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 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

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.

By Ronald Court

I let no man drag me down so low
as to make me hate him.

It seems that especially lately, a lot of people have gotten upset over the “n—” word. It is a reprehensible word. But the recent incidences brought to mind a response I was taught as a child. “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” That’s not entirely true, of course, for words can hurt… and also heal when said sincerely.
Why do some words cause our blood to boil, and others cause us to collapse in laughter or weep in joy? How did they get to wield such power over us? I believe the answer’s simple, if uncomfortable. It’s because we let them. We forfeit our own personal power over our emotions.

Easier said than done, I’ll admit. I’m sometimes offended, but it’s because I let someone get to me.. It’s not business. It’s personal.

“Sticks & stones” serves as a first line of defense to give us time to get back control of our emotions.

“I let no man drag me down so low as to hate him.” Booker T. gives not one inch in those words. And what character… showing that love overcomes all. What CharacterPower.

By Ronald Court

I hope the BTW Ambassador Scholarship students, parents and teacher/mentors the Society brought to Washington from New Orleans this April watched the news tonight reporting on the Presidents of the United States and of France touring George Washington’s Mt. Vernon estate. It reminded me of the evening the Society treated them to dinner at Mt. Vernon and a special evening tour of its museum.

Actually, we had booked a special private evening tour of George Washington’s Mt. Vernon home for them, but were “preempted” at the last minute by Nick Cage and his Hollywood film company shooting scenes to a sequel to “National Treasure,” their film about stealing the Declaration of Independence in order to preserve it.

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Still, the museum was opened up for our group to tour and view an exciting multi-media presentation of the independence of our country. In a way, there are two “Fathers of our Country,” both born Virginians, both named Washington and both inspired millions to become independent.

Inasmuch as all our BTW Ambassador students this year were from New Orleans, a city founded by the French, perhaps having walked the same grounds as the Presidents of the US and of France at Mt. Vernon will hold special meaning for them. I hope so.

By Ronald Court

A while ago, ESPN Magazine did a story on 24 year-old NBA star Boris Diaw. He came to America from France three years ago to play with the Atlanta Hawks. He’s with the Phoenix Suns now..

He found America’s obsession with race odd…
His closest friend on the Hawks, Josh Childress, said, “He couldn’t get over the fact that there was separation between blacks and whites here. “He was like, “In France, we just look at people as people, not as black or white.” He’d ask why it was like that and Childress didn’t have an answer for him.

Booker T. had the answer. And you can pass it on.
It’s what’s inside that counts, not outside.
It’s Character, not color.

By Ronald Court

I’ve been off-line for over a week - ever since my computer’s hard drive crashed. With computer and back-up software off to a Geek Squad for repair and reconstruction, I was “stuck” with time on my hands, and voilà, my disaster turned into a blessing in disguise.

I opted to catch up on my reading. First up was “1776″ David McCullough’s account of General George Washington’s 1st year in the Revolutionary War. Defeat followed defeat until Washington launched a “brilliant stroke” and changed history, though the war raged for another six and a half years, taking 1% of our population. In percentage terms, it was “the most costly war in American history, except for the Civil War.”

McCullough closes with, “Especially for those who had been with Washington and who knew what a close call it was at the beginning–how often circumstance, storms, contrary winds, the oddities or strengths of individual character had made the difference–the outcome seemed little short of a miracle.”

Amen. This inspiring read gave me pause to ponder how the history of our country as it is being written today will turn out–will circumstances or “strengths of character” make the difference? Only time will tell.

It is little short of a miracle to me that our country, born in a bloody revolution, dedicated to the proposition that “all men are created equal,” and still struggling to make it so, would produce not one, but two leaders who shared such ’strengths of character’ and much more.

Consider two men separated by time, yet: both born on tobacco farms, both Virginians, both self-educated, both spending their earlier years working the same West Virginia land (one a surveyor, the other at salt & coal mines) both receiving honorary degrees from Harvard, both with a brother named John and both with the surname, Washington. (and here’s a stretch: both had a wife whose 1st name was “Mar…”)

To be sure, one was born into slavery, the other into slave-holding. However, my sense is we, all of us, stand to benefit more by choosing to embrace and emulate the qualities common to these two great Americans? Not because or in spite of the color of either, but because both were great leaders, period.

(Thank you, son Barnaby for the “1776″ Christmas present I have finally come to more fully appreciate.)

By Ronald Court

One of the greatest drummer-musicians of all time died last week in Manhattan. He was remembered for his contribution, not only to the world of music, but also for a militant expression during the Civil Rights Movement.

At a Miles Davis/Gil Evans concert at Carnegie Hall in 1961, Max, who felt Miles was “too centered” on civil-rights, staged a one-man protest by marching to the edge of the stage holding a “Freedom Now” placard.

Max & Miles. Their instruments and music reflected very different natures. Miles’ trumpet is a one-note-at-a-time, front of the crowd instrument. Yet Miles’ classic, “Kind of Blue” exposed a sure, slow patient side to Miles’ nature. Drums, on the other hand, are to an untrained ear, background, loud and fast. Yet Max’s break-through playing exhibits a mastery of complex riffs and timing, sometimes impatient yet always in control of the pulse.

Consider two people striving to reach the same destination. One is by nature, more patient, forgiving and aware that hard work…and time… is required to secure the help of others in order to assure a safer, more secure route to the destination. The other is rather impatient and unwilling to let go of lingering anger or resentment “issues.” For him, to criticise, complain and control is quicker and more satisfying than attempting to change hearts and minds.

