BRICKS and
STRAW
THE BOOKER T. WASHINGTON STORY
BRICKS AND STRAW
Teleplay by John Byrd & Amy Ostrower
The year is 1915. Most of black America mourns the death of their leader, Booker T. Washington, dubbed the 'Moses of his People'. The rest were glad to be rid of him, for Booker was a controversial figure, who preached that full equality for the Negro race had to be earned and should be a gradual process, while his detractors advocated equal rights here and now.
Born into slavery, Booker grew up in a time of America's greatest social challenge,
incorporating the newly-emancipated slaves into society. He was among the first of his
race to graduate from Hampton Institute, a vocational school, and prototype for what would
later become his own Tuskegee Institute. Starting from nothing, and by sheer will and
force of personality, Booker created one of the most impressive schools for Negroes in the
South.
His success drew the enthusiastic support of white business leaders such as Andrew
Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller, who were ir-npressed with his philosophy of discipline,
hard work and self-reliance. They could appreciate a man who pulled himself up by his own
bootstraps. He knew how to speak their language.
After his fiery speech at the International Expo in Atlanta, Booker was in constant demand
as a public speaker. It was clear that he was the natural successor to Frederick Douglass,
as a leader of his people. To others, he was anything but. He became an advisor to
Presidents McKinley, Roosevelt and Taft. To the shock and delight of many, he was the
first Negro to eat dinner with the President and his family at the White House. But for
many in America, this was not enough.
Younger, Northern- educated Blacks such as W.E.B. DuBois and William Monroe Trotter saw
Booker as an Uncle Tom, who advocated taking it slow, as opposed to agitating for equal
rights now. Despite Booker's behind-the-scenes attempts at what these younger firebrands
were demanding, he would find himself frustrated, as well, by the every growing Jim Crow
laws and stripping away of black rights.
At the height of his success, the country's 'great Negro leader' was publicly humiliated
when attacked by a white man and dragged into court in one of the most sensational trials
of the decade. It was not until his untimely death, that his enemies saw the wisdom of
burying the ax, and forming a greater coalition to establish change, through the newly
formed NAACP.
As we approach the 21st century, the question still remains, which is the most effective
way to bring about social change? Building bricks from straw, as Booker did, or throwing
them?
