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Who Is James Booker's Life Referred To As The Black Liberace

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Referred to as the "Black Liberace", James Carroll Booker III was an anomaly of prodigious talent and self destructive behavior. He was obsessive, he had one-eye, and he was absolutely prolific. He encapsulated the spirit of New Orleans through his playing and advanced piano vocabulary. He played a mix of gospel, blues, R&B, jazz and boogie-woogie. He was absolutely out of his mind. Born in New Orleans on December 17, 1939, James Booker spent most of his childhood on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. He began studying piano at the age of six. He grew up playing classical music, playing anything from Chopin etudes to Bach preludes, and picked out music, mostly jazz and pop standards, by ear from listening and emulating what he heard on the radio. James Booker was also a great fan of Erroll Garner, a jazz pianist popular throughout the 1940's and 1950's, and consistently attempted to emulate Erroll's playing style. Somewhere in 1939, an ambulance hit Booker and subsequently broke his leg. Lily Keber, a New Orleans filmographer and documenterist, cites this moment as Booker's first drug experience and what …show more content…

In a world of segregation and homophobia, Booker's race and sexual orientation make him a ridiculed member of society. Booker was sensitive and constantly sought out self-medication, succumbing to addiction, namely drugs and alcohol. John Parsons, the owner of the Maple Leaf said "One person once asked me if James Booker was crazy... I thought about the question for awhile and I couldn't think of any way he wasn't crazy. He was manic depressive, schizophrenic, self-destructive to the point of suicidal, a severe alcoholic." Booker had a big hit in 1960. However, Gonzo was indicative of Booker's habits. Gonzo reached #43 on Billboard Magazine's chart and #3 on the national R&B charts and Booker was convicted of possession of heroin in 1967 and served a year in Angola

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The young Booker adopted his stepfather’s Christian name as his surname and thus Booker T Washington became the name he would spend his life being recognised as. At the age of eleven the young Booker was engaged as houseboy to the wife of a coal mine owner who permitted him to attend school during the winter months for one hour a day, thus Booker’s educational journey began.

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Booker T. Washington was born on April 5, 1856 and passed away on November 14, 1915. He was a well known educator and civil rights activist. In the year 1895, Booker T. Washington openly set forth his reasoning on race relations in a discourse at the Cotton States and International Exposition in Atlanta, Georgia, known as the "Atlanta Exposition Address of 1895. " In his dialog, Washington conveyed that African Americans ought to acknowledge the dissatisfaction and social isolation the length of whites permit them financial advancement, instructive open door and equity in the courts. In the North, this started a chance for activism for other African Americans.

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Two of the most important men in American history are Booker T. Washington and W.E.B DuBois. They were both educated and they both fought for civil rights for African Americans. But they are totally different one believed in economic rights and, the other believed fighting for your rights now. Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Dubois are very different they didn’t see eye to eye on some of their decisions.

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Achieving African American Equality Booker T. Washington and W.E.B Du Bois were two of the most influential advocates for African American equality during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries (Blatty, 1). Although both men ultimately had the same goal, their methods for achieving African American equality were remarkably different. To begin, the men had conflicting ideas about what constituted as African American equality. Booker T. Washington argued that the accumulation of wealth and the ability to prove that Blacks were productive members of society would be the mark of true equality for African Americans (Painter, 155).

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The following two quotes from Souls of Black Folk summarizes Du Bois attitude towards Booker T. Washington’s political plan and idea of industrial education. Both quotes are taken from CHAPTER III: Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others. Here is how W.E.B. Du Bois felt about Washington’s industrial education solution, “His programme of industrial education, conciliation of the South, and submission and silence as to civil and political rights, was not wholly original; the Free Negroes from 1830 up to war-time had striven to build industrial schools, and the American Missionary Association had from the first taught various trades; and Price and others had sought a way of honorable alliance with the best of the Southerners.” Du Bois made it known

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Both Booker T, Washington and W.E.B Dubois had philosophies and beliefs that changed black culture. Booker T. Washington, an educator, writer and founder of now Tuskegee University had a very interesting belief. According to PBS (n.d), he supported a philosophy of self-improvement, racial solidarity and accommodation. Booker T. Washington took a different approach to racism by saying and encouraging others to accept it for that time and focus on the improvement of themselves and the race by working harder and also by having more things. He also believed in education but for crafting, farming skills and industrial skills.