Which approach is quicker, longer lasting, with fewer ill side-effects?

Ask any shrink.
Just as we admire Max Roach for his God-given talent and skill, let us also honor Booker T. for his patient, forgiving nature. After all, 55 years earler, Booker T. paved the way for Miles and Max’s appearance at Carnegie Hall by himself being featured on that very stage in 1906.
(Note: that’s Sam Clemens [Mark Twain] seated behind BTW.)

By Ronald Court

I recently read of the death of Irene Morgan Kirkaldy, age 90 in Gloucester, VA. In 1944, eleven years before Rosa Parks, she refused to move to the back of the bus. Read her NYTimes obit here.

She paid a fine for kicking a sheriff but refused to pay a much smaller fine for refusing to move. This woman of integrity and character planted the seed for a winning NAACP strategy that had to wait until the time was right. Irene Morgan’s case, argued in part by a young NAACP lawyer named Thurgood Marshall, went all the way to the US Supreme Court. She won.

But another decade elapsed before the strategy could be executed. Conditions needed to be right. In 1955, the same act, this time by Rosa Parks, a part-time NAACP volunteer worker, sparked sufficient wide-spread concern to make a lasting difference.

The marches, riots and oratory of ML King Jr. following Rosa Parks’ action might well have gone unnoticed as well, had not the new technology of television exposed the ugly face of segregation to the Nation, and indeed, to the world.

Booker T. could not have been aware of the advent or impact of TV, but he clearly foresaw that social progress would take time — and a lot of it. He knew the first priority for Blacks had to be to focus on and achieve economic progress while affording Whites time to absorb a ‘new social order.’ Arguably, time has proven Booker T’s assessment to be correct.

By Ronald Court

It’s fitting that my first entry in the “Opportunity” category would be about a first, the first female to become a self-made millionaire. She did it in the cosmetics business. I’m not talking about Mary Kay, though her story too is inspiring. This is about the first self-made female … black or white… to reach the millionaire milestone. She did it with integrity & character and against all odds.

Madam C. J. Walker
with thanks to author Brian Souza, for permission

“..I did not succeed by traversing a path strewn with roses. I made great sacrifices, met with rebuff after rebuff, and had to fight hard to put my ideas into effect.”

LIFE DIDN’T YIELD ITS JOYS EASILY TO MADAM C. J. WALKER.

Born to freed slaves and sharecroppers in rural Louisiana in 1867, she was orphaned by age ten. Illiterate, she was forced to start working six days a week picking cotton, cooking, and cleaning in white households. Married by fourteen, a mother at sixteen, and a widow by age twenty, life for Madam C. J. didn’t start out in a promising way. But despite adversity most of us will never know, she went on to become the first self-made female millionaire-white or black-in the United States.How? By taking an introspective look to discover who she really was and by deciding that she could-and would-transcend her roots to achieve her dreams. In short, by tapping into the very same powers that lie dormant within you right now.

For starters, after she was widowed, she took her daughter to St. Louis, Missouri, in search of education and a better way of life. At first being a washerwoman was tough going, but then Walker had a moment of self-revelation. As she later described it to The New York Times, she was a thirty-five-year-old single mother who “was at my tubs one morning with a heavy wash before me. As I bent over the washboard and looked at my arms buried in soapsuds, I said to myself, ‘What are you going to do when you grow old and your back gets stiff? Who is going to take care of your little girl?’ This set me to thinking, but with all my thinking I couldn’t see how I, a poor washer-woman, was going to better my condition.”

But she was committed. There was no turning back. Like all successful people, she took a chance and bet on herself. In 1905, with only $1.50 in savings, she moved to Denver, where she started a business making and selling a hair-straightening and beautifying product for African-American women. She eventually built a nationwide sales force numbering in the thousands. It wasn’t until she took a chance at she discovered her gift wasn’t doing the wash but the ability to spire women to take pride in themselves and to refuse to live with- the stereotypical confines of the times.

A century ago, few women-let alone African American women-traveled by themselves. But Madam C. J. crisscrossed the country almost continuously to spread the word about her products.

She first sold them door-to-door, then through the mail, and eventually in pharmacies. She was relentless in her marketing efforts. She stuck steadfastly to her goal-and never quit working on ways to improve her business. She realized that if she was going to make something of herself, she would have to develop her gift into some- thing of value. She had no formal education, but that didn’t stop her from hiring tutors to improve her vocabulary, teach her proper grammar, and broaden her horizons.

Similarly, she created jobs for thousands of black saleswomen, not only paying them well, but also setting up philanthropies and foundations to help educate them. In short, she built and ran a national cosmetics empire based on the highest principles-a feat that would have seemed remote when she was a shoeless orphan chopping cotton in Louisiana.

Her journey from poverty to wealth, from obscurity to fame, and from having the most menial of jobs to being a leader for women’s rights and economic freedom was remarkable to say the least.

“Perseverance is my motto,” she told one interviewer. “It laid the Atlantic cable, it gave us the telegraph, telephone, and wireless. It gave to the world an Abraham Lincoln and to the race, freedom.” In her determination to live her dream, she defied long odds. And by the time of her death in 1919, she had become, as her biographer Beverly Lowry noted, “an icon, a legend, and an exemplar.”