By Reggie Jones

Booker T. is said to have defined character thus: “Character is Power.”

Character is “how you behave when no one’s watching.” The present financial crisis is a wake up call to recognize the importance of character. The so-called leaders of Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac, along with their enabler politicians, are largely responsible for actions that brought us to the financial brink. Yet the media blames it on a lack of oversight and under-regulation, claiming Republicans weren’t watching the store.

But the real question is, “Why the need for oversight?” Don’t responsible people know the difference between right and wrong?

Yet, in today’s society, highly paid people, from athletes to politicians even US Presidents have engaged in illegal and immoral activities and do not hesitate to lie when caught. Oversight? Meaningless when fans and political parties stand behind them.

Finding celebrities without character all too easy, making it all the more difficult for young people to withstand pop culture pressure and develop proper character. Yet the bitter fruit of the lack of good moral character among so many is all too apparent. Skyrocketing out-of-wedlock birth rates among young and younger teens. Rising rates of sexually transmitted disease (STD). families break down.

But speak out against these trends and you are labeled as judgmental. Success is less and less defined as living a constructive, productive life, but more and more by having more ‘bling’ than the next guy.

Booker T. Washington never wallowed in self pity for lack of ‘bling,’ nor for being born a slave. Rather, he used his struggle as motivation to improve himself. He refused to hate white people, choosing to seek common ground through forgiveness. He understood and applied the wisdom of the Judeo-Christian concept of forgiveness.

He showed that character – above all – was essential to attaining success. He also defined character as having a strong faith in God, keeping your word, taking responsibility for your actions, serving your fellow man, exercising thrift in financial affairs, and following the golden rule.

If more people on Wall Street and at either end of Pennsylvania Avenue adhered to Booker T.’s ideal and model of character, our country would not be having to deal with our present moral and financial crisis.

By Reggie Jones (Opinion expressed are not necessarily those of the BTWS).

It’s that time again, and I am frustrated. Politicians are heading into the home stretch, blathering nonsense about a segment of society to which we owe more than any other. They and their sycophantic pundits parade their bigotry with inflammatory rhetoric that turns especially virulent as we approach the culmination of an election cycle.

The code phrase for this class-oriented bigotry is, “the rich.” It’s wielded by leftists who just can’t stand the most productive members of society. Their vitriol is never directed at Marxist dictators or criminal elements. Rather, it is directed at the real public servants, people I call “achievers.” Just two examples: former House Leader Dick Gephardt referred to achievers as “the rich and the lucky.” And more recently, Sen. John Edwards, a former presidential wannabe, just couldn’t stop talking about “two Americas.”
Well, at least one of those, ummm, ‘Americas’ shut that randy dandy up.

Achievers risk time and money to invent, improve and provide things that can and do make our lives better. Each of us is free to choose whether to reward them for the fruits of their labor or not. This is a fundamental tenet of capitalism – a system in which everybody can be winners.

But politicians just don’t get it. Why not? Because they live in another world. A world in which the name of the game is zero-sum – for each politician who is a winner, there must be a loser. The pool of winners cannot grow. The more “experienced” at winning a politician gets, the less he or she can fathom the potential of a ‘win-win’ situation. From their perspective, if the rich get richer, then surely, the poor must be getting poorer.

Suppose achievers became quitters after experiencing their first failure. Suppose they chose not to risk and endure the agony of failure and rejection time and again until they (hopefully) hit pay dirt. That is, until creating or doing something the world wants enough to pay for.

These are real American heroes, but there are no monuments in Washington to them.

Instead of textbooks labeling them as “robber barons” what if young people were inspired with the wisdom of Booker T. Washington who said, “…Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which one has overcome while trying to succeed.”

By Ronald Court.
It was 11:35 in the morning, seven years ago today, September 11, 2001. As I was driving home – classes at the local college where I taught were cancelled for the day – I found myself muttering, then loudly with determination, “I am not French-Canadian, I am an American, dammit , just as I turned off Route 15 to head towards a local flag shop.
Even then, so soon after we had been attacked, a few others were already ahead of me, purchasing U.S. flags in a shared spontaneous impulse to explicitly demonstrate our love of country, come hell or high water.
It occurs to me, as an American (of French-Canadian descent) that the age of hyphenation is over – or should be. It has done little to bring us together, and may contribute to keeping us apart. This is not so say we must set aside differences and disagreements. Indeed, entirely within the spirit of being an American is to celebrate each individual’s freedom to disagree.
Ever since the founding of the Booker T. Washington Society, I’ve refrained from using the term African-American. To my mind, it does more to divide than to define. As fellow Americans, our legitimate struggles are over values, not external characteristics.
Booker T. Washington never lost sight that his role was to improve the people of his race. He did not see alienation as advantageous to anyone’s interests.
So, don’t expect to find “African-American” bandied about on this site. If necessary, you’ll see “black” instead.
Which reminds me, can you tell me which of the two in the photograph below is African-American, and which is American?

