「黑豹」查德维克·博斯曼2018霍华德大学毕业典礼的演讲
After graduating from T.L. Hanna High School in 1995, Boseman earned a fine arts degree from Howard in Washington, D.C., in 2000. He returned Saturday to a rousing welcome which included chants of "Howard Forever" and "Wakanda Forever." Wakanda is the fictional African nation depicted in "Black Panther."
During the commencement, Boseman was awarded an honorary doctorate degree, Doctor of Humane Letters, the university's highest honor.
https://v.qq.com/txp/iframe/player.html?vid=z0656z2602k&width=500&height=375&auto=0
Here are three things Boseman shared with Howard's Class of 2018:
· Boseman recallled walking across campus one day with his head down, in his own thoughts. When he looked up Muhammad Ali was coming straight at him. The "G.O.A.T." locked eyes with Boseman and playfully challenged him to a shadow boxing match. Of the experience, Boseman said, "I walked away light, ready to take on the world; that is the magic of this place. Almost anything can happen here." He later realized Ali was "transferring something to me on that day. He was transferring the spirit of the fighter to me."
· Boseman took note of student protests at the university during the past school year involving financial aid and campus housing. He encouraged students to continue their activism once they leave the university. "You loved the university enough to struggle with it. You have to continue to do that, everything that you fought for was not for yourself, it was for those who came after."
· Boseman recalled challenging the director of a soap opera early in his career about his character's stereotypical storyline. A day later, he was fired from the job and his agent told him he would likely be blackballed for a while. Boseman said he found himself conflicted for a while, adding that "Sometimes you need to get knocked down before you can really figure out what your fight is and how you need to fight it."
That early setback prepared Boseman to play iconic roles such as singer James Brown, Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall and baseball great Jackie Robinson.
"When I dared to challenge the system that would relegate us to victims and stereotypes with no clear historical backgrounds, no hopes or talents; when I questioned that method of portrayals; a different path opened up for me. The path to my destiny. When God has something for you it doesn't matter who stands against it. God will move someone that's holding you back away from a door and put someone there who will open it for you, if it's meant for you.
"I don't know what your future is, but if you're willing to take the harder way, the more complicated one, the one with more failures at first than successes ... then you will not regret it."