For Graduates, Ignore Naysayers

May marks the high point for graduations, whether high school, college, or some other form of schooling. For my wife and me, the excitement of seeing our great-granddaughter receive her bachelor’s degree in psychology nearly three weeks ago will be followed by a high school graduation in June.

It will be our third consecutive annual trip to Long Island, as the children of our oldest nephew complete their studies and march into the world.

I know the family reunion atmosphere next month means we will enjoy our great-niece’s ceremony. But the speaker will be hard-pressed to match the inspiration delivered earlier this month by Soledad O’Brien.

Best Speech Ever

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O’Brien’s was a familiar name, since I had seen various reports by her on NBC News, although I can’t remember exactly when those aired.

But after she spoke at  Marshall University’s commencement, I came away with the thought that hers was the finest graduation talk I had ever heard (and over the years, I’ve heard a lot).

Truthfully, I knew very little about O’Brien, other than she did some good reporting on various issues involving politics and current events.

So I didn’t know anything about her personal history. She is the fifth of six children born to immigrant parents. Her father was a white man from Australia and her mother a Black woman from Cuba.

She recalled how they met because her dad kept offering her mother a ride to Sunday mass. Although she rejected the offers several times, she finally accepted.

When he asked her out on a date, several restaurants refused to admit them. They said he could come in, but not her.

Finally, in order to enjoy a meal that night, she invited him to her apartment so she could cook dinner.

Breaking the Law

When the couple decided to get married in 1958, they couldn’t tie the knot in Maryland. It was one of 16 states that prohibited interracial marriage at the time. So they drove to Washington, D.C.

Picture for illustration purposes only.

Their marriage was illegal in parts of the country until 1967, when the Supreme Court overturned laws against interracial unions. (Last year, the House of Representatives approved a resolution commemorating the Loving v. Virginia ruling.)

Aside from the legality of her parents’ marriage, O’Brien talked about the societal rejection they faced. She recalled her mother telling her that sometimes people would spit on her as she walked down the street with some of Soledad’s older siblings.

When O’Brien asked how she tolerated such treatment, her mother would say, “Because we knew America was better than that.”

In other words, she knew the haters were in the minority and in the long run they wouldn’t prevail.

Ignoring the Idiots

The remark in O’Brien’s Marshall address that stood out came from an incident she recalled, when another reporter asked her to share the best advice her mother ever gave. O’Brien replied, “Most people are idiots. Ignore them.”

O’Brien went on to explain that her mother didn’t mean that literally. Her point was that in life, you will invariably encounter naysayers. People who will tell you that you will never succeed, you will never accomplish anything, and your ideas aren’t any good.

Those are the people you should ignore, she told nearly 1,500 graduates who attended the two ceremonies that day.

Ignore the negative voices that so often crop up on social media, she said. If some people drag you down with criticism or negative comments, delete them from your feed and move on.

Indeed. Good advice for graduates.