Beyoncé Praised By President Obama During Howard University Commencement Speech

wwetvsports21
May 9, 2016
1 min read

President Obama gave a 45 minute speech and how hip hop rose in the communities to become apart of pop culture. He mentioned Beyoncé and Scandal creator Shonda Rhimes as proof of advancements of African-Americans have made in the U.S. since he graduated from Columbia University in 1983.

“A lot of folks didn’t even think blacks had the tools to be a quarterback,” said the president. “When I was a graduate, the main black hero on TV was Mr. T. Rap and Hip Hop were counter-culture. Now Shonda Rhimes owns Thursday night and Beyoncé runs the world.”

President Obama still let it be known that there are issues in terms of income inequality, education reform, and mass incarceration that have to be addressed, but believes the country as a whole is better off than it was in the early 1980’s.

Obama stated, “Since the year I graduated, the poverty rate is down. Americans with college degrees, that rate is up. Crime rates are down. America’s cities have undergone a renaissance. There are more women in the workforce. They’re earning more money. We’ve cut teen pregnancy in half. We’ve slashed the African-American dropout rate by almost 60 percent, and all of you have a computer in your pocket that gives you the world at the touch of a button.”

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