by Ayofemi Kirby – I was searching for an old grad school syllabus in my emails today, and in the process, I came across my commencement speech at American University in 2012. The funny thing is, I don’t actually remember giving this speech (I was going through a lot personally at the time). Maybe someone in my cohort does. But rereading it now — more than a decade later — I can see how much of what I said that day has quietly shaped so much of my career and my life.
In that speech, I spoke about responsibility, about the discipline of listening, and about storytelling not as control but as creating the conditions for certain conversations to take place. I spoke about communication as a practice that should help solve the problems we face rather than create new ones.
Since then, my path has taken me several places – across oceans, borders, cultural institutions and museums, and into spaces where national and world leaders grapple with the issues that change lives every day.
And in all of those rooms, the lessons remain the same: listen deeply, honor nuance, and build trust by being careful with our stories – our own and especially those of others.
I may not remember giving the speech — but I know I’ve been living it. And perhaps that is the real measure of a message that matters.
Read the full post on Substack or listen to it on the E36 Podcast below.