Becometh a Tree

Matt 13:31-32
31 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field:
32 Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.
KJV

COMMENTARY BY BRIAN JOHNSON, Ph.D.

Throughout scripture, trees often represent that which has come into full maturity, thus providing fruit to feed upon, lodging to rest within, shade to comfort and a host of other uses. And the mustard tree is no exception. Most are well aware that the mustard seed is a very tiny seed, which upon first inspection does not appear to be able to eventually become a tree some 9-15 feet tall. However, the intrinsic qualities of this seed are equally remarkable. The seed is persistent and possesses a vigor and vitality that responds best in hostile climates and conditions. It seems to function best where it appears least likely to flourish. No less is the case when we begin with a seed of faith for the desires of our hearts. (For who hath despised the day of small beginnings?) Faithfulness in character, wisdom, service, vocation, finances, family, and a host of other things is not an overnight process. (Rather, the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.)

TRUTH SO PURE

“I have often said to you that one of the best things that education can do for an individual is to teach that individual to get hold of what he wants, rather than to teach him how to commit to memory a number of facts in history or a number of names in geography. I wish you to feel that we can give you here orderliness of mind-I mean a trained mind-that will enable you to find dates in history or to put your finger on names in geography when you want them. I wish to give you an education that will enable you to construct rules in grammar and arithmetic for your-selves. That is the highest kind of training. But, after all, this kind of thing is not the end of education. What, then, do we mean by education? I would say that education is meant to give us an idea of truth. Whatever we get out of text books, whatever we get out of industry, whatever we get here and there from any sources, if we do not get the idea of truth at the end, we do not get education. I do not care how much you get out of history, or geography, or algebra, or literature, I do not care how much you have got out of all your text books:-unless you have got truth, you have failed in your purpose to be educated. Unless you get the idea of truth so pure that you cannot be false in anything, your education is a failure.” – Booker T. Washington, “A Sunday Evening Talk”

Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson

Of the many truths the founding principal and president of Tuskegee (Institute) University proffered in his many speeches, writings and correspondence, the following is perhaps the single most profound and difficult one to grasp: “Unless you get the idea of truth so pure that you cannot be false in anything, your education is a failure.” Now it may appear to the naysayer that Mr. Washington makes a rather prideful or arrogant assertion but C.S. Lewis’s idea that “perfect humility dispenses with modesty” rejects such an accusation. (“Humility” is the greatest 8-letter word and “Fearless” is the second greatest 8-letter word in succession with good reason.) To be clear, there is no man or woman who will have not had error or failure at some point in their vocational path or journey. Yet, Mr. Washington’s conception of “education” encompasses those who have erred and failed because a “truth so pure that you cannot be false in anything” permits a single man or woman to ascertain valuable and truthful lessons whether through triumph or tragedy. For this man or woman-the truly educated man or woman-never experiences “falsity [or failure] in anything” because he or she lives, learns and then leads others to wrest the valuable water of “knowledge”-the second greatest 9-letter word-from any dampening circumstance. Moreover, these men and women proceed undauntedly, unflinchingly and unwaveringly day-to-day, month-to-month and year-to-year to continuous and ongoing “success”-one of the greatest 7-letter words-without ever experiencing real “falsity” or “failure” in the truest sense of the words. For never can a man or woman who possesses and applies the sort of education Mr. Washington established at Tuskegee University can ever rightly be called “false” or a “failure” because a truly educated man or woman ultimately views success and failure rightly according to the greatest 8-letter words: “Humility” and “Fearless,” which again are the greatest 8-letter words in succession.

Warner Pacific University’s President, Brian Johnson, Ph.D. has been named a “Pioneering President” by the Council of Independent Colleges, recognized for his leadership in navigating WPU’s unique dual identity, strategic recovery post-pandemic, and personal journey as the first African American president in WPU’s history. Dr. Johnson is honored to share insights at the national summit, supported by a Mellon Foundation grant, to establish a roadmap for future groundbreaking leaders in higher education. Read more here:

https://www.warnerpacific.edu/dr-brian-l-johnson-named-a-pioneering-president-by-council-for-independent-colleges/

WarnerPacificUniversity #WPU #WithPurpose #CouncilofIndependentColleges #PioneeringPresident #HigherEducation #President #University #ChristCentered #MinorityServing

Delighted to have read his new book and listen to John Silvanus Wilson’s (former President of Morehouse College) panel on the same topic at this year’s CIC Council of Independent Colleges President’s Institute Conference: Hope and Healing: Black Colleges and the Future of American Democracy A very thorough discussion in the book on the legacies of Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois, Tuskegee University (Institute) and the future of Black Colleges.

“In the early days of freedom, when education was a new thing, the boy who went away to school had a very natural human ambition to be able to come back home in order to delight and astonish the old folks with the new and strange things that he had learned. If he could speak a few words in some strange tongue that his parents had never heard before, or read a few sentences out of a book with strange and mysterious characters, he was able to make them very proud and happy. There was a constant temptation therefore for schools and teachers to keep everything connected with education in a sort of twilight realm of the mysterious and supernatural. Quite unconsciously they created in the minds of their pupils the impression that a boy or a girl who had passed through certain educational forms and ceremonies had been initiated into some sort of secret knowledge that was inaccessible to the rest of the world. Connected with this was the notion that because a man had passed through these educational forms and ceremonies he had somehow become a sort of superior being set apart from the rest of the world […]” – Booker T. Washington, _My Larger Education__(1911)

Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson 

While the term “esoteric” is not entirely pejorative-it can mean that members within a certain profession or group understand and converse sharing many of the same assumptions or terminology-it is sometimes used to denote exclusivity meaning that information and knowledge is understood by a chosen few. In the present passage, the founding principal and president of Tuskegee University speaks to this latter formulation. Here he laments that often education-the act of teaching and learning-resembles the closing off of knowledge from others as opposed to its wide dissemination among many. Mr. Washington’s idea is that such knowledge ought to have relevancy and application for others beyond the sole possessor of this knowledge. Imagine that. The idea of education should not be exclusive to a limited few but should enlighten and have impact upon others in beneficial ways. Thus, not only are the recipients all the better for having received this knowledge but also the giver of this knowledge is made better. For this man or woman has completed the complete cycle of education. First you learn, master and apply for yourself. (It is is a poor teacher whose words do not resemble his or her works.) Then you proceed to teach others. And such an education can be found at many institutions of higher learning including Tuskegee Institute (University).

