Dr. Melissa Harris-Perry spoke at Elon Wednesday evening with a speech entitled, "We Will Need Courage." Dr. Harris-Perry is a professor, author, columnist, news anchor, mother and wife. She began the evening with taking a selfie on stage with the audience followed by a trigger warning to caution those listening. She sarcastically apologized for being a woman with an opinion and acknowledged that having a different opinion than her is okay. Dr. Harris-Perry said, "Disagreement should be at the heart of all college campuses." Dr. Harris-Perry then gave admiration and thanks to Dr. Maya Angelou, whom she worked closely with at Wake Forest University. The professor also did some research on Elon University and praised the school for having protest protocol and such a highly rated campus.
Her speech was a MLK commemorative address, however instead of beginning with the life and impact of Dr. King, she began with more current events. Dr. Harris-Perry wanted to capture the attention of the Class of 2016, who will be leaving Elon and entering a very complicated political world. She went chronologically in time from 2008 to today, addressing everything from low voter turnout, the arrest of Harvard Professor Skip Gates, and the numerous shootings of African Americans. Dr. Harris-Perry could not find justifiable reasoning for the shootings of innocent children like Haidya Pendleton and Tamir Rice.
After discussing police brutality and the double standards that are apparent in many systems and institutions, Dr. Harris-Perry discussed blackness in America and asked the audience if Black lives truly matter. Dr. Harris-Perry said, "Blackness is not having a problem, it is being perceived as a problem. She touched many subjects including ontological blackness, the uterus and legislation, slavery, undocumented citizens, economic distress, and more. When discussing the education system Dr. Harris-Perry said, "Students chose proficiency over passion, and success over exploration." She ended her speech with recapping some of the work that Dr. King had put forth and spoke on how we have evolved since that period of time.
Throughout the entire evening, Dr. Harris-Perry inserted many humorous and personal jokes which kept the audience engaged and listening. She then took a few student questions, which were about university life, historically black universities, and more. Dr. Harris-Perry brought much insight and perspective to Elon's community, while respectfully acknowledging different opinions. The audience gave her a standing ovation when she finished her speech.