Up from slavery by Booker T. Washington - Essay Example

Brooke Fox 19 June Reader Response to Up From Slavery, by Booker T. Washington ‘Booker T. Washington.’ They said he went up from slavery. ‘Booker T. Washington.’ How is it said with such significance? I reached into the raw and untamed earth, where I pulled out a baby stalk root; it was weak and looked rather red, despite its brown color. The roughness of its appearance shocked me. I looked at where all the surrounding field lay and wanted to cry at its fleshy picture, its unsurpassed tenderness.

This stalk rang so true and earthy- I had never seen such. I quietly swallowed over the lump in my throat and made to go over to the house, that smoky forlorn cabin which immediately reminded me of the ‘Big House.’ Turning away from the unknowing spectre, I made a beeline for the river. But no matter where I went lay stoic reminders of those days before I knew the time of day, like a sharp stone, mocking me while at the same time combining an effort to make me weep. Eventually I came upon the river.

I sat next to the sparkling blue rushing, my legs crossed, simply looking at the torn stalk which lay in my outstretched palm. It seemed to me the river and the poor stalk had so much in common, even though one was a baby and one seemed so fierce. With a wrenching cry, I thrust the stalk root from my hands into the mad roaring. As soon as I threw it I never saw it. Slowly I got up and walked back through the painful shrine. The tall stalks of wheat in the field stood in the wind, proudly swaying.

My whole life was about making things grow. How could others call me a great man, I thought amusedly, shaking my head as I trekked, when one helpless-seeming plant root made me want to fall to my knees in tears? ‘Booker T. Washington.’ Works Cited Harlan, Louis R. Up From Slavery. New York: Doubleday, 1901. Print.