America's Most Powerful Black Families

[Ish Gibor]

How is Morehouse or the Reconstruction Act germane to my first post?

You go by delusions of grandeur. What I am saying is that there have been and are wealth Black families who did require most of their wealth during the Reconstruction era as the foundation. However, for most Black Americans it was not. Remember, you posted the hyperlink for me to attend this thread. When at least 25% of Blacks do well, more than well it will be a different story. As for now it's less than 10% and in that there's a lot of Black immigrant families as well. Part of my family moved to the States during the 60s. These people are all engineers who do well in life. So I know how the story goes.

"During Reconstruction and thereafter, frequently, when Black descendants of the enslaved managed to achieve some degree of prosperity, their communities were destroyed by White massacres. The examples are too numerous to list here, but they include the infamous Tulsa massacre of 1921, when airplanes were used to firebomb “Black Wall Street” and its surrounding neighborhoods."
Black reparations and the racial wealth gap


"Today’s racial wealth gap is perhaps the most glaring legacy of American slavery and the violent economic dispossession that followed. The fate suffered by Elmore Bolling and his family was not unique to them, or to Jim Crow Alabama. It was part of a much broader social and political campaign. When legal slavery ended in 1865, there was great hope for formerly enslaved people. Between 1865 and 1870, the Reconstruction Amendments established birthright citizenship — making all black people citizens and granting them equal protection under the law — and gave black men the right to vote. There was also the promise of compensation. In January 1865, Gen. William Sherman issued an order reallocating hundreds of thousands of acres of white-owned land along the coasts of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina for settlement by black families in 40-acre plots. Congress established the Freedmen’s Bureau to oversee the transition from slavery to freedom, and the Freedman’s Savings Bank was formed to help four million formerly enslaved people gain financial freedom.

When Lincoln was assassinated, Vice President Andrew Johnson effectively rescinded Sherman’s order by pardoning white plantation owners and returning to them the land on which 40,000 or so black families had settled. “This is a country for white men, and by God, as long as I am President, it shall be a government for white men,” Johnson declared in 1866. The Freedmen’s Bureau, always meant to be temporary, was dismantled in 1872. More than 60,000 black people deposited more than $1 million into the Freedman’s Savings Bank, but its all-white trustees began issuing speculative loans to white investors and corporations, and when it failed in 1874, many black depositors lost much of their savings."
How America’s Vast Racial Wealth Gap Grew: By Plunder

 

[invalid]

something related to that mansion

Tom Eblen: Freed slave left his mark all over Lexington, and you can still see it today



https://www.kentucky.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/tom-
eblen/article44471772.html#storylink=cpy



.
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his more known son (the one who designed that mansion for walker)

Vertner Woodson Tandy

Yep. @The Chief originally pointed that out.

Is this the home that the Shea Moisture founder bought? I also see that one of the APhiA founders was the architect of the home.

 

[get these nets]

People are sleeping on the networks that K. Harris is plugged into.

The support behind Harris goes beyond pride in seeing fellow soror, BGLO, or HBCU member get on the national ticket. If Harris becomes POTUS, VP or even a cabinet member, she will have a hand in federal appointments and nominations. The circles of people mentioned in this thread are well educated, well accomplished people and certainly there are those among them well qualified for such positions. Harris in the White House would give them unprecedented access to those opportunities.



To paraphrase the campaign slogan of her fellow Howard alum, Ras Baraka.....Harris' slogan with elite Black circles is "When I become President, We become President"

 

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I feel like I'm experiencing deja vu with this current election cycle.

This was an interesting thread here regarding Keisha Lance Bottoms endorsing Joe Biden.

https://www.thecoli.com/threads/atlanta’s-black-mayor-keisha-lance-bottoms-officially-endorses-joe-biden-for-president.717534/

This is strangely reminiscent to the devout support the black establishment initially put behind Hilary out of loyalty to Bill (see Roland Martin). It was only until Valerie Jarrett stepped in that we started to see a mass exodus of support from Clinton to Obama among the establishment. It's important to note that Valerie Jarrett's uncle, Vernon Jordan, was Clinton's right hand man, and one of the most powerful men in Washington DC.

