15th Annual Indian Law Conference Thursday-Friday March 29-30, 1990 Albuquerque Marriott Alb... Book

"The History of Black Business in America, Vol. 1" is both history book and business text. Walker expands the respective definitions of venture capital, occupation, and self-help to include what she calls slave entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs. For example, "Free Dick" Harrington was a slave and remained one in the interest of his profitable manufactory.

From precolonial Africa to the U.S. Civil War, Walker classifies these entrepreneurs and the Black labor force moreover by skill set. The linkage between eras was one of my favorite aspects of the book.

Yet The History of Black Business isn't all case study of entrepreneurial success. Walker argues that nonmarket forces curtailed or thwarted much Black economic upstart. In this respect, the history of the book contextualizes the precariousness of antebellum Black entrepreneurship; the business of it highlights the extraordinaires. Inevitably, history and business both present this notable irony.