by Yinka Faleti 

St. Mary's South Side Catholic High School, Saint Louis, Missouri 

May 22, 2022 

Good evening! How’s everyone doing? It’s terrific to be here with you on your day! I am so honored to have this opportunity to  share in such a special day in your life! 

To the St. Mary’s High School Class of 2022; parents, family members, friends, and other supportive loved ones; to your  president and my friend, Mike England; Principal Valerie Todd;  all of the faculty and staff; distinguished guests, congratulations! on today! What an exciting day today is for you! 

When Mike asked me to share a few remarks with you, I jumped at the opportunity! My wife is here tonight, and she knows in my  heart of hearts how important I think the development of young men is to our society. I'm so excited to be sharing in this hallowed event with you tonight. This day is such an important day in your life AND in the lives of your parents. For them, it means you'll  soon be leaving their space. You know it was their space before  you came along, right?! For that reason alone, many of your parents are just as happy about today as you are! Hmn-hmn!

Now, this is my first commencement speech ever, so please take it  easy on me. If you find yourself needing to lob a tomato or two, only ripe tomatoes, please. The unripe green ones hurt too much! 

Before I go into my remarks proper: first things first, congratulations on winning the state championship in football! 

Go Dragons! 

I got a chance to first visit your school and connect with some of your brothers of a prior class a few years back. I remember how impressed I was with the young men I interacted with that day. I was impressed with the maturity, intellectual curiosity, and  orientation to service I experienced. I thought to myself, St. Mary’s and the parents of these young men are doing something  right. 

But, not only did I witness young men who were impressive individually; the collective of the young men together was  impressive. I saw a brotherhood and a cohesiveness that’s not  found in every high school. I suspect your class is equally as cohesive and impressive—and perhaps even more so. 

While your class is graduating on a high note, the last few years have been challenging, to say the least. You began in 2018 as bright-eyed, green freshmen who were still trying to figure out the  difference between your A Days and B Days. Your first year was relatively normal for freshmen negotiating high school, but was  certainly disorienting at times because you were freshmen trying  to negotiate your first year of high school. 

You began your sophomore year probably more confident about  being a high schooler. You’d “seen the elephant” of freshman year  and were now ready for anything. And just as you were hitting  your stride of sophomore year, the pandemic hit. And nothing has been normal ever since.  

I’m betting it’s safe to say that—as a class—you’ve probably worn a  mask in school more consecutive days than any other prior class  in St. Mary’s 90-year history. 

Your class isn’t the normal. There’s nothing normal about what  you’ve had to endure. I submit that your class has been affected differently. And, because of that, you’ve been developing a muscle that you may not even be aware that you’ve been developing. And I’m not talking about biceps or triceps—though many of you are  athletes or otherwise work out. And physical fitness is, indeed, important.

Who here has heard of the hit classic, the Wizard of Oz? Great; I  see a lot of hands.…We remember the main characters—Dorothy,  the protagonist, on a journey with three supporting characters-- The Tin Man, Scarecrow, and The Cowardly…[point to the  audience, leading them to say, “Lion”]. Very good! Of all of the  characters in that production, the lion was always the most interesting to me.  

Here you have the personification of the animal that—in nature— is often called “King of the Beasts”—reportedly feared by all  animals and man alike, with a wonderous and large mane, a  thunderous roar, ferocious speed; a prideful gait; piercing and  terrifying eyes; a very presence that instills fear in others. Yet, in  the Wizard of Oz, this character is seemingly afraid of his own shadow. 

Yet, by the end, the cowardly lion learns that he is, indeed, courageous and has been all along. Because courage isn’t defined by not being afraid. Courage is defined by being afraid and acting, anyway. 

Yesterday, another class of 2022 graduated from my alma mater,  the United States Military Academy at West Point. Each class at  West Point determines its own class motto. This year’s graduates chose “For Many, Stand the Few.” And on the Academy website  wherein the story of the class motto is told, the Class talks about  personal courage and how they wanted to weave that into their class motto—in this case, having the courage to stand for the  people of our country. I love how the Class describes courage:  “Personal courage is the ability to show strength in the face of  pain or grief and complete the mission in the face of fear.” 

This region, our country, and this world will require your Class of 2022, also, to be courageous.  