Another WPU Commencement in the books:
“Careers fill Pockets; Callings fulfill People; Careers linked to Callings fulfill great Purposes for People.” #wpuknights #withpurpose #warnerpacificuniversity #wpucommencement

SPENDING YOUR NIGHTS AT HOME

“You cannot hope to succeed if you keep bad company. As far as possible try to form the habit of spending your nights at home.” – Booker T. Washington, “A Sunday Evening Talk: On Influencing by Example”

Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson

The adage that one is known by the company he or she keeps is an oft-expressed one, but the founding principal and president of Tuskegee University, Booker T. Washington, extends the adage even further both in the aforementioned passage and in another commonly quoted passage: “Associate yourself with people of good quality. It is better to be alone than in bad company.” Moreover, his additional suggestion to “try to form the habit of spending your nights at home” is a very practical one worth noting. Insofar as it is possible to discern from his autobiography, correspondence, letters, speeches-and more importantly his accomplishments-the man, Booker Washington, apparently did little else but read, write, work and stay at home with his family. And while it is easy to regard Tuskegee (Institute) University’s founding principal with an overwhelming sense of awe, one can begin to appreciate and understand him in view of his own self-discipline and self-sacrifice. (Everyone suffers but few suffer voluntarily. Yet, if one learns how to suffer, one will learn how to succeed.) One need not be reminded that everyone has the same 24 hours in a day, but how one spends those hours is what ultimately distinguishes men and women. (One would simply be amazed at how much more time can be committed to a meaningful mission or a purposeful project if time is not spent in (un)meaningful and (un)purposeful ones that do not result in progress.) Clearly, recreation, fun and leisure have their place but not if these things come at the expense of sustainable success. (Mr. Washington suggests that it is even better when one’s recreation, fun and leisure become part and parcel of one’s work.) For when an individual can transform his or her home into an extension of their workshop, they have the benefit of continuing, doubling and multiplying their labors when others have ceased from theirs.

NO INFLUENCE WOULD EVER MAKE ME A SLAVE IN SOUL

“I have been a slave once in my life-a slave in body. But I long since resolved that no inducement and no influence would ever make me a slave in soul, in my love for humanity, and in my search for truth.” – Booker T. Washington, (1907) The Negro in the South

Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson

In a little-known, yet most noteworthy moment in the history of both American and African American literary and intellectual history, Booker T. Washington jointly published the book, The Negro In the South (1907) containing 2 essays from himself and 2 other essays from none other than W.E.B. Du Bois. (And this was not their first co-publication. This would be the second book containing these two stalwarts in American and African American educational and intellectual history.) All the same, in the first of Mr. Washington’s two essays, he makes the distinction between being a “slave in body” versus being a “slave in soul.” Note the following concerning the remarks of the founding principal and president of Tuskegee (Institute) University: He made a strategic, calculated set of decisions to ensure that his outward circumstance would not determine his future circumstances. (And these decisions revolved around a “love for humanity” and a “search for truth”, which will always place the “lover” and “seeker” of such beyond the pale of those whose pursuits are self-interested and selfish.) First, a lover of humanity is unafraid to come to learn to love others because he or she has first come to love himself. One can hardly come to learn others if one does not possess a deep love for one’s self, and this includes learning to love both the learned and the ignorant. For a man or woman who ascended to leadership, as Mr. Washington had done, not only encountered both but had been both during his long ascent Up From Slavery. Second, the seeker of truth seeks after that which is right without regard to where this truth leads. Leo Tolstoy eloquently suggests the following about such a principle: “If you wish to know the truth, first of all free yourself from all considerations of self-interest.” Whether the truth Mr. Washington discovered was for the benefit or detriment to himself or not-“integrity” is the single greatest 9-letter word-this pursuit is without question what leads to 34 years of ongoing, consistent and enduring success for Tuskegee (Institute) University. For unbroken, undivided and unwavering consistency and wholeness is perhaps the closest description of both “truth” and Mr. Washington’s presidency that has served and will continue to serve generations of “humanity.” And this is why we celebrate his accomplishments in this the centennial year of his passing (1915-2015).

“[New York City Nov. 10, 1915] [To Alexander Robert Stewart] Be sure my yard is well cleaned.” – Booker T. Washington

Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson 

In all likelihood, this was the final letter written by the eminent founding principal and president of Tuskegee Institute (University). (For Booker T. Washington died on Sunday morning November 14, 1915-not 5 days later-after requesting to return to Tuskegee, Alabama to spend his final days.) Until his death, Mr. Washington wrote several short letters with instructions to his colleagues in Tuskegee with the above being the last: “Be sure my yard is well cleaned.” While one may regard this final communiqué as someone who regarded his yard more important than his soul, this is not so. For this final writing was a reflection of his soul indeed-a soul devoted to his work.

Tales abound in the Tuskegee community about Mr. Washington’s intense devotion to work, and there is no greater joy for a man or woman than to be engaged in a line of work that honors both the souls of men and their own. Mr. Washington spent countless hours in the yard and in the garden working, when time and travels permitted. Mr. Washington took great pride in the now world-renowned “Oaks,”-the president’s home at the time, located on the Tuskegee University campus, the only national park on a fully functioning college campus.

Annually, thousands of visitors trek across the nation and the world to visit the home site of Tuskegee’s founding principal and president. So perhaps Mr. Washington’s final concern for his yard being cleaned was not only for that generation but also for the many future generations that would follow in the 100 years since his death.

Mid-American Christian University 70th Anniversary Chapel, Dr. Brian Johnson speaker: “Out of Your Kin and Into Your Call” November 2. 2023

https://youtu.be/tGT9IMeHgGY

Judgments of Old

Ps 119:52

52 I remembered thy judgments of old, O LORD; and have comforted myself.

KJV

One way to have a glimpse into what God is doing now in our individual, national and global affairs is to carefully consider what He has already done in the affairs of those individuals, nations and generations who have gone before us. And there is no better record of God’s activities among men than to consider the judgments of old found in scripture. To be sure, having a glimpse does not amount to absolute certainly about God’s present plans and purposes (for such omniscience belongs solely to God), it simply confirms what God declares about himself, “I am the LORD, I change not.” This is what the psalmist is comforted by when He remembers these judgments. By considering the many fulfilments of God’s holy promises–regarding obedience and disobedience–it has the effect of both assuring and comforting us about the integrity and endurance of God’s Word, particularly when we align ourselves with those things that pleased Him in times past; For what pleased Him or displeased Him in times past is what pleases Him and displeases Him now. Therefore remember his marvellous works that he hath done; his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth. There has not failed one word of all his good promise.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid035xuAdZbPubLcuK2JvgSEA7PDBqE1P9YCrnMTm6gkvHC4z26XJSC67zr9JXWEvJv4l&id=1175555448

https://www.bizjournals.com/portland/news/2023/10/17/warner-pacific-3m-grant.html

The “Tuskegee spirit”

“It seems appropriate during these closing days of the school year to re-emphasize, if possible, that for which the institution stands. We want to have every student get what we have-in our egotism, perhaps-called the “Tuskegee spirit”; that is, to get hold of the spirit of the institution, get hold of that for which it stands; and then spread that spirit just as widely as possible, and plant it just as deeply as it is possible to plant it.” “Last Words: A Sunday Evening Talk,” – Booker T. Washington

Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson

Upon the last Sunday evening talk given at the close of the academic year, Booker T. Washington encouraged his hearers to come to learn of, embrace and finally disseminate the “Tuskegee spirit.” (There is something different about Tuskegee University.) It cannot be singularly explained by the eminence of its founding principal and president. It cannot be explained by the eminence of George Washington Carver. It cannot be explained by the aura associated with the “Tuskegee Airmen” whose feats are now known and respected worldwide. One simply cannot come upon the campus of Tuskegee University and not immediately be confronted with an overwhelming sense of the past meeting the present in deeply profound ways. For the “Tuskegee spirit” is what bounds not only its students and alumni but also its faculty, staff, administrators and presidents. It is a living, breathing pride in its beginnings, its present and its future-a future that is interwoven within the lives of every individual that has come upon the grounds of this sacred land. The “Tuskegee spirit” is none other than the spirit of a people-a great people embodying the very best and brightest in any and every tradition the world has ever known.

