Programming on Jazz 91.9 WCLK is made possible in part by PNC Bank, celebrating Atlanta's African American Business Leaders. In September 1895, Booker T. Washington spoke at the Cotton States and International Exposition in Atlanta. His “Atlanta Compromise” address was one of the most influential speeches in American history. Though organizers worried that the public was not prepared for such an advanced step, they wished to impress Northern visitors with evidence of racial progress in the South, so they invited an African American speaker. Washington soothed his listeners’ concerns about “uppity” blacks by claiming that his race would content itself with living “by the productions of our hands.” In 1900, Booker T. Washington founded the National Business League, pre-dating creation of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce by 12 years.
PNC Bank celebrates Atlanta's African American Business Leaders, February 24 at the Center for Civil and Human Rights. More information about that event is available here.