But from where will you get this courage? From where will you  draw the strength to be courageous?  

You have gone through four years of quality education and  experiences here at St. Mary’s. But, what’s more, you’ve done it in  a COVID environment that was very scary for so many. Some of  you have known of people whom this pandemic has robbed of  their time here on earth. Yet, still, you took heart, you took  courage, and persevered in your studies here. Some of you know  of people who contracted COVID and are suffering from what’s termed “long COVID.” Yet, you’re not allowing that to deter you  from pressing on yourselves. Others among you may have  contracted COVID yourself and perhaps you had every symptom of the classic COVIC case, but you didn’t allow that to stop you  from moving forward here at St. Mary’s and in life generally. So, you’ve been building this courage muscle in a bigger way over the  last couple of years. 

But, still, that’s not the ultimate source of courage. The ultimate  source of courage comes from God, the Almighty. I like how Psalm  121 (NIV version) tells it: 

“I lift up my eyes to the hills—where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip—he who watches over you will not  slumber; indeed he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord watches over you—the Lord is your shade at your right  hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all harm—he will watch over your  life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and  forevermore.” 

When God is with you, how can you not have COURAGE?

In 2020, I ran for Secretary of State of Missouri. There are a few  statewide public offices in Missouri—U.S. Senator, Governor,  Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, Treasurer, Auditor. Secretary of State is about all things voting  and ballot initiatives and all things facilitating ease of doing  business in Missouri.  

I knew running statewide would be difficult. Of course, I had no  idea of the myriad of challenges and hurdles that would be  involved until I actually began campaigning in 2019 ahead of the  November 2020 election. Folks have told me I was courageous to  have run. And that may be so. But there was a source of my  courage that defied the odds: I was a political neophyte—no one  knew me politically. Sure, some folks in the Greater St. Louis  region knew me through my work in philanthropy as a senior  leader at United Way and my work in community as Executive  Director of Forward Through Ferguson; but certainly in Kansas  City, no one knew me. Nor in Columbia, Springfield, Sikeston,  Cape Girardeau, the Bootheel, Joplin, Nevada (not Nevada!) Lebanon, and on and on—all of the places and spaces I’d need to  be known to have a chance. 

Let me share with you an important part of what gave me the courage to run: my father—recounting to me over and over Joshua chapter 1 verse 9. The NIV version reads,

“Have I not  commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified;  do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with  you wherever you go.” 

I took that to mean, when our campaign went to St. Joseph, God would be with us. When we traveled to Mauldin, God would be  with us. When we traveled to Rolla, God would be with us. When  we traveled in and around right here in St. Louis, God would be  with us. 

One thing about our God—wherever he gives vision, he always gives provision. There were five statewide races in Missouri in  2020—governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney  general, and treasurer. The governor’s race is always a national  race and so tends to raise multiple millions of dollars. Aside from  the governor’s race, our campaign outraised every other statewide  campaign on our side of the aisle—combined. And we outraised  the incumbent by over three to one. Further, ours was the first  campaign anchored by an African American man as candidate to  garner over one million votes statewide in the 200-year history of  the state. Wherever God gives vision, He always gives  provision.

I don’t know what God is calling you to do in your life. Our region,  country, and world certainly have lots of problems that need  leaders to solve them. I ran for Secretary of State to democratize  democracy in our state. Too many of our fellow Missourians are  effectively shut out of our electoral system for policies and  procedures that have that effect—whether intended or not.  

But our country has other problems, too. What we lack is leaders  who have the courage to truly tackle those problems. 

For example, we need better initiatives to deal with climate  change at scale. Will you be the future leader who has the courage  to tackle that? 

We need to ensure that—as artificial intelligence proliferates into  more and more data-driven systems—we ensure current societal  biases don’t get written into AI code—whether intentionally or  unwittingly. Will you be the leader who rises with the courage to  tackle that? 

We need to ensure a local, national, and world population has enough food to eat. According to Feeding America, nearly 20% of people living in St. Louis City are food insecure. And that statistic  is prior to COVID. For the U.S., per the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 38.3 million people lived in households that were  food insecure in 2020. Across the globe, 811 million people were  undernourished in 2020, according to the World Health Organization.

Will you be the leader who has the courage to work with others to solve that problem? 

