Meghan Markle is using her voice to address the next generation!
While speaking to the graduating class of her alma mater, Immaculate Heart High School, during their virtual ceremony on Wednesday, the 38-year-old cited the incidents in Los Angeles over the last week, labeling them as “absolutely devastating.”
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In the video message she shared with the graduates, Meghan noted her nerves over wanting “to say the right thing” amid the Black Lives Matters protests happening around the country:
“I wasn’t sure what I could say to you. I wanted to say the right thing. And I was really nervous that I wouldn’t, or that it would get picked apart, and I realized the only wrong thing to say is to say nothing. Because George Floyd‘s life mattered. And Breonna Taylor‘s life mattered. And Philando Castile‘s life mattered. And Tamir Rice‘s life mattered. And so did so many other people whose names we know and whose names we don’t know.”
She continued:
“The first thing I want to say to you is that I’m sorry. I’m so sorry you have to grow up in a world where this is still present.”
The Duchess of Sussex continued, telling the graduating seniors a message she had been told while a sophomore at the school:
“‘Always remember to put others’ needs above your own fears.’ That has stuck with me through my entire life, and I have thought about it more in the last week than ever before.”
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Although she was not in high school at the time, Archie‘s mum recalled her experience as a young person living in Los Angeles during the 1992 riots, which came in the wake of Rodney King‘s death at the hands of the police:
“I remember the curfew, and I remember rushing back home and on that drive home seeing ash fall from the sky and smelling the smoke and seeing the smoke billow out of buildings and seeing people run out of buildings carrying bags and looting. And I remember seeing men in the back of a van holding guns and rifles. And I remember pulling up to the house and seeing the tree that had always been there completely charred. And those memories don’t go away. I can’t imagine that at 17 or 18 years old, which is how old you are now, that you would have to have a different version of that same type of experience.”
Finally, she encouraged her fellow alumni to be examples in their community as they move into the real world:
“You are going to lead with love, you are going to lead with compassion, you are going to use your voice. You’re going to use your voice in a stronger way than you’ve ever been able to because most of you are 18 or you’re going to turn 18, so you’re going to vote.”
Listen to Meg’s moving words (below):
[Image via Reuters/YouTube.]
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