Meghan Markle has spoken out about George Floyd’s death during a commencement address for her former high school.
Seeming to choke back tears, Meghan recorded a video statement to address Immaculate Heart High School’s class of 2020. The 38-year-old explained that she had been unsure of what to tell the class, but realized “the only wrong thing to say is nothing.”
“What is happening in our country and in our state and in our hometown of LA has been absolutely devastating. I wasn’t sure what I could say to you. I wanted to say the right thing and I was really nervous that I wouldn’t, or that it would get picked apart. And I realized the only wrong thing to say is to say nothing, because George Floyd’s life mattered and Breonna Taylor’s life mattered and Philando Castile’s life mattered and Tamir Rice’s life mattered.”
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Meghan, who recently moved back to her hometown of Los Angeles with her husband Prince Harry and son Archie, compared the current protests in L.A. to the city’s 1992 riots, which began following the acquittal of L.A. police officers in the brutal arrest of Rodney King. Meghan said the 1992 uprising “was also triggered by senseless act of racism.”
“I remember the curfew and I remember rushing back home and on that drive home, seeing ash fall from the sky and smelling the smoke and seeing the smoke billow out of buildings, and seeing people run out of buildings carrying bags and looting. I remember seeing men in the back of a van just holding guns and rifles. I remember pulling up the house and seeing the tree, that had always been there, completely charred. And those memories don’t go away.”
“I am sorry that in a way we have not gotten to the place where you deserve it to be.”
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But Meghan was sure to leave her new fellow alumni with a message of hope, saying their schooling had prepared them for what lies ahead. She even called out one of her former teachers by name, saying her words had a lasting impact on Meghan’s own life.
“I remember my teacher at the time, one of my teachers, Ms Pollia, said to me as I was leaving for a day of volunteering, ‘always remember to put other’s needs above your own fears. And that has stuck with me throughout my entire life and I have thought about it more in the last week than ever before.”
Meghan concluded her speech by encouraging the graduating class to use their voices for change.
“You know that you’re going to rebuild, rebuild and rebuilt until it is rebuilt. Because when the foundation is broken, so are we. You are going to lead with love, you are going to lead with compassion, you are going to use your voice…You’re going to use your voice in a stronger way than you’ve ever been able to, because most of you are 18 – or you’re going to turn 18 soon — so you’re going to vote. You’re going to have empathy for those who don’t see the world through the same lens that you do.”
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