Are you REALLY Mr donner. And thank you to all that you've done to lead this organization forward and Dora on,
I feel so privileged to be here and have the chance to. So, good morning everybody. Standing here now I'm thinking of the woman who brings us together today, her tenacity, wisdom, and most of all, the legacy that she created really is the foundation of all, education, and it affects every aspect of our society. And this group, which has done so much to advance literacy in our country is a powerful testament to First Lady Barbara Bush, and how she's able to use her role to change lives for decades become
while she was in the White House 1000s of Americans wrote to Mrs. Bush, asking how they could help her literacy efforts. And she would write back saying go out and help a native, a neighbor who needs help.
And then you'll be part of my program is designed with us, that we all have a role to play. As we make our communities better and stronger. And she tells Americans from all walks of life,
to do and I hope to do this. Growing up the oldest by spending my summers watching the Phillies baseball games, and we should see at the Jersey Shore to make money for college. I could never have imagined, where my life, that one day I would eat dinner on the China that restroom and picked out so
many years ago that I would wake up, just surrounded by priceless pieces of history, or look out my window which is amazing if we look at the bedroom window and it's just, it's just full of magnolias and maple trees artifacts of the great minds who built our nation, and changed our world, like Mrs. Bush, I spent a lot of time at the White House when Joe was vice president. But there's nothing that can prepare you to be Firstly, we are elected, we have to define this role for ourselves. And we are thrust into a national spotlight in a way that I know none of us could have anticipated I'm sure your mom felt the same way. So a few months ago, I went to a bakery to buy Valentine's Day cupcakes, and the fact that I wore my hair up in a suit.
I was so surprised. I was first lady, everything you do or say carries more weight. And while that can be intimidating at times. It's also what makes the role so special, as Lady Bird Johnson said, it is a fleeting chance to do something for your country. That makes your heart sing. I know that footage, you know, Mrs. Bush understood the incredible power of this platform. She chose literacy, because she wanted to help the most people possible. She believed that everything she was worried about from hopelessness to hunger, the price could be tied back to literacy and education. And you know why she was writing. It seems obvious to us now. But in 1980, when she chose this issue. It really wasn't obvious. The last four decades of research have proved what she knew instinctively that jobs, helping your child through school, or the ability to school, support your family, all require the ability to read. So she traveled the country. She listened to experts like all of you, and learned how to tackle the problem. She visited schools and libraries and literary foundations to raise awareness, she launched this foundation. Today, the seeds, he planted have grown to become a powerful organization with a national strategy to tackle one of the urgent challenges of our times, and don't lose. And that's the power of this role. Mrs. Bush knew that reading could unite all Americans. And that's why, part of why this legacy has endured. But, you know, I'm also thinking about another defining moment in her tenure.
It's a story, I bet probably most of you know, when she was invited to be a commencement speaker for Wellesley College, a group of students circulated a protest petition, say, on a media firestorm.
Well as you know Mrs responded was saying, you know she understood, the students can insert this, but he thought that she might have some wisdom to share. Doesn't that just sound like her at the speech she was funny and self deprecating. She urged the students to, you know, respect differences to be compassionate with one another and cherish their own identities. She spoke to them about things that they cared about, in their own language, and she ended by inviting them to here to see her perspectives as well. Who knows, she said. Somewhere out there in the audience may even be someone who will one day follow in my footsteps and preside over the White House as the President's spouse, and I wish him well, brought the house, have to go to the commencement. Many people are turned on to go play the role of personally pushes you to show up. Even when it's uncomfortable when it pulls you to rise to the needs of the moment. And as you can imagine, in these times, I thought it was so, So far this year, I traveled to 32 states, to get people vaccinated, to talk about education and child poverty, and to listen to people who have often been ignored. And people have asked me why. Why go to Mississippi or Alabama or Alaska. Why talk to people who will never agree with you. And the answer is, I am persuaded to. There have been times when I've been met with hurt, or anger. But I found that that common values that unite us are deeper than our divisions. I've seen how a kind word or gesture can, you know, just relax someone shoulders can open their hearts to what you have to say, even if we'll never agree. I've seen how despite our differences, families across this country want the same things, the chance to work hard and build a list like for our families, with our neighbor is sick, we'll ask them who they voted for, you know, we just take over Sue, when we see people in the community who are struggling, you know, to get a job interview to put food on the table, to learn, you know, maybe we offer to babysit, we'll donate food to food banks. We volunteer to help someone learn to read. We can change the world in big ways and smokers. And this is Bush reminded us that we need. And all you are building coalitions and bringing the best minds in education together to serve our entire country. You are transforming adult literacy for all Americans, and it's incredible, as an English teacher, and a former reading specialist. I am so grateful for everything that you are doing. but it's also up to each other. We never know what's behind someone smile, or how much they may might need our kindness or strength. So we must find our own way to be a shoulder company, or to be an ear to listen, when someone feels alone.
We have to learn from those who just don't understand, to root, across the common divide and find common ground, because that's where the foundations of our future must be vague. So I want to end today with Mrs Bush's words of a neighbor who needs help, because we all have a role to play. And the more kindness we give, the more that it's reflecting back on us. When we listen, learn, and lift up those around us who are struggling, we draw closer to each other, and into a community where everyone has the opportunities they need to thrive despite our differences, we can build a world that would make Mrs. Bush, and all of us proud. Thank you. Thank you for those remarks, the last time I saw her in words. I thought I was making
