--- title: Barack Obama at Morehouse: Commencement Address Transcript description: Read Barack Obama's commencement speech at Morehouse College in 2013. canonical: https://time.com/4341712/obama-commencement-speech-transcript-morehouse-college/ author: Barack Obama article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-06-02T18:33:21.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T17:41:12.703Z article:section: Politics og:title: Read President Obama's Commencement Address at Morehouse College og:description: "It’s hard work that demands your constant attention and frequent sacrifice" og:url: https://time.com/4341712/obama-commencement-speech-transcript-morehouse-college/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt01d69cf84d2f7166/698893ebab6d774e1d6a9c14/obama-morehouse-2013.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: President Obama Delivers Remarks At Morehouse College 2013 Commencement og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Read President Obama's Commencement Address at Morehouse College twitter:description: "It’s hard work that demands your constant attention and frequent sacrifice" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt01d69cf84d2f7166/698893ebab6d774e1d6a9c14/obama-morehouse-2013.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Read President Obama's Commencement Address at Morehouse College  by [Barack Obama](https://time.com/author/barack-obama/)  ## Barack Obama Jun 2, 2016 6:33 PM UTC  President Obama delivers remarks during the Morehouse College commencement on May 19, 2013 in Atlanta, Georgia. President Obama delivers remarks during the Morehouse College commencement on May 19, 2013 in Atlanta, Georgia.Chris McKay—WireImage/Getty Images  by [Barack Obama](https://time.com/author/barack-obama/)  ## Barack Obama Jun 2, 2016 6:33 PM UTC Here are the [full remarks](https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/05/19/remarks-president-morehouse-college-commencement-ceremony) from Obama’s speech at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia in 2013. --- > “” --- ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4341712/obama-commencement-speech-transcript-morehouse-college/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4341712/obama-commencement-speech-transcript-morehouse-college/"},"headline":"Read President Obama's Commencement Address at Morehouse College","datePublished":"2016-06-02T18:33:21.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T17:41:12.703Z","description":"\"It’s hard work that demands your constant attention and frequent sacrifice\"","url":"https://time.com/4341712/obama-commencement-speech-transcript-morehouse-college/","keywords":["Barack Obama","White House","transcripts"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt01d69cf84d2f7166/698893ebab6d774e1d6a9c14/obama-morehouse-2013.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Barack Obama","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/barack-obama/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt01d69cf84d2f7166/698893ebab6d774e1d6a9c14/obama-morehouse-2013.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President Obama Delivers Remarks At Morehouse College 2013 Commencement","caption":"President Obama Delivers Remarks At Morehouse College 2013 Commencement","creditText":"Chris McKay—WireImage/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4341712/obama-commencement-speech-transcript-morehouse-college/","name":"Read President Obama's Commencement Address at Morehouse College"}}]}] ```