On Sunday (May 14) Janelle Monáe received an honorary degree from Dillard University, a historically black liberal arts college in New Orleans. She also spoke at the school’s commencement ceremony, discussing her role as NASA physicist Mary Jackson in Hidden Figures and exhorting the graduating class to “choose freedom over fear.”
In an Instagram post about the honor, Monáe wrote: “I never thought I’d see the day that I’d be receiving an honorary doctorate’s degree of humane letters from such a prestigious HBCU like Dillard University. Almost didn’t accept out of fear and doubt; thinking I needed to be a specific type of person to receive such a high honor. I accept this honor in the name of my family; my grandmother who was a share cropper in Mississippi, had 12 kids, and never got an opportunity to get a higher education. I accept this honor in the name of my parents who worked as janitors, post office workers, and garbage collectors serving the community PROUDLY, but never got a chance to fully pursue a higher education. This one is for my family.”
Watch her address and read her response to the honor below via The LA Times.
This article originally appeared on Stereogum.