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Black Fortunes: The Story of the First Six African Americans Who Survived Slavery and Became Millionaires
Between the years of 1830 and 1927, as the last generation of blacks born into slavery was reaching maturity, a small group of industrious, tenacious, and daring men and women broke new ground to attain the highest levels of financial success.
Black Fortunes
African American Role Models
In order for a parents to raise children to be successful, they need to place before the child, successful people.
While good people of any culture can be a "role model", it is good to have role models that the child can identify
with. Below are a list of African Americans who I feel are great role models for success. Although, everyone
does not have to be a millionaire to be a Role Model.
"Wanting something is not enough. You must hunger for it. Your motivation must be absolutely compelling in order to overcome the obstacles that
will invariably come your way." ~ Les Brown
Modern Times: African American Millionaires
John H. Johnson
John Harold Johnson (January 19, 1918 – August 8, 2005) was an American businessman and publisher. He
was the founder of the Johnson Publishing Company. In 1982, he became the first African American to appear
on the Forbes 400.
Source: John H. Johnson
-Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Crispus Attucks Wright
Crispus Attucks Wright '36, the son of a former slave who became an influential Beverly Hills civil rights
lawyer, businessman and major benefactor of the USC Law School, died Dec. 4, 2001 in Los Angeles. He was 87.
In 1997, the retired attorney donated $2 million to fund the Crispus Attucks Wright Scholarships for minority
law students and others dedicated to practice in underserved minority communities. At the time, it was the
largest gift to USC by an African American.
African-American civil rights lawyer and businessman. In 1940, Wright opened his firm in south-central
Los Angeles. Three years later, he co-founded the John M. Langston Bar Association of Los Angeles that
remains the principal Black legal association in the LA area. As a young lawyer, Wright helped the NAACP
prepare the late-1940s case that led the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down restrictive real estate contracts
as unconstitutional.
Source:
Crispus Attucks Wright -Alumni News, USC
Matel "Mat" Dawson Jr.
Born on January 3, 1921 in Shreveport, LA; died on November 2, 2002, in Highland Park, MI; son of Bessie
and Matel Dawson Sr. With little more than a ninth grade education and a commitment to hard work, forklift
operator Matel Dawson Jr. managed to amass a small fortune by working 80-plus hours a week and investing
heavily in the stock of his employer, the Ford Motor Company.
Source: Matel "Mat" Dawson Jr.
-Answers
Source:
Matel "Mat" Dawson Jr. -The White House
Quincy D. Jones
Quincy Delightt Jones, Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, conductor, arranger, composer,
television producer, and trumpeter. His career spans six decades in the entertainment industry and a record 79 Grammy
Award nominations, 27 Grammys, including a Grammy Legend Award in 1991.
Source: Quincy D. Jones
-Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Earl G. Graves
Earl Gilbert Graves, Sr. (born January 9, 1935) is an American entrepreneur, publisher, businessman, and philanthropist.
A graduate of Morgan State University, he is the founder of Black Enterprise magazine and chairman of the media company
Earl G. Graves, Ltd. He is the current director for Aetna and Executive Board member of the Boy Scouts of America. He is the
father of Earl G. Graves, Jr.
Source:
Earl Gilbert Graves, Sr. -Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Earl Gilbert "Butch" Graves, Jr. (born January 5, 1962, in Brooklyn, New York, US) is an American businessman and retired
basketball player. He is a Scarsdale High School graduate.
Graves, the son of Black Enterprise founder Earl G. Graves, Sr., attended Yale University and earned an MBA from Harvard University.
While at Yale he was a member of Skull and Bones and captained the college basketball team. He currently is the all-time leading
scorer in Yale men's basketball history and third all-time in Ivy League. He was drafted into the NBA by the Philadelphia 76ers and
later played briefly for the Cleveland Cavaliers (1984-85).
Source:
Earl G. Graves, Jr. -Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Joe L. Dudley Sr.
Joe Louis Dudley, Sr. (born May 9, 1937) is an American businessman and hair care entrepreneur. He is the president and chief
executive officer for Dudley Products Inc., a manufacturer and distributor of hair and skin care products for the African American
community.
Source:
Joe L. Dudley Sr. -Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Reginal Francis Lewis
Reginald F. Lewis (December 7, 1942 – January 19, 1993), was an American businessman, who was one of the most successful business
leaders during the 1980s. He was the richest African-American man in the 1980s. Born in Baltimore, Maryland, he grew up in a
middle-class neighborhood. He won a football scholarship to Virginia State College, graduating with a degree in economics in 1965. He
graduated from Harvard Law School in 1968 and was a member of Kappa Alpha Psi.
