PROVIDENCE, RI (AP) – U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi urged Brown University graduates on Sunday to “keep your hopes up,” even as they face the current darkness of the world. .
“In the midst of the darkness, it would be easy to go down to apathy or despair. But we can’t. We can’t,” Pelosi told the Ivy League school in Providence.
The California Democrat referred to the “senseless” shootings at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, and a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, the impending sentencing of the U.S. Supreme Court on abortion rights. , the January 6, 2021 uprising and voter repression.
“You’re graduating from a very different world,” he said, and congratulated the students on their courage and resilience.
“Hope remains the most powerful weapon of democracy against oppression, against cynicism, against hatred,” he said.
Referring to President Abraham Lincoln’s efforts to unite the country during “one of the darkest hours in America,” Pelosi urged graduates “to help summon the best angels of our nature to help heal the broken soul.” of America “.
Pelosi was the keynote speaker at the opening ceremony of the 2022 promotion and one of nine people to receive an honorary degree during the three-day graduation weekend. Artist Shaggy was also honored on Saturday for his work as a musician and philanthropist.