100 years before Obama, George Edwin Taylor blew the doors off the presidential race of 1904.

Presidential Race Poster for George Edwin Taylor, 1904

100 years before Obama, George Edwin Taylor blew the doors off the presidential race of 1904 by becoming the first black man in American history to run for the highest office of our land. And he couldn't have done it without an amazing education.

Even considering the hardships blacks endured back then, Taylor had an extremely hard upbringing, harder than most. He was orphaned and homeless at a very early age, even forced to live in boxes on the streets at times. 

The court system fostered him to a man named Nathan Smith, a politically savvy black farmer, who insisted that Taylor would obtain a superior education. From that point forward, he invested a lot of his time pursuing learning and held different high-level jobs as editor and writer of various newspapers for both whites and blacks.

Taylor understood that in order to influence his world he needed to prepare himself with educationally. He dreamed big and became an activist promoting Human Rights for the black community. He attended Wayland University where he learned the skills of oratory and debate. Having these skills and studies, he knew he had what was needed to start a political revolution of sorts.

He ran for the presidency in 1904. He understood all the challenges that would come his way as a result (his effort was not even recognized in several states where they actually left his name off the ballot), but he was willing to put himself out there as an example to the black community. He fought hard to make people of color see that it really doesn't matter if you were born with lots of privileges or not. What really matters is the effort that you can put towards a goal. 

Ultimately, Mr. Taylor knew that his run for the presidency was futile, but he saw it more as a duty to his race. 

In a time when being black was enough to be under somebody else's authority, I can't help but exalt the courage and grit that George Edwin Taylor displayed back in 1904. He lived to teach a very valuable lesson, that education and determination go hand in hand when it comes to achieving a greater purpose.