https://www.oregonlive.com/education/2023/10/warner-pacific-gets-3m-federal-grant-to-bolster-hispanic-student-services.html?outputType=amp

We are so blessed to announce that WPU has been selected by the U.S. Department of Education to receive a landmark, five-year, $3 million grant under Title V “Developing Hispanic-Serving Institutions” Program. Announced during Hispanic Heritage Month, WPU is the first university in Oregon to receive this award! 🩵💚

Read more here: https://www.warnerpacific.edu/warner-pacific-university-receives-3-million-dollar-grant/

I REMEMBER ONE YOUNG MAN

“I remember one young man in particular who graduated from Yale University and afterward took a post-graduate course at Harvard, and who began his career by delivering a series of lectures on “The Mistakes of Booker T. Washington.” It was not long, however, before he found that he could not live continuously on my mistakes. Then he discovered that in all his long schooling he had not fitted himself to perform any kind of useful and productive labour. After he had failed in several other directions he appealed to me, and I tried to find something for him to do. It is pretty hard, however, to help a young man who has started wrong.” – Booker T. Washington, (1911) My Larger Education

Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. offers the following concerning men and women whose actions are similar to the young man described in Booker T. Washington’s aforementioned passage: “Controversy equalizes fools and wise men in the same way – and the fools know it.” And the founding principal and president of Tuskegee (Institute) University provides several important lessons about both the young man-as well as all men and women of his ilk-who seek to establish their name and reputation on the basis of disparaging the name and reputation of others-particularly those whose accomplishments they will only be brought in close proximity to only upon the basis of “controversy.” First, Mr. Washington never ever mentions this young man’s name. While this unidentified young man knew full well that persons might give him a hearing-not upon the basis of his own person and accomplishments-but based upon the person and accomplishments of his topic, “The Mistakes of Booker T. Washington,” identifying or responding to this young man provided not a single, solitary benefit to Mr. Washington and Tuskegee. Second, Mr. Washington understood that the young man’s premises were flawed from the onset, and it is the clearest telltale example of Mr. Washington’s oft-repeated phrase, “Let examples answer.” To be sure, the actions of no man or woman are all “good” or all “bad.” (This is naïve, simplistic and child-like thinking.) Yet, in the face of the clear, overwhelming and documentable evidence that testify to the good that Mr. Washington had done locally, regionally and nationally, this young man titled his lecture series according to what he perceived were the mistakes of Mr. Washington. Here again, what one consistently reads and hears, one will consistently become. And this young man ought to have taken heed to how and to what he was hearing for it ultimately led to what he had become. (For this young man’s attempt to categorize and confine a man of Booker T. Washington eminence and accomplishments to a series of perceived mistakes that his limited training, limited knowledge and limited life experience identified did nothing but demonstrate his failure to understand the significance of the (2) greatest 9-letter words and the single, most dangerous 9-letter word: 1. “Integrity” 2. “Knowledge” 3. “Ignorance;”) Finally, we should consider Mr. Washington’s demonstration of another one of his famous aphorisms: “I let no man drag me down so low as to make me hate him.” The very same young man who sought to disparage and defame Mr. Washington later sought him for assistance, and Mr. Washington “tried to find something for him to do.” (This dynamic needs no additional commentary.) Yet what is deserving of additional commentary is that this young man might have spent his time and work writing, lecturing and building his own legacy and life worth reading as opposed to seeking to denigrate another’s whose legacy and life of building Tuskegee (Institute) University spanned 34 years (1881-1915) and remains and is read to this very day.

“[…] After the man was shot his son brought him to my house for help and advise, (and you can easily understand that the people in and about Tuskegee come to me for help and advice in all their troubles). I got out of bed and went out and explained to the man and his son that personally I would do anything I could for them but I could not take the wounded man into the school and endanger the lives of students entrusted to my care to the fury of some drunken white men. Neither did I for the same reason feel that it was the right thing to take him into my own house. For as much as I love the colored people in that section, I can not feel that I am in duty bound to shelter them in all their personal troubles any more than you would feel called to do the same thing in Washington. I explained my position fully to the man and his son, and they agreed with me as to the wisdom of my course. And I now state what I have not to any one before. I helped them to a place of safety and paid the money out of my own pocket for the comfort and treatment of the man while he was sick. Today I have no warmer friends than this man and his son. They have nothing but the warmest feelings of gratitude for me and are continually in one way or another expressing this feeling. I do not care to publish to the world what I do and should not mention this except for this false representation. I simply chose to help and relieve this man in my own way rather than in the way some man a thousand miles away would have had me do it.” – Booker T. Washington, “To Francis James Grimke,” November 27, 1895

Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson

A man of Booker T. Washington’s eminence, position and stature was often criticized on a great many matters from persons who perhaps had his interest-or their own-at heart, but were wholly removed from the facts. Often in the case of leadership-particularly in the leadership of a vast organization such as Tuskegee Institute (University)-one must exercise tremendous restraint in responding to erroneous opinions, ill-informed recommendations or ill-advised suggestions. However, Mr. Washington’s response to what he perceived was a “false representation” of his character was another matter altogether.

During the difficult period of “Jim Crow,” many persons-white and black-held opinions about how the Tuskegee Principal should respond and react to racial atrocities as described in his letter to Grimke. In the present circumstance, Mr. Washington is responding to a letter from Grimke wherein the writer indicated that someone-“whose name [he had] forgotten”-relayed the circumstances of this event during a Bethel literary society meeting in Atlanta and that the founding Principal “refused to allow him to be brought in or the physician to attend him.” To Grimke’s credit, he went on to inform Mr. Washington that he felt it his “duty to apprise [him] of what was said.”

All the same, aside from Mr. Washington’s detailed correspondence communicating the circumstances aright to Mr. Grimke, he went on to provide additional facts concerning his activities that were intentionally not designed for public consumption or publication. It would be remiss to think or believe that Mr. Washington’s advocacy of industrial education or internal uplift and reform, was free from sympathetic interest to the political matters of his day.

Rather, Mr. Washington’s approach-as sound approaches often are-was marked by tact, sagacity and, most importantly, prudence. For Mr. Washington’s true audience was not political constituents who suggested what ought be done but the father and the son who were the beneficiaries of what needed to be done.

