Congressman and Civil Rights leader John Lewis gave the commencement address at Emory University last month.

Here’s an excerpt, followed by a video of the entire speech.

I’m also going to use the excerpt with a writing prompt next year in my U.S. History class. The prompt will be:

What does John Lewis mean when he says it’s important to get into trouble? To what extent do you agree (or disagree) with what he is saying? To support your opinion, be sure to include specific examples drawn from your own experience, your observations of others, or any of your readings.

I’m adding this post both to The Best Commencement Speeches and to My Best Posts On Writing Instruction (which is way I collect my writing prompts).

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