An eloquent, prize-winning historian chronicles the rise of Black enterprise in America.

The Business of Freedom tells the story of Black enterprise through the lives of the people who built it. Some, like Booker T. Washington and Madam C. J. Walker, are familiar figures in the history of Black business. But many are lesser-known strivers whose ambitions briefly illuminated the possibilities of the age. From the hopeful dawn of emancipation to the bustle of Harlem, award-winning historian Shennette Garrett-Scott follows Black entrepreneurs who carved opportunity out of exclusion to build banks, grocery stores, cotton mills, and real estate empires. Their successes were real, but so were the limits imposed by segregation, unequal access to capital, and the violence that shadowed Black prosperity. The Business of Freedom reveals Black capitalism as a strategy for both individual and collective empowerment—and shows why free enterprise alone could never deliver the freedom its champions promised.

Coming February 2, 2027

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This book is amazing. It asks the most crucial question I wanted someone to answer about whether Black enterprise can truly deliver on its promise of Black power. In a moment when capitalism is once again being marshalled to deliver a political promise to Black Americans, this history has never been more relevant—or revealing.

Louis Hyman, author of Debtor Nation:
The History of America in Red Ink

This vividly rendered history of those who built and mobilized Black enterprise reveals the paradox of modern capitalism: that the very entrepreneurial spirit that spurs individual uplift can also be the cudgel wielded by the powerful to thwart collective progress.

Benjamin C. Waterhouse, author of One Day I’ll Work for Myself: The Dream and Delusion that Conquered America

A spellbinding work by an award-winning historian and one of this generation’s most gifted intellectuals on race, gender, and capitalism. Garrett-Scott has penned an instant classic. This book is one of the most enthralling histories you’ll ever read.

Devin Fergus, author of Land of the Fee and Board Chair of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies

In this beautifully crafted book of timely importance, Shennette Garrett-Scott expertly recovers an earlier generation’s freedom dreams, sharing their lessons with those of us still searching for the meaning of freedom amidst the lure of capitalism today.

Martha S. Jones, author of The Trouble of Color:
An American Family Memoir

Through beautiful prose, deep research, and careful attention to the ideological and structural approaches to acquiring capital and endowing their communities, Shennette Garrett-Scott forces us to reconsider our notions about who and what built American capitalism. With groundbreaking insights and incisive observations, The Business of Freedom is a stunning work of history.

Marcia Chatelain, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America

Through exploring the golden age of Black business, Garrett-Scott offers a powerful meditation on Black enterprise in America. In the process, she unveils the sneaky and heartbreaking logic of American capitalism: that for African Americans, excellence may not be enough to overcome structural economic hurdles, generations in the making. As captivating and heartbreaking as it is brilliant—I was blown away.

Justene Hill Edwards, author of Savings and Trust: The Rise and Betrayal of the Freedman’s Bank

Exceptional—this powerful book brilliantly weaves together the fascinating institutional histories of financial organizations with the compelling entrepreneurial stories of Black visionaries.

LaShawn Harris, author of Tell Her Story: Eleanor Bumpurs and the Police Killing That Galvanized New York City

Boldly argued and elegantly theorized, Garrett-Scott tells a gripping story of Black capitalism in a critical era through the lives of pioneering Black businesspeople, leaders, and organizations who turned the tables on apartheid America.

Calvin Schermerhorn, author of The Plunder of Black America: How the Racial Wealth Gap Was Made