DEAR MRS. RUMBLEY:

“Mrs. Rumbley: When I made arrangements with you to return this year and take the present work, of course I did not mean that you would be retained in the position throughout the year regardless of the way you perform the service. When I said to you a few days ago that no change would be made to interfere with your plans it was on the supposition that you would do the work properly. When you returned from Mrs. Adams’ I had a conversation with you in which I told you plainly that the teachers department went more smoothly while you were away, because Miss Jones gave more personal attention to the work. You seemed to see the point and promised to make it go more smoothly. Since then you have not given the attention to the work that I thought you would. For example, you are almost never present to overlook and see to the preparation of breakfast…Your work needs to be systematized. This can be done by making a study of what will please the teachers. The teachers do not complain of the quality but it is the way the food is prepared. I still think that you can make a success of your work but in order to do this you must become interested. In order to make it a success I shall do all in my power to help you in any reasonable way. Yours.” – Booker T. Washington, [Tuskegee, Ala.] October 10th 1888

Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson

In addition to his other more externally visible tasks of speaking, writing and advancing and developing the institution, Mr. Washington was also responsible for the internal management of personnel. And this rather lengthy excerpt taken from Mr. Washington’s correspondence to an employee at Tuskegee Institute, who served in the capacity as a cook, is an example of strong yet supportive management of personnel. First, he makes it plain that retention “in the position” was not “regardless of the way you perform the service,” and that the underlining premise of the employee’s appointment was “that you would do the work properly.” (Positions and appointments are rarely perpetual but are contingent upon performance.) Second, Mr. Washington had a direct and honest conversation regarding his assessment of the work. (He did not avoid being earnest with the employee for Mr. Washington was managing a major institutional enterprise comprised of many interchangeable functions. The function-not feelings-is of paramount importance in the successful management of an organization.) Third, he provided an example of what was not being done properly. (It was neither rumor, second-hand observation nor innuendo but a tangible and objective example that could be readily observed.) Fourth, he provided a recommendation to the employee. He recommends that the work should be “systematized” and that a “study” of the employee’s constituents-namely the teachers-would reveal a possible way for solving the problem. (It is important for managers to not simply point to the problem but to provide a solution as well. And what better recommendation than to go to the constituency group who roundly described the services performed as a problem.) Lastly, he provides a final word of encouragement and a willingness to provide additional help. (Though the very best leaders do not avoid tough conversations about performance, it is imperative to provide a sense of hope, help and encouragement to employees who instead of retreating may actually re-double their efforts to set the matter aright.) In the end, Mr. Washington’s correspondence provides an insight into leadership that is rarely seen because of its sensitive nature but is absolutely necessary for managing an outcomes oriented organization in the 19th, 20th or 21st Century.

“Some people may say that it was Tuskegee’s good luck that brought to us this gift of fifty thousand dollars. No, it was not luck. It was hard work. Nothing ever comes to me, that is worth having, except as a result of hard work. When Mr. Huntington gave me the first two dollars, I did not blame him for not giving me more, but made up my mind that I was going to convince him by tangible results that we were worthy of large gifts. For a dozen years I made a strong effort to convince Mr. Huntington of the value of our work. I noted that just in proportion as the usefulness of the school grew, his donations increased.” – Booker T. Washington, My Larger Education (1911)

Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson

Nothing is more disturbing to hear about individual or organizational success-especially if you have contributed to such success-than that such success should be attributed to “luck” and not “hard work”. Hard work involves deliberate and persistent effort directed towards a designated end that is often easy to gloss over when witnessing the outcome and not the work preceding it. And such was Mr. Washington’s work in the advancement and development efforts of Tuskegee Institute (University). Here was a man who did not scoff at any amount received into the coffers of Tuskegee whether great or small. Without regard to the amount, he “made up [his] mind” to be resolute about his pursuit for even larger ones with his chief aid being “tangible results.” Or, as he wrote elsewhere, “Let[ting] Examples Answer.” For when an organization’s “examples answer,” it becomes easier to proceed from strength to strength because past successes are often the surest indicators of future successes.

Bill Winston Ministries Joseph Business School’s inaugural quarterly magazine with an article titled: “Sacred Callings Can Have Big Impact in Civic and Secular Marketplace”

https://fliphtml5.com/qubm/tcyk?fbclid=IwAR0X1k3EUVnphB18gd1jRcO3BfgjKxP5wg87IY7Gea_QjVNS5uo6CO52rwk_aem_AZMexD-eD6Ah9hdDoEToM4DwqTqVhRS8bCEumT0Xv5lt4cp02C_O-AdF-hB5iBNU0jU&mibextid=Zxz2cZ

“Time for Rebirth at Warner Pacific with Dr. Brian Johnson- 8/29/2023-The Awakening- Episode 11

https://youtu.be/ZqZS4AQxGmQ

“We can fill your heads with knowledge, and we can train your hands to work with skill, but unless all this training of head and hand is based upon high, upright character, upon a true heart, it will amount to nothing. You will be no better off than the most ignorant.”-Booker T. Washington, A Sunday Evening Talk

Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson

In this writer’s opinion, “integrity” is the greatest 9-letter word, “knowledge” is the second greatest, and “ignorance” is-by far-the worst and most dangerous. And the founding principal and president of Tuskegee (Institute) University, Booker T. Washington, gives on this Sunday evening talk his oft-repeated conception of “heart-head-hands” to help his students avoid the dread of becoming “no better off than the most ignorant.” One can easily seek the help of professors to develop one’s “head”. (These men and women have as their primary purpose to fill the “heads” of students with “knowledge”.) Likewise, professors are able to help make a student’s “hands”-or their work-“skill”[ful]. (Through repeated instruction and correction a student will either become skillful at their work or they will receive failing grades.) Yet, the matter of the “heart,” Mr. Washington suggests, is one matter where students must begin and complete this work largely alone. (Let no man or woman ever presume to become an expert on the subject of another’s heart.) Of all subject matters, it is the one that is deeply personal and unique to the individual. Whereas both the competencies of the “head” and the credentials of the “hands” lie in full view, the “heart” is always hidden from view. Yet, without it, all else “will amount to nothing.” For Mr. Washington’s complete configuration of Heart-Head-Hands in education is akin to the strength necessary to shoot arrows a great distance even as [the] University has shot forth [its] sons and daughters…into rewarding and meaningful careers of service for over 133 years. The heart is the unseen and invisible strength that determines how far one can bend the bow to make the arrow go.

https://www.warnerpacific.edu/august-presidents-message/

“You cannot hope to succeed if you keep bad company. As far as possible try to form the habit of spending your nights at home.” – Booker T. Washington, “A Sunday Evening Talk: On Influencing by Example”

Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson

The adage that one is known by the company he or she keeps is an oft-expressed one, but the founding principal and president of Tuskegee University, Booker T. Washington, extends the adage even further both in the aforementioned passage and in another commonly quoted passage: “Associate yourself with people of good quality. It is better to be alone than in bad company.” Moreover, his additional suggestion to “try to form the habit of spending your nights at home” is a very practical one worth noting. Insofar as it is possible to discern from his autobiography, correspondence, letters, speeches-and more importantly his accomplishments-the man, Booker Washington, apparently did little else but read, write, work and stay at home with his family. And while it is easy to regard Tuskegee (Institute) University’s founding principal with an overwhelming sense of awe, one can begin to appreciate and understand him in view of his own self-discipline and self-sacrifice. (Everyone suffers but few suffer voluntarily. Yet, if one learns how to suffer, one will learn how to succeed.) One need not be reminded that everyone has the same 24 hours in a day, but how one spends those hours is what ultimately distinguishes men and women. (One would simply be amazed at how much more time can be committed to a meaningful mission or a purposeful project if time is not spent in (un)meaningful and (un)purposeful ones that do not result in progress.) Clearly, recreation, fun and leisure have their place but not if these things come at the expense of sustainable success. (Mr. Washington suggests that it is even better when one’s recreation, fun and leisure become part and parcel of one’s work.) For when an individual can transform his or her home into an extension of their workshop, they have the benefit of continuing, doubling and multiplying their labors when others have ceased from theirs.

