Calgary Harry Edwards Tells Graduates To Become The Next 'Greatest Generation' | HuffPost College - Action.News ABC Action News WestNet-HD Weather Traffic

Becoming the next "greatest generation" was the challenge sociologist and political activist Harry Edwards laid out for San Jose State University graduates during a commencement address Saturday.

Edwards encouraged students to have faith they can change the country for the better but reminded them the struggle to create a "more perfect union" will take effort.

"Always remember, a struggle is not easy -- that is why it is called a 'struggle' rather than a 'picnic,'" Edwards said.

Harry Edwards to #SJSU grads: \"Move beyond the perimeter of what you know to the realm of what you dream. #SJSU16 pic.twitter.com/EYTigr4yAM

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Harry Edwards to #SJSU grads: "Move beyond the perimeter of what you know to the realm of what you dream. #SJSU16 pic.twitter.com/EYTigr4yAM
Paul Lanning (@PaulLanning) May 29, 2016

A graduate of SJSU himself -- 52 years earlier -- Edwards reminded grads that some of the most meaningful social and political changes in American history, like the Voting Rights Act, marriage equality and the labor movement, were once considered too radical for reality.

"Mass movements are part of the DNA of American political democracy," he said.

Edwards' own views, once considered militant, are now seen as representative of the university's own ideals, Interim President Susan Martin said in a statement .

It was Edwards who inspired SJSU students Tommie Smith and John Carlos to make the Black Power salute on the podium at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico -- an overtly political statement in what had traditionally been an apolitical event. Both men were members of an anti-segregation group, The Olympic Project for Human Rights, which Edwards founded.

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