Obama urges Howard University students to change US through ‘action’

London : With the sun setting on his term, United States President Barack Obama in his commencement address at Howard University called on the students who are mostly black graduates, to be responsible for changing America through civic action and compromise. According to the Guardian, Obama lamented the low youth turnout in the 2014 election saying, “Passion is vital, but you better have a strategy. And your plan better include voting. You don’t think that made a difference in terms of the Congress I’ve had to deal with?”However, the President was also seen in a light-hearted mode cracking inside jokes about campus eateries and dormitories. The president also urged the younger generation to channel their indignation into action. “Change requires more than righteous anger – it requires change and it requires a program and it requires organizing,” he said, noting the growth of young activist movements including “black Twitter” and Black Lives Matter. “I’m so proud of the new guard of black activists who understand this,” he added. “To bring about structural change, lasting change, awareness is not enough. It requires changes in law, changes in custom. If you care about mass incarceration, let me ask you, how are you pressuring members of Congress to pass the criminal reform bill now pending before them?” he added.Hinting at Republican nominee Donald Trump whose rallies have often been disrupted by progressive activists, Obama discouraged graduates from trying to shut down the events of people they disagree with.”There’s been a trend around the country of trying to get colleges to disinvite speakers with a different point of view or disrupt a politician’s rally. Don’t do that, no matter how ridiculous or offensive you might find the things that come out of their mouths. Because as my grandmother used to tell me, every time a fool speaks, they’re just advertising their own ignorance,” he added.