ROOMS THAT YOU DO NOT LIKE

“You are going to get rooms that you do not like. They will not be, perhaps, as attractive as your desire, or they will be too crowded. You are going to be given persons for roommates with whom you think it is going to be impossible to get along pleasantly, people who are not congenial to you. During the hot months your rooms are going to be too hot, and during the cold months they are going to be too cold. You are going to meet with all these difficulties in your rooms. Make up your mind that you are going to conquer them. I have often said that the students who in the early years of this school had such hard times with their rooms have succeeded grandly. Many of you now live in palaces, compared to the rooms, which those students had. I am sure that the students who attend this school find that the institution is better fitted every year to take care of them than it was the year previous.” “A Sunday Evening Talk: Some Rocks Ahead,” Booker T. Washington

Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson

Among the many priorities Mr. Washington had in relationship to his duties as president of Tuskegee Institute (University), fostering a relationship with his students was high among these. The Sunday evening talks were designed for students to engage the founding principal and president in less formal ways than at official gatherings such as convocations, commencements and formal student body association meetings. Moreover, he used these times to try to instill in them something of the “Tuskegee spirit.” Yet, try as one might-and in spite of the many positive aspects of the institution that are hardly ever touted-there are always areas of on-going concern for students, or “some…rocks ahead” for students within a university living-learning environment. Here, Mr. Washington addresses one of these: residential living. To be sure, this address was for Tuskegee Institute (University) students in the 19th century as opposed to the 21st century. (And it is clear that the 21st century institution has a fiscal duty to ensure the best facilities available to its students.) Notwithstanding, there are simply some matters in residential living that are common to all persons living within a university environment that are entirely unavoidable, and a student must simply “conquer them.” First, the room may not be as “attractive as you desire.” The living-learning environment is by no means the culmination of one’s career. It is a stop en route to a glorious career path that has as its ultimate destination a home purchase consistent with one’s desires and affordability. (This is often dependent upon your academic success as a student.) Second, “roommates” may not be “congenial.” Everyone recalls meeting strangers for the first time and though the initial meeting was uncomfortable, these strangers became life-long friends. (Many of our best, life-long friends are cultivated in the college and university living-learning environment, and had we not endured, we would have missed a valuable relationship that might be instrumental in our future successes.) Third, heating and air challenges are often the case even with respect to one roommate preferring it cold while the other hot. (Universities do their very best to address these situations upon proper reporting to the designated resident advisor, residential hall director, facilities director and Vice President for Student Affairs. It is not the university president who one contacts for these matters until the lines of authority are exhausted.) Lastly, a balanced perspective recognizes that “many of you now live in palaces, compared to the rooms which [previous generations of] students had” and for most universities, “the students who attend this school find that the institution is better fitted every year to take care of them than it was the year previous.” While the “struggle” of residential living within a university environment is oft-times a real and verifiable one, students would do well to remember the following adage: “Obstacles are what you see when you take your eyes off the goal.” And the goal is the successful completion of a baccalaureate or post-baccalaureate degree.

I USED TO PICTURE THE WAY

“I used to picture the way that I would act under such circumstances; how I would begin at the bottom and keep rising until I reached the highest round of success.” – Booker T. Washington, Up From Slavery (1901)

Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson

Robert Hedrick’s translation of Xenophon’s Cyrus The Great: The Arts of Leadership and War captures a rather profound and startling idea about the power of both the mind and imagination in one’s youth. This is particularly evidenced in Mr. Washington’s autobiographical telling of the time spent in his youth thinking of his future. Hedrick translates Cyrus as follows: “I created an empire in my thoughts long before I began to win an empire in reality.” The founding principal and president of Tuskegee (Institute) University, Booker T. Washington, tells of not having many flesh-and-blood examples of “success” due to both his poverty and enslavement. Yet, while his “hands” might have been bound, his “heart” and his “head” were certainly not. Though he might have seen but dimly into what his future held, he “used to picture the way [he] would act under such circumstances.” (Note, one can hardly go where one cannot see one’s self beforehand going. And one can hardly do what one cannot see one’s self beforehand doing.) “Vision” is the greatest 6-letter word, and “leader” is the second greatest 6-letter word in this writer’s opinion. And Mr. Washington possessed “vision” enough for himself-without regard to what others might have seen-to see himself as a “leader,” which he later realized for some 34 years at the helm of Tuskegee (Institute) University.

NO INFLUENCE WOULD EVER MAKE ME A SLAVE IN SOUL

“I have been a slave once in my life-a slave in body. But I long since resolved that no inducement and no influence would ever make me a slave in soul, in my love for humanity, and in my search for truth.” – Booker T. Washington, (1907) The Negro in the South

Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson

In a little-known, yet most noteworthy moment in the history of both American and African American literary and intellectual history, Booker T. Washington jointly published the book, The Negro In the South (1907) containing 2 essays from himself and 2 other essays from none other than W.E.B. Du Bois. (And this was not their first co-publication. This would be the second book containing these two stalwarts in American and African American educational and intellectual history.) All the same, in the first of Mr. Washington’s two essays, he makes the distinction between being a “slave in body” versus being a “slave in soul.” Note the following concerning the remarks of the founding principal and president of Tuskegee (Institute) University: He made a strategic, calculated set of decisions to ensure that his outward circumstance would not determine his future circumstances. (And these decisions revolved around a “love for humanity” and a “search for truth”, which will always place the “lover” and “seeker” of such beyond the pale of those whose pursuits are self-interested and selfish.) First, a lover of humanity is unafraid to come to learn to love others because he or she has first come to love himself. One can hardly come to learn others if one does not possess a deep love for one’s self, and this includes learning to love both the learned and the ignorant. For a man or woman who ascended to leadership, as Mr. Washington had done, not only encountered both but had been both during his long ascent Up From Slavery. Second, the seeker of truth seeks after that which is right without regard to where this truth leads. Leo Tolstoy eloquently suggests the following about such a principle: “If you wish to know the truth, first of all free yourself from all considerations of self-interest.” Whether the truth Mr. Washington discovered was for the benefit or detriment to himself or not-“integrity” is the single greatest 9-letter word-this pursuit is without question what leads to 34 years of ongoing, consistent and enduring success for Tuskegee (Institute) University. For unbroken, undivided and unwavering consistency and wholeness is perhaps the closest description of both “truth” and Mr. Washington’s presidency that has served and will continue to serve generations of “humanity.” And this is why we celebrate his accomplishments in this the centennial year of his passing (1915-2015).

