This year I thought we should focus on black people who started businesses, and who were able to make something of themselves despite the odds. This year I would like to motivate people to be courageous enough to start something for themselves  despite the odds. I’m doing this because I know financial education is still very uncommon in our community, we still see money the same way. We still say that if black people are rich , then they are rappers or basketball players , (usually flashing money they don’t have) I have a list of people  that I took a critical look at ,  who inspired me to be more practical than I have ever been.

1.James Forten

This man was captured by the British in 1776, and was released and became an apprentice , he was able to save enough money to buy the company he worked for thereby becoming one of the richest men in Philadelphia.

2.Thomas Jennings

This man invented the “dry scouting process” as he was a tailor , made him the first black patent holder

3.Joseph Lee,

This man was the man who built the woodland park hotel in Massachusetts in the 1800s,

4.Granville Woods

Well anyone know who Thomas Edison is ??? Well this man was actually known as the black Thomas Edison,  He founded the Woods Electrical Company and also invented the Railroad telegraph, He had over 60 patents.

5.John H Johnson

He was the black man to be on the Forbes 400 list , I don’t have to say who this man is ,  he started the ebony magazine.

6. Robert Reed Church

This man started the first black owned bank in Memphis, and earned the first black millionaire in the south, the  name of the bank is Solvent Savings Bank and Trust.

7.Paul Cuffee

He was born to a Ghanaian father he went to Europe and Africa, he came back and established the first integrated school in North America , and this is the 1700.

8.Stephen Smith

This is not the one from TV,  this man was born into slavery, he worked to buy his own freedom , started his own company , company was destroyed by racist, he moved and re-established himself.

9.Lunsford Lane

Now this is very interesting , He became an entrepreneur while in slavery, and started his own brand of tobacco , the same plant/product that that slavery was supposed to finance, wow , he then made money to buy HIS OWN FREEDOM, if we were asked to do this today, most of us would remain in slavery!

10.William Leidesdorff

Was born in St. Croix This man built the first hotel in San Francisco, became  the first treasurer in his city,  and also earned the reputation of the first millionaire.

We have to ask ourselves this question, if black lives matter, then our lives should matter to ask , should matter to us to the point where we do whatever we can to succeed, these men refused to be victims,  as you read one of them actually started his own business during slavery and first worked to buy his own freedom, if this man were to wake up from the dead today , we tell him everything we are facing today , he would laugh in our faces, and say what ????  Most of these people will laugh at us. Sure we need activists, It is also very good to know about Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, although we keep hearing about half truths, and how Martin and Malcolm embraced everyone,  but it is looking a lot like that is all we can do and that is all we do , one of the reasons we have black history month, is  we are asked to focus on history and that is it ,  we are not even asked to learn from history but we will have some “feel” good stories ,  and boom we are waiting till next year to celebrate black history again! IF these people could do it , in their personal lives , so can YOU!!!!!!.  Look out for part 2 of this Article.