By Reggie Jones (Opinion expressed are not necessarily those of the BTWS).

For some supporters of Barak Obama, his loss could be their gain. That realization came to me while reading a recent column by Slate.com’s Jacob Weisberg. Mr. Weisberg declares flatly that the only reason Barak Obama could lose the election to John McCain would be (white) racism. Oh?

Weisberg did not express an opinion regarding racism by blacks as evidenced by the 90% of blacks favoring Obama over McCain. Imagine the psychological effect a defeat by Obama would have on a majority of blacks. In that event, while “the masses” mourn, I suspect some will privately rejoice even as they publicly express anger and profess solidarity with the masses.

An Obama defeat could be manna from heaven for this select group, having built lucrative careers as easily-offended race hustlers. They will claim that an Obama defeat is irrefutable proof that America is, and will continue to be, inherently racist. They will claim that they alone are qualified to determine the path to progress for blacks. In doing so, they will seek to continue to entrench themselves in the hearts and minds of blacks as necessary to their survival.

They have been effective in shaking down Corporate America and demanding ever more racial spoils to compensate for trumped-up “offenses.” Jesse Lee Peterson noted as much in his well-documented book,
Scam: How Black Leadership Exploits Black America. An Obama loss would allow these “leaders” to continue feigning righteous indignation over the new “proof” that nothing has changed. One can almost hear Chicago’s other famous reverend crying, “Selma, Selma” in the aftermath.

Still, we can expect the Obama candidacy to be widely promoted with solemn pronouncements about its historic significance for America. But what will really matter to some, I suspect, is the potential significance it holds for their bottom line.

Sadly, this is not new. It’s been going on since Reconstruction, as Booker T. Washington noted over a century ago. “There is class of colored people who make a business of keeping the troubles, the wrongs and the hardships of the Negro race before the public…Some of these people do not want the Negro to lose his grievances, because they do not want to lose their jobs.

By Reggie Jones (Opinion expressed are not necessarily those of the BTWS).

Rick Warren, pastor of California’s Saddleback mega-Church, asked Barak Obama which US Supreme Court Justice was his least favorite. The senator unhesitatingly replied, “Clarence Thomas.” It appeared to me as if, rather than ponder the question, he pandered for votes.

He said Justice Thomas was not “a strong enough jurist or legal thinker” to warrant a seat on the Court. This, despite the fact that Judge Thomas endured very intense, public scrutiny by the US Senate three times before ascending to the Supreme Court.

Weigh that opinion with his comments on other Supreme Court conservatives, Scalia and Roberts. He said Justice Scalia was “brilliant” and that Chief Justice Roberts was “a compelling person,” while acknowledging that he probably wouldn’t have nominated either.

Why did Sen. Obama single out Justice Thomas for such damning criticism, yet without rationale? OK, so Justice Thomas is a conservative, but so too are Scalia and Roberts. The conclusion I draw is that Justice Thomas is not only conservative, but – gasp – black too.

A conservative black man is, ipso facto, one who thinks for himself. To the left, this is heresy, for it alone considers itself solely and morally qualified to speak for – hence, assumes – minorities will adhere to its collectivist agenda. Independent thinkers like Clarence Thomas are not to be tolerated when straying from this perspective. Worse, Justice Thomas refuses to provide legal cover for a racial spoils tithing system.

Perhaps lawyer and ‘community organizer’ Obama would have fared better had he learned to appreciate the wisdom of another, earlier and far more accomplished ‘community organizer,’ Booker T. Washington: “The Negro has the right to study law, but success will come to the race sooner if it produces intelligent, thrifty farmers, mechanics, to support the lawyers.”

By Ronald Court

And so, ‘Black History Month’ begins. To me, it’s a bit patronizing to say, “give” blacks due recognition for a month but then… back to normal.

However this year, we may be on the cusp of a defining moment in our Nation’s history. A moment akin to shortly after the War Between the States: these United States began to be referred to as the United States. Sectional differences certainly weren’t erased, but a stronger sense of shared identity began to be forged.

This year, a person of color may become a major nominee for the very office that Lincoln held while waging the “Civil” War. This time, race wasn’t… rightfully… a big deal until s/he who professed to “feel your pain” made it so.

But it really isn’t about race. It is politics in its pure, simple and ugly form. Politics is about power. Now, race is being used as a tool by people without good character to pit one group against another. This time, the nation saw it for what it was: mean-spirited, immoral and disgusting.

Whether or not Sen. Obama becomes a Presidential nominee will not alter the fact that the public response to his candidacy,at least up to this point, demonstrates that our nation is, more resoundingly and strongly than ever before, firmly and finally affirming that race does not … and should not… define or limit the ability of any American to pursue success in any endeavor. Drs. Washington and King must surely be smiling right now.

