Featured Books for Black History Month
Banking on Freedom: Black Women in U.S. Finance Before the New Deal
Location: Online
Between 1888 and 1930, African Americans opened more than a hundred banks and thousands of other financial institutions. In Banking on Freedom, Shennette Garrett-Scott explores this rich period of black financial innovation and its transformative impact on U.S. capitalism through the story of the St. Luke Bank in Richmond, Virginia: the first and only bank run by black women. The first book to center black women's engagement with the elite sectors of banking, finance, and insurance, Banking on Freedom reveals the ways gender, race, and class shaped the meanings of wealth and risk in U.S. capitalism and society.
Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America
Location: Pardee Stacks TX945.3 .C46 2020
After Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination in 1968, many activists turned to entrepreneurship as the means to achieving equality. Civil rights leaders, fast food companies, black capitalists, celebrities, and federal bureaucrats began an unlikely collaboration, in the belief that the franchising of fast food restaurants, by black citizens in their own neighborhoods, could improve the quality of black life. Fast food represented an opportunity for strivers who had been shut out of many industries, denied promotions in those that would tolerate them, and discouraged, in numerous ways, from starting their own businesses, all because of the color of their skin.
Black Baseball Entrepreneurs, 1902-1931: The Negro National and Eastern Colored Leagues
Location: Online
As the companion volume to Black Baseball Entrepreneurs, 1860-1901: Operating by Any Means Necessary , Lomax's new book continues to chronicle the history of black baseball in the United States. In this book, Lomax takes a closer look at the marketing and promotion of the Negro Leagues by black baseball magnates. Lomax analyzes the decisions that black baseball magnates made to insulate themselves from outside influences. He explains how this insulation may have distorted their perceptions and ultimately led to the Negro Leagues' demise. The collapse of the Negro Leagues by 1931 was, Lomax argues, "a dream deferred in the overall African American pursuit for freedom and self-determination."
Books for Black History Month
Freedom Libraries : The Untold Story of Libraries for African Americans in the South by
Freedom Libraries: The Untold Story of Libraries for African-Americans in the South. As the Civil Rights Movement exploded across the United States, the media of the time was able to show the rest of the world images of horrific racial violence. And while some of the bravest people of the 20th century risked their lives for the right to simply order a cheeseburger, ride a bus, or use a clean water fountain, there was another virtually unheard of struggle--this one for the right to read. Although illegal, racial segregation was strictly enforced in a number of American states, and public libraries were not immune. Numerous libraries were desegregated on paper only: there would be no cards given to African-Americans, no books for them read, and no furniture for them to use. It was these exact conditions that helped create Freedom Libraries. Over eighty of these parallel libraries appeared in the Deep South, staffed by civil rights voter registration workers. While the grassroots nature of the libraries meant they varied in size and quality, all of them created the first encounter many African-Americans had with a library. Terror, bombings, and eventually murder would be visited on the Freedom Libraries--with people giving up their lives so others could read a library book. This book delves into how these libraries were the heart of the Civil Rights Movement, and the remarkable courage of the people who used them. They would forever change libraries and librarianship, even as they helped the greater movement change the society these libraries belonged to. Photographs of the libraries bring this little-known part of American history to life.
Location: OnlinePublication Date: 2019
You've Been Chosen : Thriving Through the Unexpected by
"A relentlessly optimistic memoir by one of the most influential Black business leaders in America today, offering hope and practical guidance for navigating life's most difficult challenges, inspired by the author's cancer journal that went viral "Focus. Pray. Act. Serve. And we'll get through this together." Cynthia "Cynt" Marshall has spent her life beating the odds. Growing up in the public housing projects of Richmond, California, Cynt never wondered why her mother didn't sit down to dinner every night, realizing only later that she sometimes sacrificed her own meal so her six children could eat. Cynt's father, meanwhile, had a terrifying temper and physically abused his wife and children for years. But Cynt didn't let her background deter her. Instead, she focused on her education, propelling herself through college and into her first job in corporate America. As a rising professional, Cynt overcame overt and subtle racism to become one of the first Black, female officers at AT&T by age forty, while surviving multiple miscarriages and family tragedies. As her husband helped her see a new way of creating a family, she started to see that her plan was not always God's plan. Cynt was president of AT&T North Carolina when, at fifty-one, she was diagnosed with Stage 3 colon cancer, just one lymph node from Stage 4. Overnight, her life changed from managing corporate strategy to managing an aggressive chemotherapy schedule, her best hope for survival. Instead of giving up, Cynt got on her knees. Her lifelong spiritual foundation and faith in the power of prayer carried her forward as she shared her journey online through heartfelt posts that chronicled the challenges and unexpected blessings of cancer, transforming her diagnosis from a death sentence into a chance to serve people around the world. With positivity and deep faith, Cynt Marshall reminds us that we are each uniquely equipped for the challenges life presents us. In sharing her deeply inspiring story, she helps ensure that we will not just survive but thrive through trials, celebrate challenges, and laugh at what life brings us."
