When Eminem wrote about seizing moments and opportunities in “Lose Yourself,” chances are he wasn’t really talking about getting a high school education.
Now Slim Shady is older, and his sensibilities have changed a little. The Hip Hop superstar made a (video) appearance at a Flint, Michigan graduation ceremony this week to congratulate the students from several Michigan high schools.
“What’s up Class of 2017? This is Eminem. I just want to say congratulations to the graduating seniors of Flint Northwestern, Flint Southwestern and Flint Accelerated Learning Academy. Congrats to all your guys’ hard work, man. You earned this moment.”
Em, who is famously a proud “Michigander,” didn’t just offer kind words to the graduates, he also supplied a set of Beats by Dre headphones to every graduating student in the auditorium.
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Even better, MLive has reported that the whole idea was Eminem’s, and that he reached out to the schools through his Marshall Mathers Foundation.
Last August, Em also teamed up with the Kids In Need Foundation to help bring school supplies to the community’s children.
Flint is a city that’s been in the headlines for the last several years for its water crisis, after its citizens were potentially exposed to dangerously high levels of lead in their drinking water. The situation has continued without resolution.
Flint schools Superintendent Bilal Tawwab spoke to the resilience of the students as a result of having been brought up in Flint.
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“I would rather bet on a Flint graduate, someone who has been tested by adversity, who has transcended all the obstacles put in their way than someone who has coasted through life with every advantage. You can do anything you want and for the first time in your lives you have the full power to set your own course. From this point on the decisions are yours.”
