In the Black: Black Business, Power and Freedom in America

Catalog description

What is the relationship between the formation of entrepreneurialism, self-help enterprises and the formation of black agency? Is "black capitalism" key to addressing anti-black racism and racial inequality? Does capitalism and power operate differently when black owners chair boardroom meetings and laborers toil in these institutions? This seminar examines the history of black entrepreneurialism and financial innovation and its impact upon African American life in the United States from the 18th through the 21st century. In thinking about economic transactions within colonial markets to the proprietorship of funeral homes, insurance companies, fast food chains and record companies black economic control continues to shape black identities, activism and futures, and is in constant struggle with local and national power structures.