Michelle Obama to Bowie State Grads: It's Time to Feel Hungry Again

In a speech celebrating the history of Bowie State University and the struggles of African-Americans forced to fight for their education, First Lady Michelle Obama told the class of 2013 on Friday that it was time to "start feeling that hunger" again.

“For generations, in many parts of this country it was illegal for black people to get an education,” Obama said, telling tales of students who were threatened, teachers who were beaten and schools that were burned when African-Americans first sought education.

“But despite the risks, students flocked to these schools in droves,” she said.

Bowie State—Maryland’s oldest historically black university—was founded in 1865, just two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed. In many ways, Obama said, the school was “an act of defiance, an eloquent rebuttal to the idea that black people couldn’t or shouldn’t be educated.”

“For those people who showed up at that school in 1885? Education meant nothing less than freedom,” she said.  “So back then, people were hungry to learn. Do you hear me? Hungry to get what they needed to succeed in this country."

Obama also talked about 6-year-old Ruby Bridges, the first black student to attend a white school in New Orleans. Only one teacher would instruct her, Mrs. Obama said, but that did not stop her from learning.

“For an entire year, little Ruby sat all alone in a class of one, dutifully learning her lessons. See, that is the sacrifice that so many folks have made, that is the hunger they felt,” Obama said.

A type of sacrifice that many now take for granted, she added.

“Today, more than 150 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, more than 50 years after the end of 'separate but equal,' when it comes to getting an education, too many of our young people just can’t be bothered,” Obama said.

“Instead of dreaming of being a teacher or a lawyer or a business leader, they’re fantasizing about being a baller or a rapper,” she said.

But education is still as important now as it was 148 years ago, Obama said. Only one in five African-Americans between the ages of 25 and 29 has a college degree, and one in three drops out of high school.

“I think we can agree we need to start feeling that hunger again,” Obama said. “We need to dig deep and find the same kind of grit and determination that drove the first students at this school and the generations of students that came after them.”

Obama urged Friday’s graduates to find that hunger and to bring it into their communities: to fix broken schools, to get youth who have gone astray back on track and to get business and community leaders involved in education.

She encouraged students to turn off the TV, to turn off the music and to take a stand.

“Be an example of excellence for the next generation and do everything you can to help them understand the power and purpose of education,” Obama said.

“I wish you god speed and good luck, I love you all. Do your thing,” she concluded.