“Just think about this for a moment — for generations, in many parts of this country, it was illegal for black people to get an education,” Obama told the predominantly black crowd, referring to the period in which Bowie State was founded. “Slaves caught reading or writing could be beaten within an inch of their lives.”
The creation of the small school that eventually became Bowie State University was an “eloquent act of defiance,” she told the crowd of about 600 graduates and several thousand of their supporters at the Comcast Center in College Park.
Obama encouraged the students to keep a hunger to learn, quoting abolitionist Frederick Douglass, who said education “means the uplifting of the soul of man into the glorious light of truth, the light by which men can only be made free.”
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Michelle Obama Gets Honorary Degree, Gives Speech at Bowie State Graduation
COLLEGE PARK, Maryland -- The first lady received an honorary degree from Bowie State University before speaking to about 600 graduates during their commencement Friday.
Prince George's County Executive Rushern Baker III tweeted Friday that the "2013 BSU grads will never forget [Michelle Obama's] words."
When the first lady's appearance was first announced, some parents and professors were disappointed because ...
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VIDEO: Michelle Obama Bowie State University commencement address
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