Source:
Reginal Francis Lewis -Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Robert L. Johnson
Robert L. Johnson (born April 8, 1946) is an American media magnate, the founder of television network Black Entertainment
Television (BET), and its former chairman and chief executive officer. He is also chairman and founder of RLJ Development and former
majority owner of the Charlotte Bobcats, a National Basketball Association franchise along with rapper Nelly and NBA legend and current
majority owner Michael Jordan. In 2001, Johnson became the first African American billionaire, and the first black person to be listed
on any of Forbes world's rich list (excluding black Canadian billionaire Michael Lee-Chin who first appeared on the list the same
year, who is of mixed black and Chinese ancestry).
Source:
Robert L. Johnson -Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
BLACK QUEEN The Most Powerful piece in the game
More people should research the history of Black Queens around the world, not just from Africa proper, such as the black queen of England.
Black Queen
Oprah Gail Winfrey
Oprah Gail Winfrey (born January 29, 1954) is an American media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer, and
philanthropist. Winfrey is best known for her multi-award-winning talk show The Oprah Winfrey Show which was the highest-rated
program of its kind in history and was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2011. She has been ranked the richest African-American
of the 20th century, the greatest black philanthropist in American history, and was for a time the world's only black
billionaire. She is also, according to some assessments, the most influential woman in the world
Source:
Oprah Winfrey -Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Shelton "Spike" Jackson Lee
Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, writer, and actor. His production
company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, has produced over 35 films since 1983.
Lee's movies have examined race relations, colorism in the black community, the role of media in contemporary life, urban crime
and poverty, and other political issues. Lee has won numerous awards, including an Emmy Award. He has also received two Academy
Award nominations.
Lee was born in Atlanta, Georgia, the son of Jacqueline Carroll (née Shelton), a teacher of arts and black literature, and
William James Edward Lee III, a jazz musician and composer.
Source:
Spike Lee -Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Russel Simmons
Russell Wendell Simmons (born October 4, 1957) is an American business magnate. He and Rick Rubin founded the pioneering
hip-hop label Def Jam. He also created the clothing fashion lines Phat Farm, Argyleculture, and American Classics.
Russell Simmons is the third richest figure in hip hop, having a net-worth estimate of $340 million as of April 2011.
Source:
Russell Simmons -Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Earvin "Magic" Johnson
Earvin "Magic" Johnson, Jr. (born August 14, 1959) is a retired American professional basketball player who played point guard
for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). After winning championships in high school and college,
Johnson was selected first overall in the 1979 NBA Draft by the Lakers. He won a championship and an NBA Finals Most Valuable Player
Award in his rookie season, and won four more championships with the Lakers during the 1980s. Johnson retired abruptly in 1991 after
announcing that he had contracted HIV, but returned to play in the 1992 All-Star Game, winning the All-Star MVP Award. After protests
from his fellow players, he retired again for four years, but returned in 1996, at age 36, to play 32 games for the Lakers before
retiring for the third and final time.
Source:
Magic Johnson -Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds
Kenneth Brian "Babyface" Edmonds (born April 10, 1959) is a ten-time Grammy Award-winning American R&B musician, singer–songwriter
and record producer.
Source:
Babyface Edmonds -Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tyra Banks
Tyra Lynne Banks (born December 4, 1973) is an American actress, occasional author,
television personality and former Supermodel.
Source: Tyra Banks
-Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Eldrick "Tiger" Woods
Eldrick Tont (Tiger) Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer whose
achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time.
Source: Eldrick "Tiger" Woods
-Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
New Century: African American Millionaires
Madame C.J. Walker
Madam C. J. Walker: Inventor and Millionaire (Famous African Americans)
"Don’t wait for opportunities to come . . . get up and make them!" said Madam C. J. Walker. She rose from laundry woman to become America’s first black woman millionaire. Born in poverty, Walker set her sights on a better life and made her fortune by developing hair care and beauty products specially formulated for African Americans. As her wealth and influence grew, she also channeled her energies into working for civil rights and social change.
Madam C. J. Walker
Sarah Breedlove (December 23, 1867 – May 25, 1919), known as Madam C. J. Walker, was an American
entrepreneur and philanthropist, regarded as the first female self made millionaire in America.
Source: Madame C.J. Walker
-Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Annie Turnbo Malone
Annie Minerva Turnbo Malone (August 9, 1869—May 10, 1957) was an American businesswoman, inventor
and philanthropist. In the first three decades of the 20th century, she founded and developed a large
and prominent commercial and educational enterprise centered on cosmetics for African-American women.
Source: Annie Turnbo Malone
-Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Robert Sengstacke Abbott
Robert Sengstacke Abbott (24 November 1870 - February 29, 1940) was an African-American lawyer,
newspaper publisher and an early African-American Baha'i.
