Up From Slavery

Locations
Call Number: Adult Book / Nonfiction / Biography / Social Activists / Washington, Booker T., Black Studies 921 Washington, Booker
On Shelf At: Malletts Creek Branch

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Malletts Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Nonfiction / Biography / Social Activists / Washington, Booker T.	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	Black Studies 921 Washington, Booker	4-week checkout	Due 05-12-2024
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	Black Studies 921 Washington, Booker	4-week checkout	Due 05-24-2024
Westgate Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Nonfiction / Biography / Social Activists / Washington, Booker T.	4-week checkout	Due 05-19-2024

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COMMUNITY REVIEWS

We should all read more slave narratives submitted by Susan4Pax -prev. sueij- on June 20, 2020, 3:03pm 4.5/5 stars. I’m continuing a slow journey through various slave narratives, and again find myself surprised by how readable a book from 120 years+ ago is. Washington’s personal journey is inspiring, and the story of the origin of the Tuskegee Institute fills a gap in my knowledge. Washington was (by the time he wrote this) certainly a man who was sure of himself, but for good reason.

I now want to round out my knowledge of him by reading another history as a biography... because in this memoir Washington definitely presents a very particular view of himself that (for obvious reasons) paints him in very good light. But, for example, he regularly states that no one anywhere (by his adulthood when he was principal of Tuskegee) had any problem with him (except they eventually came around to agree with his views). Then there is a moment when he is traveling on a train and two White women invite him to dine with them. He recognizes that this is socially inappropriate and tries to get out of the situation, but in the end cannot decline. He sees nearby Southern White men eyeing them. He notes that by the end of the trip, having been listened in on and observed, the men are kind and shake his hand. The unspoken message here, reading between the lines, is that one reason people accept him is that he understands which unwritten rules he should not cross... while spending much of the rest of the book declaring that he is all about raising up his race to be treated equally so there are no lines and feeling confident that if Black people just act with ethics and dignity, they will be accepted. It's... just a little one-sided, and I want to know more. This observation does nothing to detract from his astonishing journey from slave child to national leader, or the ways he could observe, draw conclusions, and act on them for the benefit of a whole segment of society who were newly freed.

You can get _Up From Slavery_ from the library or it’s old enough to be free in the public domain on places like Kindle. I recommend adding it to your list.