This Negro had been given a chance to get upon his feet.
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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Seek every opportunity possible to make somebody happy and comfortable.
Get hold of the spirit of wanting to help somebody else.
Anything which he could do or say to benefit another institution seemed to give him as much pleasure as if he were speaking or acting directly for the benefit of Hampton Institute.
He was interested not only in the black South, but in the white South, not only in his own school, but in all schools.
Then we want to have you to learn to govern your actions, not alone for the sake of the result which they will have upon yourself and those who are near and dear to you, but for the sake of your influence upon all with whom you will come…
We want you to learn, if you do not already know, that in order to be Christlike one does not have to be unnatural.
We want you to feel that religion is something to make you happier, brighter and more hopeful, not something to make you go about with long, solemn faces.
We want to have you feel that this religion is a part of your lives, and that it is meant to be a help to you from day to day.
We hope to help you to see that religion, that Christianity, is not something that is far off, something in the air, that it is not something to be enjoyed only after the breath has left the body.
Let me entreat you, then, if you are inclined to fritter away the best hours of your lives, think how the news of your misconduct will act upon the hearts of your parents, those fathers and mothers whose every thought is of you.
Be sure that the young men and women with whom you associate are persons who are able to raise you up, persons who will help to make you stronger in every way.