Pharrell Williams gave a powerful commencement speech at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in which he encouraged the "movers and shakers" to continue spreading their light and to fight for the empowerment of women.
"We need to lift up our women," Williams said to a massive round of applause. "Imagine the possibilities when we remove imbalance from the ether, because it's unbalanced right now. Imagine the possibilities when women are not held back. Your generation is unraveling deeply entrenched laws, principles, and misguided values that have held women back for far too long, and therefore, have held us all back, the human race."
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Williams, who Hello Giggles reports is currently the Artist in Residence at the Tisch School of the Arts and received a Doctor of Fine Arts degree, also praised the grads for speaking out against a number of other social injustices and said that their actions would serve as an inspiration for generations to come.
"To the graduates, you might think your time in education is done, but after you leave here today, I'm asking you guys to let your actions out there in the world fuel the demand for better and accessible education," he said. "Engage and inspire, whether on an individual level or loudly within your communities."
You can watch Williams' speech, recorded by someone at the ceremony, below:
Earlier this year, the singer/songwriter and his wife, Helen Lasichanh, welcomed triplets into the world. If those children, along with the couple's eight-year-old son, turn out to be anything like their parents, we have no doubt they'll do incredible things.