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Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Dubois were both iconic African American leaders. Even though they had the same goal, their mindset was totally different . One believed in economic rights, and the other believed in social and political progress. These men both conquered the goals and made a mark in black history. Striving for different out comes, Booker T Washington and W.E.B .

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Washington became the chief black advisor to President’s Roosevelt and Taft; moreover, Washington was the first African-American to ever be invited to the White House. Despite the fact that racism was rife within the whole country, both Presidents accepted Washington through his accommodating and submissive stance. Yet despite such advances Washington sill attracted many critics. Civil Right activist William Monroe Trotter contested Washington’s political dominance and vociferously opposed what he believed were Washington’s racially appeasing policies. He used the Boston Literary and Historical Association, an organisation he founded to attract likely adversaries of Washington, recruiting W.E.B. DuBois, to further this cause.

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Equality, the quality or state of being equal; the quality or state of having the same rights or social status. The idea of being equal between races was thought to be insane before the Civil Rights movement and the rebellion of African Americans wanting freedom and stability for the first time in 245 years. Wanting paying jobs and homes for their families, two men who voiced African American difficulties, were W.E.B. Dubois and Booker T. Washington. They both built on different theories but in all aimed for the same objective of receiving the rights all African Americans deserved. However, Dubois makes the stronger argument because he appealed to multiple different audiences and is more ethical, making him more convincing and a source to trust

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The fact that Booker T Washington did not address to African Americans civil rights, is really important because it demonstrates that W.E.B DuBois did more than Booker T Washington. W.E.B addressed the rights of African Americans, which if fixed could create better education for African

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Booker T. Washington was born a slave and worked as a janitor to get through school. Whereas W.E.B. Du Bois was born in the North and faced very little discrimination, and had an easier time getting into College. They were well educated, and the only difference between them was how they were raised in different environments. Both were on the journey to improve African American’s social and political status in America. However, they had different methods for getting what they wanted.

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488 Words | 2 Pages

In an era where African Americans were caught in the middle of an awkward transition between slavery and unrestricted freedom, few voices could rise above the noise to lead Blacks to a better future. Booker T. Washington, a former slave himself, found that voice. Approaching contemporary issues through a realistic lens, Washington saw Black empowerment in the world of industry rather than in the world of politics. He saw solutions in brotherhood among diverse cultures, a necessity for a nation torn apart by extreme polarization, and understood the importance of training the first generations of free blacks for the workforce. In this sense, Washington established himself as a true visionary.

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846 Words | 4 Pages

There are a few ways that Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. DuBois differ in their strivings for racial equality. The reason that these men differ in their views are pretty apparent and go back to the separate arguments that Jane Addams and Elizabeth Cady Stanton produced for women's rights in the 19th century. Jane Addams made some compromises in her push for women's suffrage to make her argument easier to swallow and take a small step towards equality. Stanton puts out her whole argument for total equality which made her argument hard for her generation to accept, but got all the problems on the table.

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861 Words | 4 Pages

We all know that the power of the Black community in America came from deep in their soul. Their strength and will to fight segregation , and their love can be felt in the civil rights movement. Their ability to express their minds in a non- violent way connects to the soul music that James Brown created. James Brown’s music was a mixture of R&B and gospel. Which in a way connects to what Dr. Martin Luther King was trying to do during the civil rights movement.

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1088 Words | 5 Pages

Up From Slavery, Novel is An autobiography of Booker T Washington. He has expressed and showcased his struggles for the freedom of blacks in the society. The opening chapters deals primarily with Booker T. Washington's childhood and his atrocious days in slavery. He sets the tone for his memoir with vivid descriptions of the conditions of his domestic life, the conditions under which he lived from the time of his birth till the end of the civil war. The civil war was over and gave them happiness of being free.

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