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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
I loved this book! His life was so fascinating and I really admired his strong sense of purpose, worth and his diligence. Will probably end up reading it again since it’s so short and had so many good take-aways!
fast-paced
woww!!! This was assigned to read for school, and at first, I was skeptical as to how much I'd enjoy it, but this was magnificent fr!!! Booker T. Washington had so many amazing ideas, lessons, and accomplishments. I definitely learned a lot from this book :)
I don't at all agree with Booker's politics, nor do I think he is a particularly compelling writer. I guess the non-fluffiness of his writing goes along with his general philosophy about how to solve the Negro Problem in the American south so soon after emancipation. Washington is a no frills, get to work kind of guy. And again, I nearly detest some of his sentiments, some of which include a "pull yourself from your bootstraps" trash that is quite ahistoric and quite strangely so considering Washington himself was a slave and saw himself free from it.
I think the only reason I can't totally trash him or his auto bio is because I was touched by his personability, mostly the way he talked about ways he would rest or even his love for a school for and by his students. I admired those traits even if I don't think that Booker was particularly revolutionary in any way other than helping resurrect an HBCU that still stands today. To the point thought, as WEB is his so called adversary, I'm not sure if the two are super duper different from each other. I'll have to read something other than Souls one of these days but in terms of general philosophy, the only difference i can see so far, hard and fast, is that DuBois is just more of an elitist. From what I can tell.
Also Booker is fine. Okay, bye.
*******
Today, I received some interesting perspective on Booker's auto-bio and that is 1) it's well...deep (surprise) 2) it's written for donors and southern white people and therefore, he can't write anything too wild or risk losing money for Tuskegee and/or having mad southern whites burn his school down. So I feel for him. I guess this is a lesson that sometimes black people do things they don't want to do, for survival. The test is, how to liberate and be liberated under such constraints.
I think the only reason I can't totally trash him or his auto bio is because I was touched by his personability, mostly the way he talked about ways he would rest or even his love for a school for and by his students. I admired those traits even if I don't think that Booker was particularly revolutionary in any way other than helping resurrect an HBCU that still stands today. To the point thought, as WEB is his so called adversary, I'm not sure if the two are super duper different from each other. I'll have to read something other than Souls one of these days but in terms of general philosophy, the only difference i can see so far, hard and fast, is that DuBois is just more of an elitist. From what I can tell.
Also Booker is fine. Okay, bye.
*******
Today, I received some interesting perspective on Booker's auto-bio and that is 1) it's well...deep (surprise) 2) it's written for donors and southern white people and therefore, he can't write anything too wild or risk losing money for Tuskegee and/or having mad southern whites burn his school down. So I feel for him. I guess this is a lesson that sometimes black people do things they don't want to do, for survival. The test is, how to liberate and be liberated under such constraints.
informative
reflective
slow-paced
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
I am not the person to criticize this man for anything, but some of the book did rub me...a weird way?
In comparison to other historical black figures I have read about recently, he was MUCH more forgiving of the white folks in all his life. He gave a few major "props" even.
His value for education and his yearning to learn and spread that to more black people made him the prominent figure a lot of us recognize today.
Doing more research and even reading more reviews, a lot of people feel similarly.
I can never underestand what any black person went through so I can't say how angry he should have been or resentful-it was just a bit surprising is all.
In comparison to other historical black figures I have read about recently, he was MUCH more forgiving of the white folks in all his life. He gave a few major "props" even.
His value for education and his yearning to learn and spread that to more black people made him the prominent figure a lot of us recognize today.
Doing more research and even reading more reviews, a lot of people feel similarly.
I can never underestand what any black person went through so I can't say how angry he should have been or resentful-it was just a bit surprising is all.
reflective
slow-paced
It was tough for me to pull my head out of modern times to connect with some of his ideas, but considering the culture of the post-reconstruction era in America, I can also see why he felt the way he felt about how Black Americans could pull themselves out of their situation of poverty.
Knowing what came after he authored the book gives a whole different perspective on his philosophy. For example, he says at one point that the KKK no longer existed, which has proven inaccurate, and that ALL people should pass a test to vote... and we now see how that played out.
He seemed to be saying "I did this, so everyone else in my condition can, too," and then going on to list his many wins. That thinking I *can* wrap my head around, because it still exists today.
He also urged Black Americans to learn only within their limited abilities, without crediting individuals to explore how they could improve their intellectual abilities. I can see why he & W.E.B. DuBois had beef.
He also looked at Native Americans as "uncivilized," which again, with my modern thinking, is pretty tough to swallow.
All in all, the book gives a perspective of one man's idea of how to elevate his race in a time when the country was working against them.
Knowing what came after he authored the book gives a whole different perspective on his philosophy. For example, he says at one point that the KKK no longer existed, which has proven inaccurate, and that ALL people should pass a test to vote... and we now see how that played out.
He seemed to be saying "I did this, so everyone else in my condition can, too," and then going on to list his many wins. That thinking I *can* wrap my head around, because it still exists today.
He also urged Black Americans to learn only within their limited abilities, without crediting individuals to explore how they could improve their intellectual abilities. I can see why he & W.E.B. DuBois had beef.
He also looked at Native Americans as "uncivilized," which again, with my modern thinking, is pretty tough to swallow.
All in all, the book gives a perspective of one man's idea of how to elevate his race in a time when the country was working against them.
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
Interesting perspective. He was very optimistic and would have been awfully disappointed to see the poor progress we have made in the past 125 years. So grateful for people like him!!