When We Were Colored

Articles, biographies, commentaries on progress during segregation.

The Proper Means of Elevating Ourselves, by Elizabeth Wright
[Martin Delany takes 1850s middle class blacks to task]

On Black Entrepreneurs, Marxists, and the New Deal, by Elizabeth Wright
[Marxist class analysis helped to undermine ongoing economic development among blacks]

Keeping the Spotlight on Failure, by Elizabeth Wright
[Subverted by their own elites, blacks turned away from pragmatically countering racism with economic initiatives. They chose, instead, to play the "victim" and remain sidetracked in an ideological swampland.]

No whining, just seizing opportunities
[Links to Biweekly Commentaries]

Du Bois vs. Washington, by Ellis Washington
[A look at the losses incurred by blacks, when the philosophy of expedience espoused by W.E.B. Du Bois overrode that of Booker T. Washington's drive for self-help and moral development.]

The Movable School, by Elizabeth Wright
[How the Tuskegee Institute took education to the backwoods, to "the bone and sinew of the Negro race"]

Founding New Towns, Creating new Opportunities
[Isaiah Montgomery and the founding of Mound Bayou, Mississippi]

S. B. Fuller: Master of Enterprise, by Elizabeth Wright
[One of America's greatest businessmen incurs the wrath of the black establishment]

Charles Smiley
[A black entrepreneur creates a successful business, while Chicago's black elites discourage self-help ventures]

Two Esteemed Rensselaer Graduates
[Two esteemed graduates of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Class of 1881 and Class of 1932]

Anthony Overton
[During the 1920s, this black man was the enterprising force behind a cosmetics manufacturing company, a national bank, and an insurance company]

Alonzo Herndon
[From farmhand to barber to wealthy realtor and insurance wizard, Herndon made his mark in Atlanta]

Working On The Railroad, by Thomas C. Fleming
[Now 91 years old, Thomas Fleming recounts his productive life, part of which was spent as a chef aboard the great railroad trains in the 1920s through 1940s]

Charles Douglass
[Surviving the 1929 market crash, Douglass owned almost 100 properties in Macon, Georgia, and played an important role in nurturing independent black film makers.]

The Entrepreneur's Preacher
[An historical vignette on Rev. Thomas Walker, who offered his black congregants more than just religion]

Philip Payton
[A brief bio of the founder of Harlem's Afro-American Realty Co.]

A Trip to the Southwest, by Booker T. Washington
[This brief book excerpt chronicles Booker T. Washington's trip, in 1905, where he observed the properties and businesses owned by blacks throughout the Southwestern territory]

Staying In the Game and Refusing To Quit
[In 1918, the owners of Denver's Colored American Loan and Realty Co. advertised their firm in the local newspapers]

Banking Pioneers, by Elizabeth Wright
[The deliberately ignored history of American blacks' remarkable self-help movement, that was led primarily by their businessmen. If blacks could achieve so much during the supposedly "worst of times," why today's call for special preference?]

The Battle That Raged
[Excerpt from Banking Pioneers -- two sparring factions among blacks, and the good guys lose]

Williston High, by Elizabeth Wright
[On the heels of the Brown vs. Board of Education decision, blacks abandon one of their finest schools, to comply with an edict for desegregation]

1920s Vintage Editorials
[Three vintage 1920s editorials from black newspapers reflecting the emphasis on business creation: LET US HAVE A BANK, LET US HAVE IT QUICK; PICKING UP THE PIECES; MAN POWER, BRAIN POWER, MONEY POWER]

Who Killed Greenwood?, by Elizabeth Wright
[The story of the Tulsa riot that black elites fail to tell.]

Booker T. Washington: Legacy Lost, by Elizabeth Wright
[His maturity and understanding of the world at large made him a great leader]

Booker T. Washington: True Believer, by Elizabeth Wright
[Founding the National Negro Business League and nurturing entrepreneurs]

Without Commerce and Industry, The People Perish, by Elizabeth Wright
[Hated by black elites and feared by whites, the great Garvey never wavered from his primary teaching: "Wealth is power, wealth is justice, wealth is real human rights."]

Honoring Garvey For the Right Reasons, by Elizabeth Wright
[Marcus Garvey's primary enemies, black elites and Communists, connived to destroy him]

Rest In Peace, Booker T. Washington, III, by Elizabeth Wright
[The grandson of the first Booker T. dies in Harlem.]

Rest In Peace, Kofi Brown, by Elizabeth Wright
[The passing of a Harlem icon who was one of a kind.]

The World of John Johnson and Amos 'n Andy, by Elizabeth Wright
[Positive views of a community expressed via the works of a successful publisher and a TV sitcom ]