Among the many things to be affected by the coronavirus have been the cancellation of graduation ceremonies across the country. High school and college students in the class of 2020 have been left to celebrate their accomplishments through Zoom meetings, with the hope that in-person ceremonies can be held in the fall. To make the deprivation of this ceremony less painful, Barack Obama has joined forces with YouTube Originals for a series of Dear Class of 2020 livestreams, which have already seen appearances from Taylor Swift, Michelle Obama, Justin Timberlake, Lizzo, Billie Eilish and more.
Beyonce is the latest to join the livestream. The singer began her speech by asking the graduates to thank their community for helping them reach this life achievement. “Please remember to take a little bit of time to give thanks to your family members and the community who’s been such a big support system for you,” she said. “You are achieving things your parents and grandparents never could imagine for themselves. You are the answer to a generation of prayers.”
Beyonce then urged them to continue chasing their dreams and to let “that vulnerability motivate you into greatness.” Lastly, Beyonce used the recent protests all across the country to show what the results of coming together could look like. “Look what you’ve been able to do in the last 14 days,” she said. “We’ve seen the power of the collective. We’ve seen what happens when we join for the same cause. Please, continue to be the voice for the voiceless.”
You can watch Beyonce’s speech in the video above, and you can tune into the Dear Class Of 2020 livestream at the top of this post to hear words from Megan Thee Stallion, Demi Lovato, Katy Perry, Barack Obama, and more.