Maryland Gov. Wes Moore urged the nation’s young people to find a middle ground between focusing solely on the country’s ugly chapters and accepting its greatness without question during his commencement speech at Lincoln University, writes Erin Cox for The Philadelphia Tribune.
Moore, a potential Democratic presidential contender for 2028, highlighted his grandfather’s story of fleeing the Jim Crow South to escape threats from the Ku Klux Klan, using it to define a new brand of patriotism to reengage people disillusioned by politics.
“It’s easy to rail against a country when you’re unwilling to be a part of its betterment,” said Moore, who is the only Black governor of a U.S. state. “The hard part is being honest about our flaws, and being courageous enough to be the ones who are willing to address it.”
The speech was a deeply personal event for the governor, whose grandfather, the late Rev. Dr. James Thomas, graduated from the historically Black school in Pennsylvania.
“My grandfather’s journey helps to underscore some very complicated feeling,” said Moore. “James Thomas loved this country too much to let the cruelty of others determine his destination.”
Read more about Wes Moore speaking at Lincoln University’s commencement recently in The Philadelphia Tribune.
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