Black Fortunes, Shomari Wills
Black Fortunes, Shomari Wills
18 Rating(s)
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Black Fortunes
The Story of the First Six African Americans Who Escaped Slavery and Became Millionaires

Author: Shomari Wills

Narrator: Ron Butler

Unabridged: 6 hr 51 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: HarperAudio

Published: 01/30/2018

Includes: Bonus Material Bonus Material Included


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.

About Shomari Wills

Shomari Wills is a journalist. He has worked for CNN and Good Morning America, and has contributed to New York Carib News and Columbia Journalism Review. He received an undergraduate degree from Morehouse College and a graduate degree from Columbia University, where he was named a Lynton Book Writing Fellow. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Jamal on February 08, 2018

Completely Blown away by this well researched Gem. Shomari wills presented the lives of these millionaires in such a cool way. Learned so many amazing things.......more

Goodreads review by Katie on March 11, 2018

Summary: The writing was simple, but I loved the stories and the important but forgotten history they revealed. This is the story of the first black millionaires - six amazing individuals, living barely post-Civil War, who overcame incredible odds to achieve success. They include men who invested in......more

Goodreads review by Kameel on January 12, 2021

This was an interesting read...the author provided us with a lot of information. In my opinion, the book was sort of all over the place, and at time I found it hard to keep up with which person her was talking about. The premise of the book was about 6 wealthy African-Americans in late 1890-1920's r......more

Goodreads review by David on January 20, 2018

Millionaires today are no big deal. Half of Congress is millionaires. Not impressed. But the first six black American millionaires is a terrific story. These unlikely individuals started off with huge disadvantages, from race to skin color to illiteracy to being slaves or the children of slaves. Tha......more

Goodreads review by Jerry on September 23, 2018

Great Book, however it is very hard to follow in Audio Version, especially if you don't listen to it in one reading. The stories of the individual's profiles aren't concurrent and will often pick up many chapters later.......more