Up From Slavery - Booker T. Washington

⭐ 10.0/10

(Originally written by Will)

The autobiography of Booker T. Washington. Born a slave before the American Revolution, he lived through the period when black people in the American South were freed, and went on to become one of the most influential people in the USA.

He was a truly remarkable person, spending most of his life founding & building up the Tuskegee Institute, a school primarily for black students.

There were so many fascinating parts, but I'll pick a few favorites.

1. Hearing what life was like in the South in the very early post-slavery period, from day one when the slaves were freed. His is only one perspective obviously, but it was not even close to what I expected. Just imagine - millions of people living in slavery for decades, and one day they just wake up and they're free.
2. He dedicated his life to normalizing race relations and attempting to help former slaves integrate into a society that they had no idea how to exist in. I was fascinated by his thought process on how to best go about doing that.
3. Even in his time, he was a controversial figure. I loved reading about how he navigated that and pushed forward, when there were figurative landmines in every direction because of how tense the whole nation was.