Posted 12/19/08 at 1:30 p.m.”Turn those ‘no, you won’t’s into ‘yes, we can’s,” said Rev. Dr. Fredrick Haynes III, senior pastor of Friendship-West Baptist Church in Dallas.
More than 200 candidates marched across the stage in the Assembly Center at the Fall Commencement ceremony.
Haynes delivered the keynote address, invoking applause from the audience, as he preached of President-elect Barack Obama’s challenge to winning the Presidency.
Haynes also recalled a conference call in which Obama, Oprah Winfrey and Sean “Diddy” Combs participated in. Haynes said that Combs was once asked what he wanted to be when he grew up.
Combs told the conference call that he thought of saying “President,” but said “garbage man.” Haynes spoke of how the roles have now been switched to where a person can say they want to be President without having to worry about the color of their skin.
As Haynes closed his speech, he recited a recent hit that features Jay-Z, Kanye West, Lil’ Wayne, and T.I.
“I hope that you all get your spiritual hookup,” he said. “Because no one on the corner has ‘swagger like us.’