“By telling the little-known stories of six pioneering African American entrepreneurs, Black Fortunes makes a worthy contribution to black history, to business history, and to American history.”- Margot Lee Shetterly, Author of the New York Times Bestseller Hidden Figures
One of Ebony Magazine’s True Read picks of 2018 However, the life of Madam C J Walker did not always mirror the elegant lifestyle she enjoyed. With a dose of patience, this book is worth a look.She is known as the first self-made female millionaire in the history of the United States. economics and paved the way for later wealth-builders and, in some cases, for overall equality. Still, author Shomari Wills offers interesting, thoughtful tales that basically show readers how Black entrepreneurs changed U.S. After awhile, these errors superseded any information I was gleaning.
Over and over, I found dates that didn’t match, incorrect information, statements that conflicted with other statements, and silly repetitions. “Black Fortunes” is a good idea in bad need of an editor. Even now, more than a century after his death, his legacy can still be seen in his adopted hometown. It’s about Robert Reed Church, former slave, favorite son of Memphis, and the richest Black man of his time. It’s about Annie Turnbo Malone who, after emancipation made it her mission to create hair and beauty products that worked specifically for Black women. Gurley who bought land in Oklahoma and built a predominantly Black town that was exceptionally prosperous.
It’s also about Mary Ellen Pleasant, who received an inheritance from her late first husband and parlayed that “small fortune” into a much larger one that she used as an activist. Strictly speaking, he says, the first Black millionaire in America was William Alexander Leidesdorff, real-estate mogul, philanthropist and friend to the powerful, who lived in San Francisco well before the Civil War.īut this book isn’t about Leidesdorff. Such a tale, says Wills, is an “overlooked subject” in American history. Growing up, Wills heard many stories about his uncle, “the millionaire” son of a slave who became a rich man. A dollar used to stretch further, last longer, buy more, and, in the new book “Black Fortunes” by Shomari Wills, it took fewer dollars to make someone rich.
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