LOS ANGELES (AP) — President Barack Obama said in a commencement speech Sunday that the nationwide protests following the recent deaths of unarmed black women and men including George Floyd were fueled from “decades worth of anguish, frustration, over unequal treatment and a failure to perform police practices.”
Obama along with his wife, Michelle, delivered speeches during YouTube’s “Dear Class of 2020” virtual ceremony.
The duo, along with a wide-ranging, star-studded lineup including Beyoncé, Lady Gaga and Tom Brady, offered inspirational messages in hopes of uplifting new graduates.
Michelle Obama said the ongoing protests following Floyd’s death are a “direct result of decades of unaddressed, prejudice and inequality.”
Her initial speech touched on the effect COVID-19 had on this year’s graduating class, but she wanted to speak more on the Floyd’s death, the Black Lives Matter movement and racism in America.
