UP FROM SLAVERY: THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

I highly recommend this book as a compulsory read for American Middle School students, especially schools in predominantly African American School Districts. Why Middle School? Because the dropout rate of African American students is prevalent in High School. In other words, if they are exposed very early in their academic life, to the struggles and sacrifices made by an educator like Booker T. Washington to be able to go to school as a grown-up teenager, I have no doubt in my mind that school exposure, such awareness will go a long way to inspire them, rejig their interest in education, and ultimately, curtail the High School dropout rate in the Black communities. And if Mr. Spike Lee, Tyler Perry, Oprah Winfrey, Will Smith, Denzel Washington, Van Jones, Ice Cube, Eddy Murphy, Keenen Ivory Wayans, Nick Cannon, Viola Davis, Robert Townsend, Gary Gray, Ava DuVernay, Forest Whitaker, etc., reading this, I sincerely hope and pray they find the time and resources to bring "Up From Slavery" to our living rooms. That he later made friends with American Presidents in life is immaterial. The "never give up" attitude he exhibited to acquire elementary education when no one was there to inspire and guide him should be integrated into the Great American Hip Hop Culture.