We are living through some turbulent, fast changing times. The world feels very unpredictable and unstable right now. It is easy to be filled with dread and pessimism about the future of our lives and our country. During moments like these, it is often helpful to look back at similarly unsteady times and see how people navigated through the difficult years. Knowing this isn’t the first time people overcame ignorance, deceit, duplicity, hopelessness, violence, war, and death in order to find meaning again in life can provide us with hope.
For me, when I feel like surrendering and giving up on humanity and the goodness of man, there’s a life and a time period I turn to in my mind: Booker T. Washington and the Reconstruction Era.
My introduction to the life of this incredible American occurred when I first read his autobiography Up From Slavery. In it, Booker T. tells the story of embracing freedom at the age of 9 and his hope for an education in a new America after the Civil War. Washington’s story of traveling to Hampton Institute (now Hampton University) even though he didn’t have any money for tuition, is an unforgettable tale of perseverance, hard work, overcoming obstacles, and never giving up.
When he arrived at Hampton at age 16 and realized he would have to pay for his education, he took the job of cleaning the classrooms. Washington said his first attempts at being educated on campus occurred at night when he would memorize what each professor left on the chalkboards. It was sometimes difficult to put it all together with no live lecture, but that was part of the unique way Washington developed the problem solving skills he would use for the rest of his life. He would eventually pass down this mindset and tremendous work ethic to hundreds of his own students as they built Tuskegee Institute together in Alabama years later.
While at Hampton, one of nearly two dozen colleges in the country now providing higher education opportunities for the recently freed former slaves, Washington took great pride in the maintenance of the buildings on campus. Each evening, he polished the desks in the rooms until they were all like brand new. He wanted his people to have the best learning environment possible.
After seeing how hard he was working at cleaning the classrooms, Booker T. was granted the opportunity to take classes. The staff at Hampton believed if his work ethic in cleaning the school transferred to learning, he could be a man of unlimited promise to his people, the university, and America. They would be proved correct time and time again throughout Booker T. Washington’s incredible life.
My second encounter with this mountain of a man happened when we visited the Booker T. Washington National Monument in Hardy, Virginia. This is another one of those off the beaten track historical sites that takes some effort to get to, but if you go, you will likely have the entire plantation and museum to yourself. When we drove into the parking lot and walked into the museum, it was like stepping back in time to the 1860’s. Washington’s story of hope is well told through artifacts and informative interactive exhibits.
The plantation is where Booker T. grew up as a kid under the harsh realities and seemingly hopeless future of slavery. It is also the place where one day in 1865, he learned he and his family were free: a new reality past generations of African Americans prayed for and hoped for, but never got to see.
To walk the land and think about that moment is pretty amazing. As Booker T. tells it, it was however, a time of competing emotions: jubilation combined with concern, freedom combined with new responsibilities, opportunities combined with doubts and fears.
As we toured the farm, that combination of inspiration and anxiety became very real to us for a few seconds. Feeling joy after learning Booker T. gained his freedom and literally walking in his footsteps where this incredible moment occurred, our excitement turned to fear when we suddenly and surprisingly ran into several huge snakes along a fence on the property. When I saw the first one, I nearly jumped out of my skin. The snake was a yard or two away from my foot and he was on the move.
As I grabbed the kids and Michelle and told them to step back, I saw another one. As we quickly walked away and turned near some farm animals, I saw one more. Feeling like the National Park Service needed to be told their historical site was being invaded by an army of snakes, I went to one of the workers to let him know.
As I approached, he could see the look of concern on my face and already knew exactly what I was about to say.
“Did you run into some snakes?”
“Uh, yes sir, we did. There are a ton of them by the barn.”
“Yep. No need to worry, they won’t mess with you. We like to keep them around. They take care of the rats. They’re very helpful and coexist with the other animals.”
They might be happy to have them around, but not me! We quickly decided to see other parts of the property and I can tell you we did with a very heightened awareness of our environment and a vigilant attitude with roving eagle eyes ready to spot anything that was moving.
And of course, what did we discover? Yes, more snakes. However, this time, which in reality was only a few minutes later, our attitude and approach was a little different. Knowledge about their roles and an understanding of their purpose from the staff member had changed us.
When I think back on the visit to this historical site, Booker T. Washington’s incredible story, and all those snakes, I see so much symbolism.
There are always reasons for dread and fear in every era and in every town. That’s nothing new under the sun. It’s how we respond to those threats, perceived and real alike, that shape ourselves and our times.
Yes, there were horrific and awful reasons to not even want to wake up and face the world throughout the life of Booker T. Washington. I can’t even imagine what it must’ve felt like to know at any given moment, you or a family member could be sold away forever. The people you love, gone, because of a gambling debt or an obligation owed.
But in the midst of those very real and terrible fears, thousands of slaves like Booker T. Washington pushed on. For years. For generations. As Langston Hughes beautifully states in his powerful poem The Negro Mother…”I had to keep on, no stopping for me, I was the seed of the coming free.”
No matter what we may be feeling or fearing, we must find a way to face the day and the issues of our lives and our times.
Like Booker T. Washington and countless others, we must conquer fear with hope and determination and learn to either coexist with the things we fear or figure out how to eradicate what is holding us back. We cannot allow them to steal the present or prevent us from building a meaningful and joyful future.
In our tough and trying moments, it’s good to take stock of the past and remember what previous generations of Americans endured and overcame. Booker T. Washington’s journey up from slavery is an inspiration to us all.