When we think of what it means to be a leader, we think of presidents and prime ministers. We think of people who pass laws or command armies, run big businesses, people with fancy titles, big salaries. And most young people don’t fit that image. And I know that often when you try to make your voices heard, sometimes people don’t always listen. And I am here because I know that true leadership — leadership that lifts families, leadership that sustains communities and transforms nations — that kind of leadership rarely starts in palaces or parliaments. That kind of leadership is not limited only to those of a certain age or status. And that kind of leadership is not just about dramatic events that change the course of history in an instant. Instead, true leadership often happens with the smallest acts, in the most unexpected places, by the most unlikely individuals.
There are still so many causes worth sacrificing for. There is still so much history yet to be made. You can be the generation that makes the discoveries and builds the industries that will transform our economies. You can be the generation that brings opportunity and prosperity to forgotten corners of the world and banishes hunger from this continent forever. And if anyone ever tells you that you shouldn’t or you can’t, then I want you to say with one voice — the voice of a generation, “Yes, we can. Yes, we can.”
— Excerpts from Michelle Obama’s address at Young African Women Leaders Forum in 2011.
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