Booker T. Washington had a great influence on the black community. The efforts this man made to become such a wonderful leader were incredible. Booker T. Washington was a man who started from scratch. He grew up as a black slave, who didn't have many choices in life. He was born in Virginia in 1856 and had a white father and a black mother. After the Emancipation Proclamation he went to work in a coal mine as a child. When Booker was seventeen he went to Hampton Institute, where he worked as a custodian. Then he became a student there. After all the hard work Booker T. Washington put into his life, he became a very famous speaker on educational topics. Booker T. Washington became a very famous speaker and was invited to dine at the White House with President Theodore Roosevelt. Slowly Booker began to get the respect he deserved. Booker preached that blacks should accept that they are inferior to whites, he told them that we must show them that we are socially capable of taking care of ourselves. He said the way we do that is to build successful businesses, educate ourselves and get into politics. For these beliefs that Booker believed in is why he was called "The Great Compromise". Many white former slave owners began to respect Booker's notions. He was not only recognized by blacks but now also by whites. Booker T. Washington was secretly financed by major industrialists such as Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller. Love approached racism in a non-threatening way. The only thing that was a problem for him was that not all people liked his belief.