Location: OnlinePublication Date: 2022
Democracy, Race, and Justice: The Speeches and Writings of Sadie T. M. Alexander by
The first book to bring together the key writings and speeches of civil rights activist Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander--the first Black American economist "Sadie Alexander embodies the Black feminist saying, 'the political is personal.' Her speeches brilliantly intertwine economics and law and will empower the next generation scholars-activists fighting for social justice."--Rhonda Vonshay Sharpe, President, Women's Institute for Science, Equity and Race In 1921, Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander became the first Black American to gain a Ph.D. degree in economics. Unable to find employment as an economist because of discrimination, Alexander became a lawyer so that she could press for equal rights for African Americans. Although her historical significance has been relatively ignored, Alexander was a pioneering civil rights activist who used both the law and economic analysis to challenge racial inequities and deprivations. This volume--a recovery of Sadie Alexander's economic thought--provides a comprehensive account of her thought-provoking speeches and writings on the relationship between democracy, race, and justice. Nina Banks's introductions bring fresh insight into the events and ideologies that underpinned Alexander's outlook and activism. A brilliant intellectual, Alexander called for bold, redistributive policies that would ensure racial justice for Black Americans while also providing a foundation to safeguard democracy.
Location: OnlinePublication Date: 2021
Staking a Claim: Jake Simmons and the Making of an African-American Oil Dynasty by
From the post-Reconstruction period to the modern civil rights era, nearly a century of state-sanctioned economic subjugation created what many regard as a permanent black underclass in America. What would have happened had freed slaves truly been enfranchised into the political and economic system after the Civil War? Staking a Claim, the life of Jake Simmons, Jr. - the international tycoon who was the most successful African-American in the history of the oil industry - affords us a rare perspective on this question. Simmons's great-grandfather, Cow Tom, a slave interpreter to a Creek Indian, rose to become the first black chief of a Native American tribe. This was in Indian Territory (which later became Oklahoma), where blacks were able to secure rights denied them in the white-controlled states. Cow Tom passed on a unique legacy of independence and entrepreneurial spirit that gelled in Jake. His resolve strengthened by his studies with Booker T. Washington, Jake took a series of calculated risks that allowed him to accomplish what would have seemed impossible to many - and become enormously rich at it. He began by brokering oil leases for black landowners who had formerly been cheated by white drillers in Oklahoma and Texas. Expanding his operations into postcolonial Africa, he negotiated amiably where America's multinational oil giants feared to tread, winning enormous concessions while earning the goodwill of African leaders.As a political power broker, Jake Simmons was no less impressive. He remained throughout his life what he called "a crusader for human dignity." In 1938 he brought one of the first school desegregation cases to the Supreme Court. It was said that while he served as the head of Oklahoma's NAACP his opinion held sway over ten thousand voters. White politicians across the South vied for his support. He asked his sons, "How the hell can a black man stay in bed in the morning when white men rule the world?" - and he lived by those words.
Location: Online and Pardee Stacks HD9570.S56 G74 1990Publication Date: 1990
Black Titan: A.G. Gaston and the Making of a Black American Millionaire by
The grandson of slaves, born into poverty in 1892 in the Deep South, A. G. Gaston died more than a century later with a fortune worth well over $130 million and a business empire spanning communications, real estate, and insurance. Gaston was, by any measure, a heroic figure whose wealth and influence bore comparison to J. P. Morgan and Andrew Carnegie. Here, for the first time, is the story of the life of this extraordinary pioneer, told by his niece and grandniece, the award-winning television journalist Carol Jenkins and her daughter Elizabeth Gardner Hines. Born at a time when the bitter legacy of slavery and Reconstruction still poisoned the lives of black Americans, Gaston was determined to make a difference for himself and his people. His first job, after serving in the celebrated all-black regiment during World War I, bound him to the near-slavery of an Alabama coal mine—but even here Gaston saw not only hope but opportunity. He launched a business selling lunches to fellow miners, soon established a rudimentary bank—and from then on there was no stopping him. A kind of black Horatio Alger, Gaston let a single, powerful question be his guide:What do our people need now?His success flowed from an uncanny genius for knowing the answer. Combining rich family lore with a deep knowledge of American social and economic history, Carol Jenkins and Elizabeth Hines unfold Gaston’s success story against the backdrop of a century of crushing racial hatred and bigotry. Gaston not only survived the hardships of being black during the Depression, he flourished, and by the 1950s he was ruling a Birmingham-based business empire. When the movement for civil rights swept through the South in the late 1950s and early 1960s, Gaston provided critical financial support to many activists. At the time of his death in 1996, A. G. Gaston was one of the wealthiest black men in America, if notthewealthiest. But his legacy extended far beyond the monetary. He was a man who had proved it was possible to overcome staggering odds and make a place for himself as a leader, a captain of industry, and a far-sighted philanthropist. Writing with grace and power, Jenkins and Hines bring their distinguished ancestor fully to life in the pages of this book.Black Titanis the story of a man who created his own future—and in the process, blazed a future for all black businesspeople in America.