What about access to affordable housing? What about access to  quality public school education? What about access to affordable  quality healthcare? What about a problem that’s rising in the  west—access to enough water to grow food? What about wildfires that rage larger and larger every summer? I could go on and on. We have an endless number of problems, and we lack enough  leaders with the courage to tackle them. 

But herein is your opportunity, Dragons of 2022! I argue  that better than any other class that has come before you, YOU are uniquely gifted to tackle these problems and more. You have  been building this muscle of courage for the last two years. But, more important, as He was with Joshua, God is with you, too, and  you can draw all the courage you need from that fact alone! 

So what will you do with your courage muscle?

Will you, like former Mayor Frances Slay, class of ’73, try to make St. Louis City a better place? Having served four consecutive  terms, Mayor Slay is the longest-serving mayor in St. Louis City  history. In his 16 years in office, he oversaw the building and  opening of Busch Stadium III; local control of St. Louis City police  coming back to St. Louis; the National Geospatial Intelligence  Agency (NGA) announcing their plan to build on the North Side;  and more. 

Will you be like Frank J. Bommarito, class of ’52, for whom this  campus is named? Frank founded Bommarito Automotive Group,  the largest automotive retail network in Missouri. But what  distinguished Frank isn’t only his success in the automotive  industry, but how he did it. During the Great Recession of  2008/2009, lots of businesses laid off folks. Frank had the  courage to take a different tack. In a Post-Dispatch article, he  said, “We did business as usual when it was unusual to do that.”  What a tremendous benefit to the employees and their families  who worked at Bommarito when the sky seemed to be falling all across the country. 

Or perhaps you’ll be like Denny Long, class of ’53, who served as  President of Anheuser-Busch from 1977 to 1987. He used his  courage to help A-B become a truly international company. Near and dear to my heart, Denny had also served his country in the  U.S. Air Force. Later, he served as chairman of the United  Services Organization (USO) from 1984 to 1987, an organization  that supports active duty service members and their families. 

No pressure now. I’m just saying, you come from a long line of  overachievers who leveraged their courage to solve problems. With the courage you’ve been building, I think you have a terrific opportunity ahead of you. 

In wrapping up, I leave you with three pieces of advice and a short  story: 

ONE 

When the time comes, choose wisely your life partner. Second only to my decision to be a Christian, it is the most important decision I’ve made in my life. My wife, Ronke, is in the audience tonight, and I thank God for her. 

TWO  

Never work for money. Always work to learn. From Robert Kiyosaki's Rich Dad, Poor Dad. Read that book, by the way! When  you just chase money, you may or may not get it; but it’s a cheap  chase, nonetheless. When you chase expansion of your mind; service to others; and solving problems, you’ll get something far  more valuable than money. What is that? Chase that and find out for yourself! 

THREE 

If you help enough other people get what they want, you'll get what you want. This ties in with the previous in a way. It’s part of  the mantra of the universe—that what goes around comes around. 

As I close, I leave you with an allegory I heard from a man named Dayo Israel. Dayo is the National Youth Leader of the All Progressives Congress, reportedly the largest political party in  Africa.

In a recent speech to Nigeria's 2023 presidential aspirants, Dayo shared—in essence—this allegory:

"A wise, elderly gentleman and a young man were seated on a mountaintop, engaged in  philosophical conversation. The young man had a butterfly inside his clenched fist, so that the elderly gentleman could not see it.

The young man asked the gentleman whether the butterfly inside his fist was alive or dead.

The wise, elderly man paused, thought for a moment, then replied, 'If I say the butterfly is alive, you need  merely ever-so-slightly squeeze your hand and the butterfly will  be dead. Then you will open your hand and tell me I am wrong.

If  I say the butterfly is dead, then you will merely open your hand, and the butterfly will fly out and away. And then I will have been wrong again.'

The elderly man paused, looked squarely into the  eyes of the young man and said, 'young man, the life and the  future of the butterfly is in your hands.'" 

What's the moral: First, don't go around crushing butterflies!  They're beautiful! That wouldn't be very nice!

But, second, the  very future of this region and country is in your hands. Don’t be  like the lion in the Wizard of Oz! Know now that you possess  courage and leverage it! Go forth and create the future!  

God bless you. God bless your families. And God bless St. Mary's  High School.