In his commencement speech at Tuskegee University, Tyler Perry stressed that education is the foundation on which college graduates can stand, and it is a strong foundation that would hold them up for the rest of their lives.
The education received would be able to support the weight of whatever the students could dream. He said, "What is in the well, will come up in the bucket" and that African-American students had to remember all the efforts that were put in the well by the hard work and sacrifice of their parents; by the blood, sweat and tears of their grandparents and their ancestors. He reminded the young people that they were already standing on the shoulders of the giants that had come before them.
Tyler Perry reminded the graduating students that they would be stepping into a world that could at times be unfair and unjust. He projected that the challenges ahead could be greater than the challenges they faced while they studied and that the manifestations of their dreams could take longer than they anticipated but that they should never give up.
After sharing his journey as a storyteller and filmmaker, he told the students to remember to decide what their intention would be when they go into the workplace. Tyler Perry's intention was to use all of his life experiences to not only uplift, motivate and empower, but also to heal those around him who had gone through similar life experiences.
He said he uses humor as an anesthetic to numb the painful emotional wounds in people's lives that had never been visited and addressed because of lack of financial resources and time to get the much-needed counseling required for healing. His stories reveal the lives of ordinary people whose stories will never be told; who endured issues like domestic violence, molestation, rape and HIV/AIDS. He also used the stage to share the name of Jesus.
He shared his experience of being attacked by his own community, who did not understand what his work was all about and who wanted him to cover up the truth about the issues faced by the ordinary black person in America. Tyler Perry also hoped that the attitude within the community would change and that a celebration of our achievements and accomplishments would be fostered again.
His intention in life is to encourage, uplift and inspire. His words of advice to students were:
1. Keep your intention no matter what pressures come your way.
2. Stop running away from where you came from to look for approval elsewhere.
3. Remember that you are enough and your gift is enough.
4. Live in your truth and share your gift with the world.
5. And when you succeed, go back to your community and help, remembering that you are the generation that has the power to bring about a new way of thinking.
6. And, lastly, help someone else to know that they are as special as you are and to be the role models of tomorrow.
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