Maclin Horton’s blog, Light On Dark Water respectfully shows us that ‘We Got to Live together’ … which does not mean giving up our identity, but does show how we — together — can be all the richer for it.

By Ronald Court

It’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and I was about to share some thoughts on his leadership. But many have already said much. I may only repeat.

Instead, I want to share the gist of a recent article on leadership in Chief Executive magazine highlighting the “Best Companies for Leaders“.

For the last three years, Proctor & Gamble has been rated #1 or 2. Here is what P&G’s CEO A.G. Lafley, has to say:

“We focus on individual leadership… How can you personally become the best leader that you can be? … We talk about inspirational leadership because we want courageous and inspiring leaders. The days of command and control are over.”

“We are a pure meritocracy. We don’t care where you went to school, whether you have an MBA, or what your country of origin is.” Lafley continues. “All we care about is that with character and integrity, you deliver outstanding business results… Do that and you move ahead.”

On this day, let us remember that Booker T. Washington had a dream also. A dream that MLK Jr. embraced and honed and clarified with his own powerful rhetoric. Let us also remember that even as today’s politicos pontificate, there are hundreds, thousands of companies, big and small, who have already proven that the dreams of Booker T. Washington and Martin Luther King Jr. are already a reality to those who would pursue them.

By Ronald Court

I want to see you own land.

It’s almost Christmas Eve and instead of talking about Giving, I’m thinking about Owning. Then again, the two are inextricably linked. You can’t give away — contribute to others — what you don’t own. Booker T. knew that.

Proof of his wisdom on this point indeed on so many of his points) is everywhere. all you need do is look.

Years ago, Chicagoan Phil Donahue created the afternoon TV talk-show genre and became a star. Along came Oprah: a copy-cat. Same town, same format. Only difference: Oprah insisted on owning her show. You know how Oprah’s doing. But we haven’t heard from Phil Donahue for years.

Even a tiny idea (below) can blossom into large profits. Think about that.
Then think about lifting others up. That’s the Booker T. way.

By Ronald Court

Sadly, I must report that Mother Theora Richards, the 1st recipient of the BTW Society’s Wright award for long and dedicated service in keeping the flame of Booker T. Washington alive, passed away Saturday morning.

I went to her home with Bill Craft in August ‘06 to present her with the award personally. Though she was in her 90’s, I was struck with her clarity of mind, sparkling eyes and strong, forceful disposition.

I wasn’t prepared for the sense of loss I felt when her son called me Saturday afternoon, for I had only met her just that one time and spoke with her by phone only a few times after. But it hit me that if it were not for Mother Theora, the Booker T. Washington Society might never have come about.

It never ceases to amaze me to see the Lord work in surprisingly and incredibly unforeseen ways. Several years ago, Bill Craft, a Bronx resident and a long ago graduate of Norfolk Virginia’s Booker T. Washington High School, happened to tune in to a New York City evening talk show. The guest, “Sister” Theora Richards, talk about the “Booker T. Washington Appreciation Circle” and the many good things BTW had dedicated his life to bring about. Founding Tuskegee University was just the beginning.

Years later, when I met him, Bill Craft told me he was amazed and then angry when he realized that no one at his own high school (”named for Booker T., for goodness sakes”) had even mentioned him or a single thing he did to help so many people. It was as if he did not exist.

As a result of Sister Theora’s appearance on that show, Bill went to the NY Public Library to research Booker T.’s life and discovered out-of-print book by BTW, Character Building. He took it upon himself to publish it. That book and Bill’s friendship continues to inspire and motivate me for the good of the BTW Society and the students we endeavor to help and encourage.

I hesitate to think how much less my life would mean if Sister Theora hadn’t gone on that radio years ago. Now she has gone on to be with the Lord… to be embraced as warmly by Him as she embraced so many of us here.

By Ronald Court

To help yourself
And your fellow man,
Train your head,
Your heart, and your hand.
       Langston Hughes

Mr. Hughes paid tribute to BTW in 1941 with The Ballad of Booker T..

Booker T. may even have coined the phrase “heads, hands & heart” for I can’t find anyone using it earlier he in the 1880’s. BTW surely made it famous… and years before any “4H” Club came into being. For the record, Booker T. also widely preached the 4th “H” (Hearth…Home).

Among Booker T’s many abilities was a rare ability to express in plain and simple terms, his refined and sophisticated philosophy. He “connected” with people everywhere. Today, to become “self-actualized” in fancy-shmancy psychological terminology, one “engages the Mind Body & Soul” (read… Head Hand & Heart). Booker T. was here way before “New Age” came along.

To be a whole person, you cannot divorce training the heart or soul from the mind or body. By heart, Booker T. clearly meant living a moral life. with character… and faith. I’d like to believe that Langston Hughes, darling of the Harlem Renaissance, got that.