Project Uplift Literacy

Saturday Morning

Dr. Alexander Crummell

Howard University/Negro Academy
“THE ATTITUDE OF THE AMERICAN MIND TOWARD THE NEGRO INTELLECT"
DECEMBER 28, 1897

They have always questioned the intellect of the American Black Man/Woman. They even at one point had us despising the thought of gaining or enhancing our intellectual ability. If we achieved in the educational environment we were deemed as being too white. Yet, the fact of the matter is that our minds are indeed some the strongest minds GOD has ever developed. That's why we should never let the words on a page dishearten our abilities to be all we can be intellectually. Let's stamp out illiteracy in all of our communities now and forever. I take you back on this Homecoming Saturday of both Morgan State and Howard University 119 years to a speech by one of our greatest intellects ever. As he defines the struggle of how we were trampled on yet still continued to achieve. Dr. Crummell gave this speech to the Negro Academy that day in 1897. It's a little long but it is indeed still relevant and profound.