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Well here we are today, on the precipice of forever…

I refuse to look down, keeping my head to the sky…

Mainly to give thanks to all those who have come before me. I know they are watching us all. Today is more than just a soundtrack for me. It is the realization of the dream that my father had for me and my brother. That my grandfather had for my mother and her sisters. It is the dream that my great-grandmother had as an immigrant from St.Kitts. To be part of America. To be an American. Oh to commune with them again will be heaven, but for now the crisp sunshine on my face will have to suffice.

The work has only just begun my friends. It will require a yeoman’s effort to remove ourselves from the division that has been fostered over centuries of supremacy. Along with the back-breaking task of restoring an economic system that values the workers and the actual producers, instead of only the CEO and the shareholders. This isn’t the rise of socialism either, but the realization that we all have some value. We can’t continue to undermine the farm laborers or the sanitation workers because they are as important to the human ecosystem as doctors and teachers. And doctors and teachers must once again be respected.

There is so much work we have to do now. We have to amend our laws that promote the unnecessary and excessive incarceration of Black and Brown youth. The architects that design prisons also design schools. The same contractors that build prisons also build schools. The same vendors that furnish prisons also make furniture for schools. We have to change our values to education. We have to make those values valuable again. This isn’t socialism or communism. This is futurism and Americanism. Why can’t we be a world leader again in intellectualism as opposed to militaristic intelligence? Being the smart kid on the block doesn’t mean that we won’t get into fights but Lord knows we have enough arms to swing back.

I just can’t help thinking about all the people that I love who I wish were here to enjoy this moment. For all the the hard they put in. For all the indignities they suffered. For all the times they cried. For all the LOVE they gave to EVOLution. I dedicate today to them and I will rightfully celebrate their memory with all of those alive today. Our work has only just begun.