All Rights Reserved. Du Bois in The Souls of Black Folk (1903): “Mr. (Applause.).

It won’t protect you against every setback or challenge or mistake. (Applause.) There is no defense or security for any of us except in the highest intelligence and development of all.

(Laughter.). I’m standing here as President because of the education that I received. From the mast of the unfortunate vessel was seen a signal, “Water, water, we die of thirst.” The answer from the friendly vessel at once came back, “Cast down your bucket where you are.” A second time the signal, “Water, water, send us water.” Ran up from the distressed vessel, and was answered, “Cast down your bucket where you are.” And a third and fourth signal for water was answered, “Cast down your bucket where you are.” The captain of the distressed vessel, at last heeding the injunction, cast down his bucket, and it came up full of fresh, sparkling water from the mouth of the Amazon River. (Applause.) And Chris said it himself in a recent interview: “It’s not where you are or what you are. Booker T. Washington: (06:14) I think of all the graduates here who had to leave their homes when their apartments were torn down, but who took two buses each morning to come back to Booker T. Washington. Atlanta Compromise, classic statement on race relations articulated by Booker T. Washington, a leading Black educator in the United States in the late 19th century. We have more work to do so that every child can fulfill his or her God-given potential. And I was raised by a single mom, and sometimes she struggled to provide for me and my sister. Here are the full remarks from Obama’s speech at Booker T. Washington High School in Memphis, Tennessee in 2011. They’re working hard. Please give him a big round of applause. (Applause.)

(Laughter.) (Laughter.) The most influential African American spokesman for…. Please give him a big round of applause.

And here in Tennessee we’ve been seeing great progress. We shall constitute one third and more of the ignorance and crime of the South, or one third its intelligence and progress; we shall contribute one third to the business and industrial prosperity of the South, or we shall prove a veritable body of death, stagnating, depressing, retarding every effort to advance the body politic. Where is Eron? Nobody has handed you a thing. (Laughter.) Nor should we permit our grievances to overshadow our opportunities. No enterprise seeking the material, civil, or moral welfare of this section can disregard this element of our population and reach the highest success. You have to let it motivate you.” And so now here Eron is, graduating. Once he had the land, he needed a school. It’s the news, without the news. And in time, she became a great student. Booker T. Washington: (07:25) So I can tell you already right now, I will cry at my children’s commencement.

You get on a reality show — don’t know what you’ve done — suddenly you’re famous. Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Board of Directors and Citizens, one third of the population of the South is of the Negro race. We’ve got to have every young person contributing; earning those high school diplomas and then earning those college diplomas, or getting certified in a trade or profession. In conclusion, may I repeat that nothing in thirty years has given us more hope and encouragement, and drawn us so near to you of the white race, as this opportunity offered by the Exposition; and here bending, as it were, over the altar that represents the results of the struggles of your race and mine, both starting practically empty-handed three decades ago, I pledge that in your effort to work out the great and intricate problem which God has laid at the doors of the South you shall have at all times the patient, sympathetic help of my race. Nearly sixteen millions of hands will aid you in pulling the load upwards, or they will pull you against the load downwards. But that also means that whatever you accomplish in your life, you will have earned it. So I could not be more pleased to be here. But at Booker T. Washington, you changed all that. And as a country, we need all of our young people to be ready. But if you do push yourselves, if you build on what you’ve already accomplished here, then I couldn’t be more confident about your futures. You made it past Principal Kiner. As a young man, he enrolled as a working student at the Hampton Institute. Because we live in a new world now. I think of Eron Jackon. Effort or means so invested will pay a thousand per cent interest. Atlanta Compromise, classic statement on race relations articulated by Booker T. Washington, a leading Black educator in the United States in the late 19th century. Booker T. Washington: (00:46) It turns out Amber actually goes to another high school. President Barack Obama delivers the commencement address at the Booker T. Washington High School graduation ceremony May 16, 2011 in Memphis, Tennessee. And they kept pushing me, especially on those rare occasions where I’d slack off or get into trouble. You created special academies for ninth graders to start students off on the right track. God bless the United States.

