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Over 20 years ago, Meghan Markle received advice from a high school teacher that has stuck with her ever since. The Duchess of Sussex, 38, shared the wise words during a virtual commencement speech for the graduating class of her alma mater, Immaculate Heart High School. Recalling when she was a 15-year-old sophomore, Prince Harry ’s wife said, “I remember my teacher at the time, one of my teachers, Ms. Pollia, said to me before I was leaving for a day of volunteering, ‘Always remember to put other’s needs above your own fears.’ And that has stuck with me through my entire life.”
Now in the wake of George Floyd’s death and numerous Black Lives Matter protests, the Duchess admitted that she’s been thinking about the advice “more in the last week than ever before.”
Amid the riots and protests currently occurring in L.A. and around the world, Meghan reflected in her remarks on when she was a young student and the 1992 Los Angeles riots were taking place. “I remember the curfew and I remember rushing back home and on that drive home, seeing ash fall from the sky and smelling the smoke and seeing the smoke billow out of buildings and seeing people run out of buildings carrying bags and looting,” she shared. “And I remember seeing men in the back of a van just holding guns and rifles. And I remember pulling up to the house and seeing the tree, that had always been there, completely charred. And those memories don’t go away.”
While their graduation might not have been the celebration they envisioned, Meghan asked the graduates to “reframe” this and not see it as “the end of something, but instead to see this as the beginning” of them harnessing all of their work, values and skills and channeling them. She said, “Now all of that work gets activated. Now you get to be part of rebuilding. And I know sometimes people say how many times do we need to rebuild? Well, you know, we are going to rebuild and rebuild and rebuild until it is rebuilt. Because when the foundation is broken, so are we.”
Archie Harrison ’s mom encouraged students to lead with love, compassion and use their voice. “You are going to use your voice in a stronger way than you’ve ever been able to because most of you are 18 or you’re going to turn 18 so you’re going to vote,” she said. “You are going to have empathy for those who don’t see the world through the same lens that you do because with as diverse, and vibrant and opened minded as I know the teachings at Immaculate Heart are, I know you know that Black lives Matter. So I’m already excited for what you’re going to do in the world. You are equipped. You are ready. We need you and you are prepared.”