Caribbean is in good […]
Portia Simpson Miller
categories: Interview, Speeches
Interview with Janet Silvera - March 8, 2017
March 8, 2017
Simpson Miller gave this interview with Janet Silvera of The Gleaner just before her retirement from the Jamaican Parliament. SILVERA: Mrs. Simpson Miller, you have had quite a journey on the road of time, certainly many lasting memories. What’s that one particular moment that stands out for you? SIMPSON MILLER: My first was the night of the local government elections when I contested for the strongest division for the [?] in the constituency and at the end of the counting I became the winner of the strongest [?] division in […]
Portia Simpson Miller
categories: Inaugural Address, Speeches
The Journey Continues: A Time for Hope and National Unity - Jan. 5, 2012
January 5, 2012
Your Excellency Sir Patrick Allen, our governor-general, and Lady Allen Leader of the Opposition and former prime minister, the honourable Andrew Holness and Mrs. Holness Former governor-general, most honourable Professor Sir Kenneth Horn and the most honourable Lady Horn Former prime minister, the most honourable PJ Patterson and the most honourable Edward Seaga and the most honorable Mrs. Seaga The most honourable Denise Eldemire-Shearer Visiting Presidents and Prime Ministers and their delegations Our Chief Justice the honourable Mrs. Justice Zaila McCalla and Mr. McCalla President of the Court of Appeal, […]
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Speeches
We Should All Be Feminists - April 12, 2013
April 12, 2013
My brother, Chuks, and my best friend, Ike, are part of the organizing team, so when they ask me to come, I couldn't say no. But I'm so happy to be here. What a fantastic team of people who care about Africa. I feel so humble and so happy to be here. And I'm also told that the most beautiful, most amazing little girl in the world is in the audience. Her name is Kamzia Adichie and I want her to stand up. She's my niece! [applause] So, I would […]
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
categories: Commencement/Baccalaureate/Convocation Address, Speeches
Remarks on the Value of Diversity - July 17, 2009
July 17, 2009
Excerpt of Justice Ginsburg's keynote speech at the 2009 graduation ceremony at Sciences Po (Paris Institute of Political Studies). Members of the faculty, graduating students and their families, and friends of Sciences Po, I am glad to speak at this celebration. I have read of Sciences Po’s initiative to achieve excellence in diversity, made a priority by President Descoings. Through that initiative, talented students from all quarters of French society are drawn to this great school. The design is to deepen the complexion and life experiences of the student body […]
Ursula K. Le Guin
categories: Commencement/Baccalaureate/Convocation Address, Speeches
A Left-Handed Commencement Address - May 22, 1983
May 22, 1983
I want to thank the Mills College Class of ’83 for offering me a rare chance: to speak aloud in public in the language of women. I know there are men graduating, and I don’t mean to exclude them, far from it. There is a Greek tragedy where the Greek says to the foreigner, “If you don’t understand Greek, please signify by nodding.” Anyhow, commencements are usually operated under the unspoken agreement that everybody graduating is either male or ought to be. That’s why we are all wearing these twelfth-century […]
Kathy Hochul
categories: Commencement/Baccalaureate/Convocation Address, Speeches
Commencement Address at University at Albany - May 14, 2022
May 15, 2022
Good morning graduates, are we fired up today or what? Oh, I can feel the energy. What an exciting day for you. And first of all, to your parents, you can finally put away the checkbooks, the money is yours. You don't have to send it off to this institution. Go have a good time, go to Disney World, whatever you're going to do once these kids are gone. So, to parents and family members, you've also been on this journey, and you inspired in your children and your loved […]
Angela Davis
Speeches
Speech delivered at the Embassy Auditorium, June 9, 1972
June 9, 1972
It's really a wonderful feeling to be back among the people. [applause, cheers] To be back among all of you who fought so long and so hard, among all of you who actually achieved my freedom. And I really wish you could have been there in the courtroom at the moment when those three "not guilty" verdicts were pronounced, because that victory was just as much yours as it was mine. ["Right on!" applause] And as we laughed and cried, these were expressions of our joy as we witnessed what […]