Persevere, Together.
The speech I would have delivered the San Francisco State community if I had spoken to the graduating class.
I’ve always imagined what it would be like delivering a commencement speech to my graduating class. Even though I am not doing so, I found writing one to be something of a healing exercise after a tough semester. After serving seven years in student government, I can only think to myself, “oh, the words that I have.” Consider these words a call to action, and a recognition of our struggles. I want graduates to know that we will persevere, together.
SAN FRANCISCO, California —
Before I begin there’s one thing I absolutely have to say: we did it. The power of perseverance runs deep through the veins of our class and our generation.
Now, you probably expect me to stand here and talk about the two years that we spent on the screen, and found ourselves confined to digital boxes. I’m not going to do that, because you and I already know how so very deeply the pandemic altered our lives. I think that through all of this rough patch, for the most part, we’ve come to discover the hard way that the titles we hold as presidents, officers, commissioners, directors — the classes we’ve come from, low income, wealthy — and the creeds we align — they never trump the power and brilliance of our collective humanity. In this moment, we face the big challenge of looking to the future; of preserving the health and the sanctity of our world, coming together as one for the sake of all.
I come from a family of union workers, UFCW Local 5 organizers that led the call for fair wages and workplace safety at Safeway in the nineties. We lived in an apartment in the Dimond district of East Oakland. Our journey brought us to San Leandro after being pushed out by a landlord who could care less that my mom was experiencing health issues, or that we were a low income family struggling to make it every month. Yet, we persevered. In San Leandro when I was in high school, we opened our one bedroom apartment to five of our family and we continued to struggle big time. Yet, we persevered. I ran for school board against the words “too young,” “too ambitious.” I became School Board President. Yet, alongside the people who worked with me to create change and push boundaries, we persevered.
I am a first generation student, as many of you are. Let’s soak in the importance of that, the absolute accomplishment you first generation students made happen, the mountains you moved — for you, for your family. Being first generation can feel isolating, othering, but for us it was empowering. It was a call to action; a call to begin building the foundations for the next generation.
Of the calls of action to take, we all have many thanks to give to the public educators that brought us here. I thank Ms. Smith, the elementary school educator who said that we have the right and the power to make change. Ms. Philips, the middle school counselor who believed every student can achieve excellence through love and community. Mrs. Wurm, the high school leadership director who believed in opportunity, and transformation of self-being and political action. Denise, the professor who saw the beauty of the world and this great city — who saw that we can all thrive in self discovery through our history, our humanity.
All of that. Right to invoke change, love, community, transformation, self-discovery, history, humanity. Let’s run with that. Let’s run with that to Sacramento, to Washington, D.C. Let’s run with that as you campaign for public office and make this world ours. Let’s run with that to the offices of the legislators we hire to execute our vision as a people, run as alumni of this great university and speak our truth so we can handle business and move this society forward. Audre Lorde told us to own our identity. You are part of the fabric of our community. I am first generation. I am a survivor. I am Latino. I am an academic and an educator. I am San Francisco State. She instructed us to bring our identity to the table. Lorde said,
…when we speak we are afraid
our words will not be heard
nor welcomed
but when we are silent
we are still afraid
So it is better to speak
remembering
we were never meant to survive.
You have put your blood, sweat, and tears into this university. All of you. Leave today knowing that you pushed to the end and have already started the next chapter to your journey. Laugh hard, be kind. San Francisco State, seize the day (carpe diem quam minimum credula postero). As we leave here and enter the next chapter, we will persevere, together.
James Aguilar is the School Board President in San Leandro, alumni of San Francisco State University (B.A Political Science, ‘22), former Director at the San Francisco State Foundation, and incoming graduate student at UC Berkeley.