All of these qualities — empathy, discipline, the capacity to solve problems, the capacity to think critically — these skills don’t just change how the world sees us. Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. We’ve got some wonderful guests who are here as well, and I just want to make mention of them very quickly. So she kept coming back to school, and she didn’t give up and she didn’t quit. Your diploma is not a free pass. (Laughter.) Used to be that you didn’t have to have an education. Gentlemen of the Exposition, as we present to you our humble effort at an exhibition of our progress, you must not expect overmuch. Faced with implacable and growing hostility from Southern whites, many African Americans during the 1880s and ’90s felt that their only sensible course was to avoid open conflict and to work out some pattern of accommodation. (Applause.) No race can prosper till it learns that there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem. And it can happen anywhere in Tennessee, it can happen all across America. (Laughter.) Yes, you’ve always been underdogs. Booker T. Washington: (06:47) So ever since I became President, my administration has been working hard to make sure that we build on the progress that’s taking place in schools like this. A ship lost at sea for many days suddenly sighted a friendly vessel. If anywhere there are efforts tending to curtail the fullest growth of the Negro, let these efforts be turned into stimulating, encouraging, and making him the most useful and intelligent citizen. This, this, coupled with our material prosperity, will bring into our beloved South a new heaven and a new earth. They were going to complete their studies no matter what Booker T. Washington threw at them. Booker T. Washington: ( 00:00 ) Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Board of Directors and Citizens, one third of the population of the South is of the Negro race. I heard they give the students too much to do. Booker T. Washington: (05:07) This article was most recently revised and updated by, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, New Georgia Encyclopedia - History and Archaeology - Atlanta Compromise Speech. Booker T. Washington: (08:19) THE PRESIDENT: Thank you … And that’s not how Eron came to see herself. She’s working toward her dream to becoming a lawyer. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. So he convinced folks to help him buy farmland.

(Laughter. Yes, we can learn. Whatever rewards and joys you reap, you’ll appreciate them that much more because they will have come through your own sweat and tears, products of your own effort and your own talents. Everybody here has got a unique story like that to tell. Most of all, you had to believe in yourselves.

You’ll need to think on your feet. And I want to acknowledge the devoted teachers and administrators at Booker T. Washington, who believed in you — (applause) — who kept the heat on you, and have never treated teaching as a job, but rather as a calling. And she remembered what Principal Kiner told her: “You can’t let the past get you down. First of all, the Governor of Tennessee, Bill Haslam, is here. (Laughter and applause.) The success of our economy will depend on your skills, but the success of our community will depend on your ability to follow the Golden Rule — to treat others as you would like to be treated. He entered this world a slave on a Southern plantation. Full transcript of Booker T. Washington’s “The Atlanta Compromise” speech on September 18, 1895. Starting thirty years ago with ownership here and there in a few quilts and pumpkins and chickens gathered from miscellaneous sources, remember the path that has led from these to the inventions and production of agricultural implements, buggies, steam engines, newspapers, book, statuary, carving, paintings, the management of drug stores and banks has not been trodden without contact with thorns and thistles. And understand, this isn’t just an issue for me. Booker T. Washington believed that change and equality would be won in the classroom. His rise to prominence began when he became the first leader of the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, a teachers’ institute. Thank you, Chris. THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much, everybody. Through education, you can also better yourselves in other ways.

So he assigned his first students to actually build the chairs and the desks and even a couple of the classrooms. For a long time, just a handful headed to college each year. Not only this, but the opportunity here afforded will awaken among us a new era of industrial progress. Eron has known a lot of setbacks in her young life. And the Mayor of Memphis, A.C. Wharton is here. (Applause.) (Applause.). And finally, with the right education, both at home and at school, you can learn how to be a better human being. (Applause.) We are here today because every single one of you stood tall and said, “Yes, we can.” (Applause.)

And I see why they call you Big Mac. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree.... What is the first "self-evident truth" in the Declaration of Independence?