Education, Black History, and the Military!!!

To whom this may concern:

  In honor of Black History month, I would like to take time out to point out some of stories that have inspired me over the years! 

    I must begin with one of my favorite personalities from black history, Booker T. Washington. The author of Up from Slavery (good read) is famous for his tenure at the head of Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. However, it is the self-reliance at the core of his story that I find most inspirational. Washington was born a slave and learned to read even though it was forbidden. His desire for education eventually led him to Hampton Institute in Virginia where his relationship with former General Samuel Armstrong (founder of Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute) blossomed into a movement where the desire to be self-supporting was given life within the African American community. 

  It is difficult to mention Booker T. Washington without mentioning W.E.B Du Bois. As the first black recipient of a history degree from Harvard University and author of The Souls of Black Folks (another good read) Du Bois positioned himself to become one half of the a long debate over how African Americans could best assimilate into American Society. Before Martin and Malcolm there was Booker and Du Bois! The challenges Washington and Du Bois posed to one another exemplified the potential of healthy debate to encourage social change. 

Third is the original Beyonce, Madam C.J. Walker! Born as Sarah Breedlove in 1867, Madam Walker, like many women during her time battle hair care issues that resulted from living conditions to which she was subjected. It was her development of hair care products to combat hair loss amend African American women that led to her being regarded as the first female self-made millionaire in America! It is my opinion that Beyonce's platform was partially built by Madam Walker!

However, Madam Walker's individual net worth paled in comparison to the economic power of Greenwood, Olahoma's "Black Wall Street".  Once a beacon of prosperity in the black community, Black Wall Street is more than the title of Game's album cover, it is a story worth looking up. 

Lastly, an NFL fact: Doug Williams is the first African American QB to win a Superbowl! #HTTR

**Disclaimer: These opinions are just my own and do not aim to serve as an encompassing review of the lives or work of any of the following individuals. 

  (Photo taken from Flickr CC 2.0 under username Jason Thomas)