Tamika Mallory gains honorary doctorate
SALISBURY – Award-winning social justice activist Tamika Mallory is officially a Blue Bear of Livingstone College. The national movement strategist and author received an honorary doctorate degree in humane letters on May 6 during the college’s 141st commencement at Varick Auditorium, after delivering a powerful commencement address. She told the Class of 2023 that they are the light of the world – the same light that Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said can drive out darkness, and the light that former First Lady Michelle Obama said can feed the person next to you and ignite our community. “Shine bright, Livingstone College, class of 2023,” Mallory said. “Don’t forget the legacy. Don’t forget where you come from. Don’t forget the stories. Don’t’ forget the sacrifice … Don’t forget Dr. (Joseph Charles) Price … but most importantly, don’t forget your own big mama and papa, who also wouldn’t die. Don’t forget your people and lastly, don’t forget yourself. Let us together, reshape a new world. Stand up, stand in your power.” Mallory told the students to use their privilege of crossing this stage as a boat to safe harbor and “make sure you are the light for all of those coming behind.” “I knew I made the right choice in having you deliver the commencement address for my first May graduation as president,” said Livingstone President Dr. Anthony J. Davis. He thanked her for the work that she does as a social justice practitioner and for speaking truth to power. …
