Video reflection part 2

 

Booker T. Washington’s Story Hit Me Hard

Watching the videos in class today made me realize how much of history I’ve learned without ever truly feeling it. The video about Booker T. Washington honestly hit me the hardest. Imagining someone walking over 200 miles at sixteen just for the chance to sweep floors so he could afford school made me rethink how I view my own education. I complain about studying sometimes, but he fought for every bit of it. When he built Tuskegee Institute at only twenty-five, teaching practical skills and self-reliance, I couldn’t help but admire the way he turned struggle into opportunity. Knowing he was the first Black guest to dine at the White House made me realize how symbolic his journey really was.

Lincoln’s Death Changed Everything

Abraham Lincoln, 1865

I always knew Lincoln was assassinated, but I never understood how dramatic the impact was until now. Hearing that he wanted to give Black soldiers the right to vote made me respect him even more. But his death completely flipped the country in the wrong direction. Andrew Johnson, who took over, basically abandoned newly freed people. Returning land to white owners, allowing Black Codes, ignoring violence it made me angry to see how quickly hope was taken away. And learning that sharecropping, a system that kept people trapped in poverty, lasted into the 2000s shocked me. It made me realize freedom didn’t suddenly appear in 1865; people had to keep fighting for it.

Glimpses of Progress and How Fast It Was Taken Away

I didn’t know that during Reconstruction, Black Americans voted in huge numbers and even held political office. Hearing that made me think about what the country could have looked like if that progress had been allowed to continue. But Jim Crow laws wiped out those gains almost overnight. It was frustrating to watch that part of the video because it felt like hope was constantly being built just to be torn down again.

On the road to a new life

The Great Migration Felt Personal

The Great Migration made me think about what I would do if my only option for dignity was to leave everything I knew behind. Millions of Black Americans did exactly that. They chased fairness, opportunity, and safety things most of us take for granted. Their courage honestly inspired me.

My Final Takeaway

Today reminded me that history isn’t just dates and names it’s people fighting for their lives. And understanding that makes me appreciate their resilience even more.

AI disclosure: I took notes from the videos we watched in class and then used AI to help me turn those notes into a clearer, more organised blog post. After that, I edited the writing myself, added my own thoughts and reactions, and included the sources and images on my own.