Booker T. Washington, the founder of The Tuskegee Normal & Industrial Institute, gave hope to those newly freed in the antebellum South with his message of hard work & economic independence. BLACK DIAMONDS is a selection of quotations taken from Washington's speeches, addresses & talks to students. These quotations show what a true visionary he was & how strongly he influenced the development of the South after the Civil War. One hundred years later, his words still illuminate our most pressing social crises & serve as inspiration for a better future for all Americans.