Source: Robert Sengstacke Abbott
-Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Arthur George Gaston
Arthur George Gaston (July 4, 1892 – January 19, 1996) was an African-American businessman who
established a number of businesses in Birmingham, Alabama, and who played a significant role in the
struggle to integrate Birmingham in 1963.
Source: Arthur George Gaston
-Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
S. B. Fuller
Samuel B. Fuller (S.B. Fuller) (June 4, 1905, Monroe, Louisiana —- October 24, 1988, Blue Island,
Illinois) was an American entrepreneur. He was founder and president of the Fuller Products Company,
publisher of the New York Age and Pittsburgh Courier, head of the South Side Chicago NAACP, president
of the National Negro Business League, and a prominent black Republican.
Source: S. B. Fuller
-Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Civil War and Reconstruction: African American Millionaires
Mary Ellen Pleasant
Mary Ellen Pleasant (born 19 August ?1814-1817 - died 4 January 1904) was a 19th
Century female entrepreneur of partial African descent widely known as Mammy Pleasant,
who used her fortune to further the abolitionist movement. She worked on the Underground
Railroad across many states and then helped bring it to California during the Gold Rush
Era. She was a friend and financial supporter of John Brown and well known in
abolitionist circles. After the Civil War she took her battles to the courts in
the 1860s, and won several civil rights victories, one of which was cited and upheld
in the 1980s and resulted in her being called “The Mother of Human Rights in California”
An exhibit detailing these events can be seen at the Women's Museum of California in San Diego."
Source: Mary Ellen Pleasant
-Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bridget "Biddy" Mason
Bridget "Biddy" Mason (August 15, 1818, in Hancock County, Georgia – January 15, 1891, in
Los Angeles, California) was an African-American nurse and a Californian real-estate entrepreneur
and philanthropist."
Source: Biddy Mason
-Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Anthony Overton
Anthony Overton (March 21, 1865-July 2, 1946), a banker and manufacturer, was the first
African-American to lead a major business conglomerate. In 1898 he established Hygienic Manufacturing
Company and produced a number of goods, including the nationally-known High Brown Face Powder, which
was -the first market success in the sale of cosmetics for black women-. In 1923 he established the
Douglass National Bank, the second nationally chartered black-owned bank in the United States. He
went on to develop a highly diverse conglomerate, including the Great Northern Realty Company, the
Chicago Bee, and the Victory Life Insurance Company.
Source: Anthony Overton
-Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Abraham Lincoln Lewis
Abraham Lincoln Lewis (1865–1947) was an American businessman. He founded the Afro-American Life
Insurance Company in Jacksonville, Florida, and became the state's first African American millionaire.
He also founded the National Register-listed community of American Beach, founded as a prestigious
vacation spot for blacks during the period of racial segregation.
Source: Abraham Lincoln Lewis
-Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pre Civil War: African American Millionaires
William Alexander Leidesdorff
William Alexander Leidesdorff, Jr. (October 23, 1810 – May 18, 1848) was
one of the earliest mixed-race U.S. citizens in California and a highly successful,
enterprising businessman. He was a West Indian immigrant of African Cuban, possibly
Carib, Danish and Jewish ancestry.
Source: William Alexander Leidesdorff
-Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
African American Millionaires: Source Material
"A list of African American millionaires can be found in the Forbes magazine or on Ranker. One of the most
wealthy African Americans is Oprah Winfrey. Due to her brands and other investments, she consistently makes
several million dollars each year. Another well known African American is Robert Johnson, the founder of Black
Entertainment Television, otherwise known as BET. Tiger Woods is a professional golfer and another African
American millionaire. Tiger Woods has won over 60 PGA tournaments and numerous championships. Other African
American millionaires include: Michael Jordan, Shaquille O'Neal, Berry Gordon, Kobe Bryant, Jay-Z, Don King,
Janice Bryant Howroyd, and Sheila Johnson." - Source: 'African American Millionaires'
Ask
"According to Forbes 2013 ranking of the world's billionaires, Nigerian business magnate Aliko Dangote with
a net worth of $16.1 billion is the world's richest black person. The other Blacks on the list are Nigeria's Mike
Adenuga with $4.7 billion, South African gold magnate Patrice Motsepe with $2.9 billion, and American Oprah Winfrey
at $2.8 billion." - Source: 'Black billionaires' Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Black Studies
The African American Experiences is a collection of Black Studies to understand the Past, Present and Future of the People
called African American!
"Wealth is to have your own Land, Language and Culture! Where is the Land of the African American? What is the Language? And,
Where is the Culture of the people?"
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