Meghan Markle implored the class of 2020 to uplift the needs of others in a speech to the graduating class of her former high school that addressed the death of George Floyd.
“For the past couple of weeks I’ve been planning on saying a few words to you for your graduation and as we’ve all seen over the last week what is happening in our country, and in our state and in our hometown of LA has been absolutely devastating,” she said in a pre-recorded video for Immaculate Heart High School, a private woman’s day school located in Los Angeles, on Wednesday.
The Duchess of Sussex said she wasn’t exactly sure what to tell students when she was preparing her address and “wanted to say the right thing.” She added that she was really nervous about what she said getting “picked apart.”
“The only wrong thing to say is to say nothing,” she said. “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 do not know.”
Quoting a teacher from her time at Immaculate Heart, Markle said to “always remember to put others’ needs above your own fears.”
“So 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,” she said. “I know that this is not the graduation that you’ve envisioned, and this is not the celebration that you imagined. But I also know that there is a way for us to reframe this for you, and to not see this as the end of something but instead to see this as the beginning of you harnessing all of the work, all of the values, all of the skills that you have embodied over the last four years and now you channel that.”
The former American actress pointed out that “when the foundation is broken, so are we,” and told students to use their voices for change.
“You are going to use your voice. You are going to use your voice in a stronger way than you have ever been able to because you are 18, or you’re going to turn 18, so you’re going to vote. You are equipped, you are ready. We need you, and you are prepared,” she said.
Markle, whose mother is black and whose father is white, married Britain’s Prince Harry in 2018. Under intense scrutiny from the tabloids, she and the prince recently decided to take a “step back” from their royal roles and are now living in Los Angeles with their son.
Floyd, an unarmed black man, died last week after a white Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck for nearly nine minutes while arresting him. His death has sparked protests against police brutality and systemic racism around the world. All four officers involved Floyd’s arrest are facing charges.