“As I have said before, I do not regret that I was born a slave. I am not sorry that I found myself part of a problem; on the contrary, that problem has given direction and meaning to my life that has brought me friendships and comforts that I could have gotten in no other way.” -Booker T. Washington, “My Larger Education,” (1911)

Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson

Booker T. Washington had more reason than most to decry the circumstances of his upbringing. (For he was born enslaved.) Yet, Mr. Washington’s reference to himself as “part of a problem” was not owing to any intrinsic qualities of his own person. Rather, it was akin to W.E.B. Du Bois’s expression: “The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color-line.” All the same, the fact that Mr. Washington was born into such a difficult period did not ultimately deter his ambitions; Instead, it fueled them. And this is clearly one of the most singularly important lessons of Mr. Washington’s life and career-long work at Tuskegee Institute (University) evidenced in his most quoted aphorism: “Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome.” For the satisfaction gained in spending one’s life transforming seemingly insurmountable obstacles into long-standing triumph and achievement is, after all, the definition of an overcomer.

Brian L. Johnson, Ph.D.

LUCKY

“We frequently hear the word ‘lucky’ used with reference to a man’s life. Two boys start out in the world at the same time, having the same amount of education. When twenty years have passed, we find one of them wealthy and independent; we find him a successful professional man with an assured reputation, or perhaps at the head of a large commercial establishment employing many men, or perhaps a farmer owning and cultivating hundreds of acres of land. We find the second boy, grown now to be a man, working for perhaps a dollar or a dollar and a half a day, and living from hand to mouth in a rented house. When we remember that the boys started out in life equal-handed, we may be tempted to remark that the first boy has been fortunate, that fortune has smiled on him; and that the second has been unfortunate. There is no such nonsense as that. When the first boy saw a thing that he knew he ought to do, he did it; and he kept rising from one position to another until he became independent. The second boy was an eye-servant who was afraid that he would do more than he was paid to do-he was afraid that he would give fifty cents’ worth of labour for twenty-five cents […]The first boy did a dollar’s worth of work for fifty cents. He was always ready to be at the store before time; and then, when the bell rang to stop work, he would go to his employer and ask him if there was not something more that ought to be done that night before he went home. It was this quality in the first boy that made him valuable and caused him to rise. Why should we call him ‘fortunate’ or ‘lucky’? I think it would be much more suitable to say of him: ‘He is responsible.” – “Individual Responsibility: A Sunday Evening Talk,”- Booker T. Washington

Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson

At the onset of receiving an entering incoming freshmen class into a university, one becomes awed and buoyed by the extraordinary sense of possibility that each student has in his or her future. Whether they were 4.0 student or 2.8 students in high school, the beginning of freshman year matriculation is a unique opportunity in their lives to start anew and afresh. And Mr. Washington, founding principal and president of Tuskegee Institute (University), provides an example of two young boys who possessed the same opportunities, but had very different outcomes 20 years later. It is all too easy to pass off Mr. Washington’s telling as some moralizing tale designed to motivate his students during one of his Sunday evening talks. Yet, we must be inclined to think that either Mr. Washington himself experienced this so-called tale directly-his autobiographical narrative Up from Slavery (1901) suggests as much-or he observed this in the lives of two of his students in his 34-year long tenure at the helm of Tuskegee University. Washington’s telling of such a tale might also raise the ire and suspicion of those who might argue the following: “It is roundly unfair for Mr. Washington to ascribe lacking personal responsibility to the woes of the second boy’s life because he doesn’t know what happened to him.” Notwithstanding any such dismissals, what Mr. Washington seeks to convey in this talk was the sense of a very real distinction between two young men who approached life matters-whether in the classroom or beyond-quite differently. The first young man was likely accused of being too punctual, too exact or just plain too serious. He often heard the now common proverbial expression: “It doesn’t take all of that.” And in spite of all attempts to justify the many failures of the second boy, all such attempts are undergirded with a profound sense of irony. (The very individuals who defend or make excuse for the second lad will also not hire him nor give him any responsibility regarding that, which is their own.) Wholly consistent with his reputation for being frank, honest and giving ‘straight talk,” Mr. Washington would not allow any such misgivings about his impressions of the success-or relative lack thereof-of the two boys described here. For Mr. Washington believed that “it does take all of that” to reach any desirable outcome, and one will be subject to the envy and criticism of others while doing it. Yet, enduring the sort of suffering experienced by the first boy is far better than experiencing the suffering of the second. We all experience one form of suffering or another, and if one learns how to suffer-to truly know how to suffer well in the thing that is good-one will learn how to succeed.

https://m.youtube.com/live/weYc33VcJ6s?feature=share

“We have reached a period when educated Negroes should give more attention to the history of their race; should devote more time to finding out the true history of the race, and in collecting in some museum the relics that mark its progress. It is true of all races of culture and refinement and civilisation that they have gathered in some place the relics which mark the progress of their civilisation, which show how they lived from period to period. We should have so much pride that we would spend more time in looking into the history of the race, more effort and money in perpetuating in some durable form its achievements, so that from year to year, instead of looking back with regret, we can point to our children the rough path through which we grew strong and great.” – Booker T. Washington, (1899) Future of the American Negro

Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson

John Lukacs suggests the following about the potential of the past coming to bear upon the future: “I saw the future and it was the past.” And Booker T. Washington, founding principal and president of Tuskegee (Institute) University offers a similar advisement in his little-known work, The Future of the American Negro published in 1899. Now, the mere assembling of the “relics” of any people group’s history alone is not a sole predictor of its future. For it greatly depends upon what is being assembled as one paraphrased African proverb offers: “The hunter will always be the hero until the lion has his own historian.” And Mr. Washington recommends the assembling of those “relics [in particular], which mark the progress of their civilization” and “achievements” placed “in some durable form.” (Here again, what one consistently reads, one will consistently become.) If one consistently reads a narrative or documentable history of a people characterized by its clear and documentable successes as opposed to failures documented for varying purposes, such histories will serve to shape not only the psyche of a single people group but also the psyche of all people groups who have a special relationship or closeness to this same group. Such is the history of Tuskegee (Institute) University, where reading the narratives of the men and women (including students, supporters, community members, faculty, staff and administrators) provide a documentable, inspiring and motivating “tradition” (past) that can translate into a documentable, inspiring and motivating “trajectory” (future).

I USED TO PICTURE

“I used to picture the way that I would act under such circumstances; how I would begin at the bottom and keep rising until I reached the highest round of success.”- Booker T. Washington, _Up From Slavery_ (1901)

Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson

Robert Hedrick’s translation of Xenophon’s _Cyrus The Great: The Arts of Leadership and War_ captures a rather profound and startling idea about the power of both the mind and imagination in one’s youth. This is particularly evidenced in Mr. Washington’s autobiographical telling of the time spent in his youth thinking of his future. Says CYRUS: “I created an empire in my thoughts long before I began to win an empire in reality.” The founding principal and president of Tuskegee (Institute) University, Booker T. Washington, tells of not having many flesh-and-blood examples of “success” due to both his poverty and enslavement. Yet, while his “hands” might have been bound, his “heart” and his “head” were certainly not. Though he might have seen but dimly into what his future held, he “used to picture the way [he] would act under such circumstances.” (Note, one can hardly go where one cannot see one’s self beforehand going. And one can hardly do what one cannot see one’s self beforehand doing.) “Vision” is the greatest 6-letter word, and “leader” is the second greatest 6-letter word in this writer’s opinion. And Mr. Washington possessed “vision” enough for himself-without regard to what others might have seen-to see himself as a “leader,” which he later realized for some 34 years at the helm of Tuskegee (Institute) University.

