![A headshot of Dr. Sarah Washington O'Neal Rush, a woman in a green blazer and blue floral printed top.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/a081d57/2147483647/strip/true/crop/400x422+0+0/resize/880x928!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fb3%2F9c%2Fdc2aad5c4aafa4e9d067e05660ed%2Fdr.%20Sarah.jpeg)
Hand-out/Dr. Sarah Washington O'Neal Rush
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Courtesy of Dr. Sarah Washington O'Neal Rush
On this edition of In Black America, producer/host John L. Hanson Jr. speaks with Dr. Sarah Washington O'Neal Rush, author, speaker, educator, and great-granddaughter of former slave turned famous educator, and founder of Tuskegee University — Booker T. Washington.
Despite being a direct descendant of Washington, Rush wasn’t born with a silver spoon in her mouth — quite the contrary, she and her brother James were raised on a rough side of Oakland, Calif., by a single mother who never mentioned their famous relative.
Rush talks about growing up in Oakland, being a teenage mother, discovering her family legacy, being an educator, and the Booker T. Washington Empowerment Network.