I want to start by thanking Graca Machel for that just gracious, kind introduction. It is overwhelming. And I want to thank her for her lifetime of...

I also want to thank the Archbishop of Johannesburg for honoring us today with his presence.

These are young women transforming their communities and their countries, and let me tell you I am so impressed by all of them. I am so proud of everything...

And you all know the story –- how 35 years ago this month, a group of students planned a peaceful protest to express their outrage over a new law...

And while no one was killed within this sanctuary, hundreds lost their lives that day, including a boy named Hector Pieterson, who was just 12 years...

And as the Archbishop noted, that June day wasn’t the first, or the last, time that this church stood in the crosscurrents of history. It was referred...

And it is because of them that we are able to gather here today. It is because of them that so many of these young women leaders can now pursue their...

Now, I could ask these questions of young people in any country, on any continent. But there is a reason why I wanted to come here to South Africa...

That is why my husband’s administration is not simply focused on extending a helping hand to Africa, but focusing on partnering with Africans who...

And I want to pause for a moment on that word -– leadership -- because I know that so often, when we think about what that word means, what it means...

But I am here today because when it comes to the challenges we face, we simply don’t have time to sit back and wait.

And I am here because I know that true leadership -– leadership that lifts families, leadership that sustains communities and transforms nations –-...

Instead, true leadership often happens with the smallest acts, in the most unexpected places, by the most unlikely individuals.

I mean, think about the giants of the struggle –- people like Albertina Sisulu, whose recent passing we all mourn. Orphaned as a teenager, she worked...

Ma Sisulu, the students of Soweto, those women in Pretoria, they had little money, even less status, no fancy titles to speak of. But what they had...

Now, I know that as your generation looks back on that struggle, and on the many liberation movements of the past century, you may think that all of...

But while today’s challenges might not always inspire the lofty rhetoric or the high drama of struggles past, the injustices at hand are no less glaring,...

You can be the generation that holds your leaders accountable for open, honest government at every level, government that stamps out corruption and...

You can be the generation that stands up and says that violence against women in any form, in any place -- (applause) -- including the home –- especially...

Now, I have to be honest. Your efforts might not always draw the world’s attention, except for today. (Laughter.) You may not find yourself leading...

You see, it wasn’t that long ago that my husband and I were young, believe it or not -- (laugher) -- just starting out our careers. After he graduated...

Slowly, the neighborhoods started to turn around. Little by little, people started feeling hopeful again. And that made Barack feel hopeful.

But I knew something was missing. I knew I didn’t want to be way up in some tall building all alone in an office writing memos. I wanted to be down...

See, my husband and I, we didn’t change any laws, we didn’t win any awards, get our pictures in the paper. But we were making a difference in people’s...

And then there’s Robyn Kriel. She’s a young reporter from Zimbabwe who has written about corruption and human rights abuses in her country. She...

Now, Grace could have been content to make lots of money, and just provide for her own family. Gqibelo could have climbed the corporate ladder, and...

And in the end, that sense of interconnectedness, that depth of compassion, that determination to act in the face of impossible odds, those are the...

Instead, as one of our great American presidents, Teddy Roosevelt, liked to say, I hope that you will commit yourselves to doing “what you can, with...

Think about Grace, supporting her family all by herself. And think about Robyn, who endured that beating so she could tell other people’s stories....

It’s what happens when folks start asking questions -- a father asks, “Why should my son go to school, but not my daughter?” Or a mother asks,...

And those are the “ripples of hope” that a young U.S. senator named Robert Kennedy spoke of when he came here to South Africa 45 years ago this...

That is how a group of young people with nothing more than some handmade signs and a belief in their own God-given potential can galvanize a nation.

I’m thinking today of the young activists who gathered at the American Library here in Soweto to read the speeches of Dr. Martin Luther King for their...

And I’m thinking about how young South Africans singing the American civil rights anthem “We Shall Overcome” in the streets of Cape Town and Durban.

And I’m thinking of this church and how those stained windows depicting the struggle were donated by the people of Poland, and how the peace pole...

And in this past presidential election, they were engaged in our democracy like never before. They studied the issues, followed the campaign, knocked...

So today, I want you to know that as you work to lift up your families, your communities, your countries and your world, know that you are never alone....

And if anyone of you ever doubts that you can build that future, if anyone ever tells you that you shouldn’t or you can’t, then I want you to say...

What do you say?

Thank you all so much. God bless you. (Applause.):