“I believe that one always does himself and his audience an injustice when he speaks merely for the sake of speaking. I do not believe that one should speak unless, deep down in his heart, he feels convinced that he has a message to deliver.” – Booker T. Washington _Up from Slavery_ (1901)

Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson 

It is a wise and prudent man or woman indeed who does not readily accept-or seek-any and every invitation to speak. Although such restraint is uncommon, Mr. Washington’s recommendation is one that would serve us well to follow. For the best speakers-whether teacher, professor, lecturer or any number of itinerant persons-are those whose words proceed from the works that support them. Mr. Washington was known locally, regionally, nationally and globally for his oratorical prowess and was largely regarded as such for the work he was doing at Tuskegee University. And this work was no mere job for the founding Principal and President of Tuskegee University, but his life’s purpose “deep down in his heart.” When he spoke, men and women could feel the force of someone who was not pretentious but purposeful. And he was able to do so because he spoke concerning those things he was doing or had done. He did not theorize about how to lead an institution. He led one. He did not simply ask of those within his charge to persevere, endure and overcome. He himself had done these things. He did not simply speak about the “race problem” affecting newly freed and formerly enslaved men and women but was engaged in a work to solve this problem in a manner consistent with his beliefs. And all of these things were visible, tangible and remain so nearly 100 years since his passing (1915-2015). Audiences know immediately whether one has done or is doing the things that he or she speaks which is why one should never offer words without accompanying works.

“Christ-Centered Courage and Calling: Character, Credentials and Competence”

THE MISTAKES OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

“I remember one young man in particular who graduated from Yale University and afterward took a post-graduate course at Harvard, and who began his career by delivering a series of lectures on “The Mistakes of Booker T. Washington.” It was not long, however, before he found that he could not live continuously on my mistakes. Then he discovered that in all his long schooling he had not fitted himself to perform any kind of useful and productive labour. After he had failed in several other directions he appealed to me, and I tried to find something for him to do. It is pretty hard, however, to help a young man who has started wrong.” – Booker T. Washington, (1911) My Larger Education

Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. offers the following concerning men and women whose actions are similar to the young man described in Booker T. Washington’s aforementioned passage: “Controversy equalizes fools and wise men in the same way – and the fools know it.” And the founding principal and president of Tuskegee (Institute) University provides several important lessons about both the young man-as well as all men and women of his ilk-who seek to establish their name and reputation on the basis of disparaging the name and reputation of others-particularly those whose accomplishments they will only be brought in close proximity to only upon the basis of “controversy.” First, Mr. Washington never ever mentions this young man’s name. While this unidentified young man knew full well that persons might give him a hearing-not upon the basis of his own person and accomplishments-but based upon the person and accomplishments of his topic, “The Mistakes of Booker T. Washington,” identifying or responding to this young man provided not a single, solitary benefit to Mr. Washington and Tuskegee. Second, Mr. Washington understood that the young man’s premises were flawed from the onset, and it is the clearest telltale example of Mr. Washington’s oft-repeated phrase, “Let examples answer.” To be sure, the actions of no man or woman are all “good” or all “bad.” (This is naïve, simplistic and child-like thinking.) Yet, in the face of the clear, overwhelming and documentable evidence that testify to the good that Mr. Washington had done locally, regionally and nationally, this young man titled his lecture series according to what he perceived were the mistakes of Mr. Washington. Here again, what one consistently reads and hears, one will consistently become. And this young man ought to have taken heed to how and to what he was hearing for it ultimately led to what he had become. (For this young man’s attempt to categorize and confine a man of Booker T. Washington eminence and accomplishments to a series of perceived mistakes that his limited training, limited knowledge and limited life experience identified did nothing but demonstrate his failure to understand the significance of the (2) greatest 9-letter words and the single, most dangerous 9-letter word: 1. “Integrity” 2. “Knowledge” 3. “Ignorance;”) Finally, we should consider Mr. Washington’s demonstration of another one of his famous aphorisms: “I let no man drag me down so low as to make me hate him.” The very same young man who sought to disparage and defame Mr. Washington later sought him for assistance, and Mr. Washington “tried to find something for him to do.” (This dynamic needs no additional commentary.) Yet what is deserving of additional commentary is that this young man might have spent his time and work writing, lecturing and building his own legacy and life worth reading as opposed to seeking to denigrate another’s whose legacy and life of building Tuskegee (Institute) University spanned 34 years (1881-1915) and remains and is read to this very day.

After I got so that I could read a little, I used to take a great deal of satisfaction in the lives of men who had risen by their own efforts from poverty to success. It is a great thing for a boy to be able to read books of that kind. It not only inspires him with the desire to do something and make something of his life, but it teaches him that success depends upon his ability to do something useful, to perform some kind of service that the world wants.” – Booker T. Washington, My Larger Education (1901)

Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson 

The great scholar, literary critic and ‘Narnia’ chronicler, C. S. Lewis, remarks about the value of books upon a young boy or girl’s imagination: “Since it is so likely that (children) will meet cruel enemies, let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage. Otherwise you are making their destiny not brighter but darker.” Here again, what one consistently reads, one consistently becomes; Just imagine what one might become when one reads about the lives of great men and women from the time of one’s youth even into one’s mature years. This is what the founding principal and president of Tuskegee (Institute) University recommends, and it is a recommendation that we would do well to not only just follow, but continuously follow. First, the world needs verifiable, authentic and organic heroes, not simply scripted and fictional ones. Men and women whose lives are grounded in believable and relatable life experiences that one can readily identify with provides great grounds for hope for those who have similar experiences. Second, one can learn from the mistakes made in the lived lives of others. It is simply not true that one must repeat the mistakes of others. (Instead, you read and learn from them.) The triumphant records of men and women that also record both their foibles and follies are useful for persons of any century to learn, discern and comprehend that what happened before may very well occur again. Third, the lived lives of men and women who are no longer amongst us are permanent, indelible and fixed records that will remain ever unchanged. (One may repeatedly interpret and re-interpret their deeds done but there will be no adding or taking away from them.) And this final thought is one that certainly motivated men and women of the class of Booker T. Washington and should motivate us as well. For Booker T. Washington knew that one has but one life to live, and there would be no do over. When future chroniclers composed the narrative of his life, he wanted to be certain that it contributed to making someone else’s “destiny brighter” not “darker.” The founding principal and president of Tuskegee (Institute) University did not simply write correspondence, books and speeches worth reading; he lived a life worth reading not only in his generation but also in the many future generations to come.

