Langston Hughes - Ballad of Booker T. lyrics

Booker T. Was a practical man. He said, Till the soil And learn from the land. Let down your bucket Where you are. Your fate is here And not afar. To help yourself And your fellow man, Train your head, Your heart, and your hand. For smartness alone Is surely not meet- If you haven't at the same time Got something to eat. At Tuskegee He built a school With book-learning there And the workman's tool. He started out In a simple way For yesterday Was not today. Sometimes he had Compromise in his talk-- For a man must crawl Before he can walk And in Alabama in '85 A Negro was lucky To be alive. But Booker T. Was nobody's fool: You may carve a dream With an humble tool. The tallest tower Can tumble down If it be not rooted In solid ground. So, being a far-seeing Practical man, He said, Train your head, Your heart, and your hand. Your fate is here And not afar, So let down your bucket Where you are.