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.
On Getting Along
Friday, February 1st, 2008By 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.
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