Booker T. Washington was born into slavery on a Virginia plantation and became one of the nation's leading educators at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. His clear emphasis on the value of character and the training of head, hand, and heart seems incredibly current, because this generation still struggles with the same issues he addressed with great insight at the turn of the last century.

"I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life," the great educator observed, "as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed." The obstacles facing Washington were enormous throughout his life, and he focused on learning and educating those who would follow him.

Very early on,the former slave determined that he would transform the values, frame the habits, and instill the knowledge that African- Americans required to succeed in society. He accomplished much of this with great success at his beloved institute through a clear expression of simple, impressive, and practical wisdom that still has the ability to empower all people to be the best they can be.