“We can fill your heads with knowledge, and we can train your hands to work with skill, but unless all this training of head and hand is based upon high, upright character, upon a true heart, it will amount to nothing. You will be no better off than the most ignorant.” – Booker T. Washington, A Sunday Evening Talk

Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson

In this writer’s opinion, “integrity” is the greatest 9-letter word, “knowledge” is the second greatest, and “ignorance” is-by far-the worst and most dangerous. And the founding principal and president of Tuskegee (Institute) University, Booker T. Washington, gives on this Sunday evening talk his oft-repeated conception of “heart-head-hands” to help his students avoid the dread of becoming “no better off than the most ignorant.” One can easily seek the help of professors to develop one’s “head”. (These men and women have as their primary purpose to fill the “heads” of students with “knowledge”.) Likewise, professors are able to help make a student’s “hands”-or their work-“skill”[ful]. (Through repeated instruction and correction a student will either become skillful at their work orthey will receive failing grades.) Yet, the matter of the “heart,” Mr. Washington suggests, is one matter where students must begin and complete this work largely alone. (Let no man or woman ever presume to become an expert on the subject of another’s heart.) Of all subject matters, it is the one that is deeply personal and unique to the individual. Whereas both the competencies of the “head” and the credentials of the “hands” lie in full view, the “heart” is always hidden from view. Yet, without it, all else “will amount to nothing.” For Mr. Washington’s complete configuration of Heart-Head-Hands in education is akin to the strength necessary to shoot arrows a great distance even as Tuskegee University has shot forth the sons and daughters of Booker into rewarding and meaningful careers of service for over 133 years. The heart is the unseen and invisible strength that determines how far one can bend the bow to make the arrow go.

A.M.E. Zion Church’s Black History Service this morning in Vancouver, Washington with Reverend Joyce Smith. President Johnson shared the following: “A History of (not only) Suffering-but the Overcoming of the Suffering” 👏🏾🙌🏾

“You cannot hope to succeed if you keep bad company. As far as possible try to form the habit of spending your nights at home.” – Booker T. Washington, “A Sunday Evening Talk: On Influencing by Example”

Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson

The adage that one is known by the company he or she keeps is an oft-expressed one, but the founding principal and president of Tuskegee University, Booker T. Washington, extends the adage even further both in the aforementioned passage and in another commonly quoted passage: “Associate yourself with people of good quality. It is better to be alone than in bad company.” Moreover, his additional suggestion to “try to form the habit of spending your nights at home” is a very practical one worth noting. Insofar as it is possible to discern from his autobiography, correspondence, letters, speeches-and more importantly his accomplishments-the man, Booker Washington, apparently did little else but read, write, work and stay at home with his family. And while it is easy to regard Tuskegee (Institute) University’s founding principal with an overwhelming sense of awe, one can begin to appreciate and understand him in view of his own self-discipline and self-sacrifice. (Everyone suffers but few suffer voluntarily. Yet, if one learns how to suffer, one will learn how to succeed.) One need not be reminded that everyone has the same 24 hours in a day, but how one spends those hours is what ultimately distinguishes men and women. (One would simply be amazed at how much more time can be committed to a meaningful mission or a purposeful project if time is not spent in (un)meaningful and (un)purposeful ones that do not result in progress.) Clearly, recreation, fun and leisure have their place but not if these things come at the expense of sustainable success. (Mr. Washington suggests that it is even better when one’s recreation, fun and leisure become part and parcel of one’s work.) For when an individual can transform his or her home into an extension of their workshop, they have the benefit of continuing, doubling and multiplying their labors when others have ceased from theirs.

“[To William Edward Burghardt Du Bois] Mr. Booker T. Washington will be pleased to have you take dinner with him at his home, “The Oaks,” at 6:30 o’clock this evening.” – Booker T. Washington, Tuskegee, July 6, 1903

Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson

There are a handful of historic dinner-time conversations that the writer of this commentary would ever wish to be transported back in time to listen in upon. And this one between the eminent and distinguished founding principal and president of Tuskegee (Institute) University, Booker T. Washington, and the eminent and distinguished, William Edward Burghardt Du Bois ranks near the very top.

For in 1903, these two men were, arguably, at the very zenith of their spiritual (heart), intellectual (head) and physical (hands) strength. W.E.B. DuBois would have published his signal work, The Souls of Black Folk in this same year, 1903, and Booker T. Washington would only be two years removed from publishing Up From Slavery in 1901. In a little-known, yet most noteworthy moment in the history of both American and African American literary history, they jointly published the book, The Negro In the South (1907) containing 2 essays from himself and 2 other essays from none other than this W.E.B. Du Bois who apparently was teaching a summer course in Tuskegee in 1903. (And this was not their first co-publication. This would be the second book containing these two stalwarts in American and African American educational and intellectual history.)

All the same, one can only imagine the earnestness, frankness and thoughtfulness of their discourse on that evening. (“Depth” and “breadth” is the greatest 5 and 7-letter word combination, and this conversation would have certainly fit this description-completely opposite of a conversation that is flat, flippant and frivolous.) One would be deeply mistaken to assume their ideological differences were so deep-seated that these two men could not come together for dinner and discussion.

One would hardly ever invite someone to dinner who he or she disdains and distrusts. One would not invite them into the confines of one’s home, particularly into one as auspicious as “The Oaks,” and amongst one’s family. These men likely expressed their differences with one another, but they assuredly did so honorably and respectfully in the presence of each other. In the end, one might never learn what the conversation was about.

Yet, the singular invitation to invite one who has commonly been regarded as his chief adversary-possessing equal ability, stature and renown-speaks to the magnanimity of Tuskegee’s Booker T. Washington, who demonstrated one of his oft-quoted maxims: “I let no man drag me down so low as to make me hate him.”

“I do not say you should not use them, should not possess them, should not crave them, but do not make the mistake of feeling that titles are going to help you, unless you have got strength aside from the title. No amount of titles will put brains into a person’s head if the brains are not there before.” – Booker T. Washington, “A Sunday Evening Talk,” January 10, 1909

Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson

Hear this again and again: Positional and titular authority is the lowest form of authority. If a man or woman cannot nor does not command the respect of his supervisors, peers, colleagues and subordinates independent of a position or title, this man or woman is no greater than the man or woman who has no such position and title. Positions change, and the only permanence one can possess is that found in one’s own person in back of the position.

This is why the founding principal and president of Tuskegee University constantly impressed upon his students the need to constantly improve their own persons. Note the following: It is but half the task to secure the title or position. The most significant half is what one does with the title or position. (One must not only plan how to get the position or title, but what to do with the position and title when one gets it.) And the attention paid to one’s own person helps towards this end. Aside from acquiring credentials and competence, the comprehensive development of one’s CHARACTER is a third facet that can never be taken from the person in back of a position. (Character is not your highest moment or your lowest moment. Character is your most consistent moment.)

More importantly, Character easily transferable from position to position, unit to unit or organization-to-organization, which is why the singular, solitary focus upon a position and title (as opposed to the development of one’s own person) is unwise. For the man or woman who has “strength aside from the title” and who has “brains” in their “heads” will always possess these attributes without regards to a position or a title. (And they will always be desired and in demand.) And the founding principal and president of Tuskegee University who we celebrate in the centennial year since his passing (1915-2015) was not only such a man, but he also offered these wise “words” and set forth the accompanying “works” in his 34-year long presidency at the helm of Tuskegee (Institute) University (1881-1915).

So wonderful to celebrate our 2nd straight CCC conference championship for Men’s Soccer and grateful to receive the signed championship soccer ball with all the team signatures. #wpuknights #mensoccer