Location: Online and Pardee Stacks HC102.5.G375 J46 2004Publication Date: 2003
Binga: The Rise and Fall of Chicago's First Black Banker by
Binga is the definitive full-length biography of Jesse Binga, the first black banker in Chicago. Born into a large family in Detroit, Binga arrived in Chicago in 1892 in his late twenties with virtually nothing. Through his wits and resourcefulness, he rose to wealth and influence as a real estate broker, and in 1908 he founded the Binga Bank, the first black-owned bank in the city. But his achievements were followed by an equally notable downfall. Binga recounts this gripping story about race, history, politics, and finance. The Black Belt, where Binga's bank was located, was a segregated neighborhood on Chicago's South Side--a burgeoning city within a city--and its growth can be traced through the arc of Binga's career. He preached and embodied an American gospel of self-help and accrued wealth while expanding housing options and business opportunities for blacks. Devout Roman Catholics, he and his wife Eudora supported church activities and various cultural and artistic organizations; their annual Christmas party was the Black Belt's social event of the year. But Binga's success came at the price of a vicious backlash. After he moved his family into a white neighborhood in 1917, their house was bombed multiple times, his offices were attacked twice, and he became a lightning rod for the worst race riots in Chicago history, which took place in 1919. Binga persevered, but, starting with the stock market crash of October 1929, a string of reversals cost him his bank, his property, and his fortune. A quintessentially Chicago story, Binga tells the history of racial change in one of the most segregated cities in America and how an extraordinary man stood as a symbol of hope in a community isolated by racial animosity.
Location: Pardee Stacks HG2463.B53 H39 2019Publication Date: 2019
Succeeding Against the Odds: The Autobiography of a Great American Businessman by
One of America's wealthiest entrepreneurs, John H. Johnson rose from the welfare rolls of the Depression to become the most successful Black businessman in American history; the founder of Ebony, Jet, and EM magazines; and a member of the Forbes 400. Like the man himself, this autobiography is brash, inspirational, and truly unforgettable.
Location: Online and Pardee Stacks Z473.J75 A3 1989Publication Date: 1989
The Business Strategy of Booker T. Washington: Its Development and Implementation by
Michael Boston offers a radical departure from other interpretations of Booker T. Washington by focusing on the latter's business ideas and practices. More specifically, Boston examines Washington as an entrepreneur, spelling out his business philosophy at great length and discussing the influence it had on black America. He analyzes the national and regional economies in which Washington worked and focuses on his advocacy of black business development as the key to economic uplift for African Americans. The result is a revisionist book that responds to the skewed literature on Washington even as it offers a new framework for understanding him. Based upon a deep reading of the Tuskegee archives, it acknowledges Washington not only as a champion of black business development but one who conceived and implemented successful strategies to promote it as well. The Business Strategy of Booker T. Washington makes abundantly clear that Washington was not an accommodationist; it will be required reading for any future discussion of this titan of history.
Location: OnlinePublication Date: 2010
Confronting the Odds: African American Entrepreneurship in Cleveland, Ohio by
An updated and revised edition of the award-winning studyThe history of African American entrepreneurship has produced a number of studies of economic development on the national level, but very few have examined this growth at the local level. Confronting the Odds was written to bridge that gap, and Bessie House-Soremekun provides this historical analysis of African American entrepreneurship in Cleveland, Ohio, from the early 1800s to the present. Additionally, in examining these historical and current trends, House-Soremekun presents brief biographies of several successful entrepreneurs, among them George C. Fraser, best-selling author; Robert P. Madison, internationally acclaimed architect; Leroy Ozanne, founder of Ozanne Construction Company; and Rachel Y. Daniel, Chief Customer Experience Officer, Synergy International Limited, Inc. and Decision Point Marketing and Research, Inc.House-Soremekun's statistical analysis of the factors that contributed to the success of African American businesses in Cleveland is supported by extensive research, and her policy recommendations about how entrepreneurship could be stimulated through public and private programs are thought provoking. Confronting the Odds documents life histories of business owners, compares African American male and female business owners, and offers insights into why some businesses succeed and others fail.
Location: Pardee Stacks HD2358.5.U62 C54 2009Publication Date: 2009
Race, Work, and Leadership: New Perspectives on the Black Experience by
Rethinking How to Build Inclusive Organizations Race, Work, and Leadership is a rare and important compilation of essays that examines how race matters in people's experience of work and leadership. What does it mean to be black in corporate America today? How are racial dynamics in organizations changing? How do we build inclusive organizations? Inspired by and developed in conjunction with the research and programming for Harvard Business School's commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the HBS African American Student Union, this groundbreaking book shines new light on these and other timely questions and illuminates the present-day dynamics of race in the workplace. Contributions from top scholars, researchers, and practitioners in leadership, organizational behavior, psychology, sociology, and education test the relevance of long-held assumptions and reconsider the research approaches and interventions needed to understand and advance African Americans in work settings and leadership roles. At a time when--following a peak in 2002--there are fewer African American men and women in corporate leadership roles, Race, Work, and Leadership will stimulate new scholarship and dialogue on the organizational and leadership challenges of African Americans and become the indispensable reference for anyone committed to understanding, studying, and acting on the challenges facing leaders who are building inclusive organizations.
Location: Pardee Stacks HF5549.5.M5 R34 2019Publication Date: 2019
