Black Fortunes: The Story Of The First Six African Americans Who Escaped Slavery And Became Millionaires
- Author: Shomari Wills
- Narrator: Ron Butler
- Publisher: HarperCollins USA
- Duration: 6:51:35
Synopsis
The astonishing untold history of America’s first black millionaires—former slaves who endured incredible challenges to amass and maintain their wealth for a century, from the Jacksonian period to the Roaring Twenties—self-made entrepreneurs whose unknown success mirrored that of American business heroes such as Henry Ford, John D. Rockefeller, and Thomas Edison.
While Oprah Winfrey, Jay-Z, Beyoncé, Michael Jordan, and Will Smith are among the estimated 35,000 black millionaires in the nation today, these famous celebrities were not the first blacks to reach the storied one percent. Between the years of 1830 and 1927, as the last generation of blacks born into slavery was reaching maturity, a small group of smart, tenacious, and daring men and women broke new ground to attain the highest levels of financial success.
Black Fortunes is an intriguing look at these remarkable individuals, including Napoleon Bonaparte Drew—author Shomari Wills’ great-great-great-grandfather—the first black man in Powhatan County (contemporary Richmond) to own property in post-Civil War Virginia. His achievements were matched by five other unknown black entrepreneurs including:
- Mary Ellen Pleasant, who used her Gold Rush wealth to further the cause of abolitionist John Brown;
- Robert Reed Church, who became the largest landowner in Tennessee;
- Hannah Elias, the mistress of a New York City millionaire, who used the land her lover gave her to build an empire in Harlem;
- Orphan and self-taught chemist Annie Turnbo-Malone, who developed the first national brand of hair care products;
- Madam C. J Walker, Turnbo-Malone’s employee who would earn the nickname America’s "first female black millionaire;"
- Mississippi school teacher O. W. Gurley, who developed a piece of Tulsa, Oklahoma, into a "town" for wealthy black professionals and craftsmen" that would become known as "the Black Wall Street."
A fresh, little-known chapter in the nation’s story—A blend of Hidden Figures, Titan, and The Tycoons—Black Fortunes illuminates the birth of the black business titan and the emergence of the black marketplace in America as never before.
Chapters
-
001 Black Fortunes
Duration: 32s -
002 Introduction
Duration: 10min -
003 Prologue
Duration: 07min -
004 Chapter 01
Duration: 30min -
005 Chapter 02
Duration: 24min -
006 Chapter 03
Duration: 31min -
007 Chapter 04
Duration: 11min -
008 Chapter 05
Duration: 06min -
009 Chapter 06
Duration: 08min -
010 Chapter 07
Duration: 23min -
011 Chapter 08
Duration: 21min -
012 Chapter 09
Duration: 19min -
013 Chapter 10
Duration: 11min -
014 Chapter 11
Duration: 29min -
015 Chapter 12
Duration: 32min -
016 Chapter 13
Duration: 12min -
017 Chapter 14
Duration: 10min -
018 Chapter 15
Duration: 19min -
019 Chapter 16
Duration: 26min -
020 Chapter 17
Duration: 23min