University of Arkansas Commencement Address, 2004

On a planet driven by suspicion of the other, have we ever had such a rich mix of the world’s population gathered in a single nation? Can we achieve harmony? Can we ensure that every group has equal access to opportunity? Can we show the world that this country, built partly on the backs of black slaves, can nurture and sustain a society that embraces all? Over a century ago W.E.B. DuBois declared that race was the central issue of his time. Sadly his statement is equally true today. To build an America in which people of many races and cultures live together as a single nation, we must create a cultural common ground. Our nation’s educational institutions must embrace the cultures of all Americans. And that is just what you have done here at the University of Arkansas. Your faculty and you embrace the voices of our future as well as our past. You have learned that many of your greatest teachers will be outside the classroom. As a folklorist I love to quote an African proverb that says, “When an old man or woman dies, a library burns to the ground.” Many of my most memorable teachers were blues singers, quiltmakers, and storytellers who received their education through “fireplace learning.” Their voices linger in my ear. I still hear the voice of blues singer James “Son” Thomas, as he sang “You may be beautiful, but you got to die some day. I want a little bit of your love before you pass away.” I hear the voice of mule trader/storyteller Ray Lum, who often repeated the phrase, “You live and learn, and then you die and forget it all.” B.B. King has clearly hit the bottom when he sings “Nobody loves me but my Momma, and she might be jiving too.”