Celebrating the Contributions of Those on the Margins

I love B.K. Fulton’s powerful, uplifting message. As former Fortune 500 business executive, author, and serial entrepreneur, he speaks not only to other African-Americans but to all people. In contrast to those who dwell on the negatives of American society, he emphasizes the positive. He crafts a narrative of hope.

Fulton was invited to deliver the commencement address to the graduates of Virginia Commonwealth University’s da Vinci Center. Unable to speak in person due to the COVID-19 epidemic, he worked with VCU to assemble this multimedia presentation.

In the address, he tells stories of African-Americans, dyslexics, and other people “from the margins” of society who became great inventors and innovators. He urges da Vinci Center graduates to look at the world not through “a prism of sorrow” but the “lens of achievement.” “We do not get to choose where we start,” he says. “But we do get to choose where we end up.”

“Complaining about tough times, complaining about what we don’t have, blaming everyone else for what we have failed to do as people is an inadequate contribution to the future of our success,” he says.”Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.”

— JAB