O Lord, O, my Lord, O, my good Lord, Keep me from sinkin' down.
Booker T. Washington
The Public Record
Booker Taliaferro Washington was an American educator, author, and orator. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the primary leader in the African-American community and of the contemporary Black elite.
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Been down in de valley, for to pray; An' I ain't done prayin' yet.
Why do they never fail to touch the tenderest chord--to bring tears from the eyes of rich and poor--from king and humblest toiler alike?
Without hesitation I answer:--Those beautiful, weird, quaint, sweet melodies which were the simple, child-like expression of the anguish, the joy, the hopes, the burdens, the faith, the trials of our forefathers who wore the yoke of…
The thing aimed at by all great souls has been to bring men and races back to the simplicity and purity of childhood--back to reality.
There is an unconscious, beautiful, strong clinging to truth; and it is this divine quality in child or in man, in Jew or Gentile, in Christian or Mohammedan, in the ancient world or in the modern world, in a black man or in a white man…
In a word, the life of the child is founded upon the great and immutable, and yet simple, tender and delicate laws of nature.
A little child, under all circumstances, is its simple, pure, sweet self; never appearing big when it is little; never appearing learned when it is ignorant; never appearing wealthy when it is in poverty; never appearing important when it…
In this age, when we hear so much said about leaders of men, about successful leadership, we do well to stop to consider this admonition of the Saviour.
If you go out to have schools of your own, have your pupils sing them as you have sung them here, and teach them to see the beauty which dwells in these songs.
Wherever you go, after you leave this school, I hope that you will never give up the singing of these songs.
I believe there is no part of the service more truly spiritual, more elevating.