Dear Reader,

I had the honor of delivering a commencement speech at Georgetown University’s 2022 graduating class Harambee ceremony. Harambee, meaning “all pull together in Swahili, is a cherished annual event that acknowledges graduating seniors who identify with communities of the African Diaspora, as well as their allies.

Since it’s establishment in 2000, Harambee has served as a collective celebration of the remarkable accomplishments of students who have earned their college diplomas. It is a profound tribute to the vibrant community and lasting legacy that Black graduating students and their allies have nurtured and fostered at Georgetown University.

The essence of the message I shared remains as relevant as ever. Today, I want to extend my heartfelt congratulations to all the graduates who have worked tirelessly to reach this significant milestone in their lives.

Thank you for that warm welcome and congratulations to you!

As we open it would be remiss if I didn’t first acknowledge the real things happening in the world. The past few years have been some of the most chaotic and unpredictable years in our lives. With the hate fueled mass shooting in Buffalo, we see the ugliness of racism, ever present. Our society must build the muscle of introspection and courageous, constructive action. The late politician and civil rights activist John Lewis rightly illuminated that “freedom is not a state; it is an act. It is not some enchanted garden perched high on a distant plateau where we can finally sit down and rest. Freedom is the continuous action we all must take.” We cannot afford to be distracted from what’s possible. We must confront fear which leads to hate.

Prayers up to our family and friends who are no longer with us. I know they would be so proud to see you graduate today.

A few thank yous.

Thank you Georgetown Faculty!

Thank you, Center for Multicultural Equity and Access, for creating a space to steward equity and today to honor the accomplishments of the class of 2022.

Thank you Wisey’s for your Chicken Madness sandwiches. And special thanks to the two dudes that used to sit outside who always said, “you go trackstar.” Highly motivating stuff. Very inspiring.

All jokes aside, I am grateful for this opportunity to share. It is an honor and a privilege to be back at Georgetown. This is a celebratory moment and a moment to reflect on your journey.

Congratulations Class of 2022! You did it.

20 years ago, I stood where you now stand. I came to Georgetown as you did not knowing what the future held and at the same time resolute that this institution was the right investment to prepare me for the future. Your Georgetown foundation is so solid.

And even with a super solid foundation to stand on we could all use a little luck. Right? This world is a lot right now. If a little genie popped out of your drink tonight and said “how would you like the odds in your favor for the rest of your life?” You would say “yes please!” You would say yes so fast…

The nature of luck is something I’ve been thinking about. Luck is something we think about when someone wins the Mega Millions. We think about it as something random that happens. Like when you roll doubles or land Free Parking in Monopoly. (By the way, the best properties to buy in Monopoly statistically speaking are the orange and red ones. But I digress.) There are people we know that appear to have next level good fortune. And that’s a good thing. I think we’d all like to see more positive things happen in this world.

But. I think we should think differently about luck. We should disabuse ourselves of the notion that luck is some sort of accidental phenomena. Good luck is not as random as we think. I venture that we should think of luck as a verb. Luck is something we can do. Luck is action we can actually generate for ourselves, not charms and four leaf clovers and crystals. Welllll, I’ll admit I do own a few crystals myself and I pray to the ancestors from time to time. But that’s besides the point! What I’m saying is that it’s possible to create your own good luck. You’ve heard the saying “create your own luck.” So let’s crack the code on how to create luck in the next few minutes. Let’s do good luck 101. Shall we?

Let’s go. So three investments go into your luck portfolio. Good luck is created through long-term investment in 1. Yourself, 2. Your community, and 3. Your platform in the world. Emphasis on long-term investment. Most people optimize for the day ahead. Almost nobody optimizes for 3-4 years ahead (or beyond). The key to creating good luck is continuous growth of self, community and your platform over a sustained time.

It starts with you. Create good luck by investing in yourself. Specifically, invest in your sense of worthiness. Get therapy, get a coach. Do the work on you. Get it so that your love for yourself is so vast and deep that it is unshakeable. In this world, in this skin, messages, and images around us tell us that we are not worthy. We are accustomed to this world implicitly and explicitly telling us what we can and cannot do, where we belong and where we don’t belong. Be conscious of the stories you consume and the words you use to regard yourself. Embrace the message that wherever you choose to stand, whatever rooms you are in, whatever table you are seated at is exactly where you belong. My mentor and coach Sylvia High said it best when she said: “decide that you have nothing to prove and something unique to share with the world.” Your voice is needed and required so turn your dial up to 1000. Say what needs to be said because fortune favors the bold.

Next, in your luck portfolio it’s about your network. (hashtag#Connect on LinkedIn! I couldn’t resist) Create good luck by investing in your community. Look at the people to your left and your right. Opportunities to build are right here in this room. It’s a text, a phone call, or a bat signal away. Make this community and the fact that you don’t have to face the world’s challenges alone very real for yourself right now. This is your good luck crew. Keep them close. Given the events of the past years, it has never been clearer that our fortunes are connected. Opportunities come through people, and people are more likely to bring opportunities to people they like so the best path forward and through anything is together. Being a trustworthy, kind person is a simple way to become luckier.

Finally, in your luck portfolio, create good luck by making this world the type of world you actually want to live in. Today you graduate as the rising stewards of business, policy, and culture. We must be responsible stewards of this power. Now I do love a good dystopian action movie. That doesn’t mean I want to live in one! I’m not trying to live in the Hunger Games – you know what I’m talking about. Katniss Everdeen running around in the woods killing kids to entertain the wealthy. Nope, nope, nope. This life cannot be about how we should fix ourselves and assimilate to fit a society that was not built for us to thrive. Instead, we must confront the status quo. There’s a saying: When a flower doesn’t bloom you fix the environment in which it grows. Not the flower. Meaning it is time to change this society to make it the best conceivable place for all of us to learn, grow, and thrive.

I read somewhere that each human being has the potential to influence 80k people in a lifetime. In this age of technology and social media I venture that the number is multiples higher. We influence people every day. Today, this fact is truer now than ever before. Many of us are electronically connected to everyone we have ever met, everyone we hope to meet, and even people who we will never meet. Every word and picture shared becomes a platform that will influence—whether consciously or subconsciously—the people on the other side of the screen. We have all been given a platform from which others have granted permission to speak into their lives. There is an opportunity to move people, to solve problems, to lead should we choose to embrace it. It’s your platform. Not just a job title. Your career does not have to be just a career – it can be a platform for transformation. The great thing about standing for something is that more opportunities come your way. When you have a platform you are vastly more likely to ‘get lucky’ in unexpected ways. People who share your passion will want to build with you. People will come to you with good ideas. They trust you more. They recommend you. Opportunity knocks, but only if it knows your address.

And finally, remember, that without effort, good luck becomes a missed opportunity. With effort, good luck can become a life-changing event. The formula is luck x hard work. In this unpredictable world, what we can control is our level of investment and preparation. And when we don’t get the outcome we want, we can look to the next action and the one after that. Author and inspirational speaker Simon Sinek said: “there is no winning or losing in an infinite game because your goal is to keep playing”, to keep moving things forward. What we are striving for, for Black people, is worth the generational sacrifice to realize and like previous generations, this generation will advance our cause.

Congratulations Georgetown Class of 2022! May the odds be ever in your favor! And may the ancestors continue to smile down on you! You are their wildest dream. Honor that and go create your own good luck!

Thank you!