And I think out of loyalty to Obama, many are putting their weight behind Biden.

Desiree Rogers, even though working alongside Biden in the Obama Administration, just came out in support of Harris and I gather much of the Chicago Obama camp is rallying behind her as well.



Unlike the Coli, for many, there seems to be no question with respect to Kamala's loyalty to the black community because she has embraced many of the "accoutrements" of "blackness" deemed as "important" among the black establishment.

In addition to choosing to attend Howard University, she chose to pledge Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority.

Kamala is in the top row, fourth from left with the shades on.

That would be enough for many of these folks.

But she was also inducted into the Links, Inc.

And if anyone knows anything about the Links, they would not have inducted her if her blackness and service to the black community was not the top most priority.

So I also think her induction sealed the deal for many people.

Also, we can't forget that there were rumors that Obama and Harris had a "thing".

https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...ory.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.4efed2475354

At an event to benefit the Democratic National Committee earlier in the day, Obama said Harris is “brilliant and she is dedicated and she is tough,” adding that “she also happens to be, by far, the best looking attorney general in the country.”

Imagine commenting on another woman's good looks standing next to your wife Michelle Obama.

She is going to get the larger share of the Black middle and professional class vote.

Howard University is going to put weight behind her so they can make the claim that they can count an alumna as President. And I’m sure other HBCUs will as well from the angle that an HBCU graduate made it to the Office of the Presidency.

The AKAs and the rest of the BGLOs are going to put weight behind her so they can claim a President among their ranks.

And the Links, and by default, the Boule, are going to put weight behind her so they can make similar claims.

Obama didn’t come from their ranks. Harris, at least on paper, does. So she is going to get a lot of support from the HBCU/BGLO crowd.

NYT just came out with how Kamala’s “secret weapon” are the AKAs that she got rallying behind her.

Kamala Harris’s Secret Weapon: The Sisterhood of Alpha Kappa Alpha

Lots of black professional clicques got stakes in her presidency, something that Obama didn’t have.

 

[Fade Runner 2049]

 

[get these nets]

The Economist https://www.economist.com/united-st...ck-upper-class-and-black-lives-matter#content

Our kind of people
America’s black upper class and Black Lives Matter
The United States is also home to the biggest group of highly successful black folk in the world

United StatesAug 22nd 2020 edition
Aug 22nd 2020
CHICAGO

LAWRENCE OTIS GRAHAM recalls where he first met Kamala Harris, last summer, in Martha’s Vineyard. It was at the holiday home of Spike Lee, a film director, who held a $1,500-a-head fundraiser for the woman who is now number two on the Democratic ticket. “She is the new Barack Obama for us,” says the thrilled Mr Graham, an author and property lawyer from New York. By “us” Mr Graham means African-Americans, and in particular the glitziest end of African-American high society.

He knows of whom he speaks. He made a name in 1999 by publishing “Our Kind of People”, a sympathetic insider account of the habits, clubs and lifestyles of America’s wealthiest black families. Early on the book, now in its 37th printing, proved controversial. Some whites were ignorant of how black millionaires had thrived, a few of them since the 1870s. “People often don’t think of blacks having different socioeconomic classes,” he says. Some fumed at being publicly named as part of a black aristocracy; others were furious for being left out. Some poorer black readers, in turn, raged at the wealthy.

On average black Americans remain significantly less well-off than whites, including among the richest. Among the top 10% of black earners, for example, the median family has accumulated assets worth $343,160, said a Brookings Institution report in February. For the equivalent top 10% of white families it was more than five times higher, at $1,789,300. By one Federal Reserve measure, around 2% of black families have assets worth more than $1m; over 15% of white ones do.

Yet even if the African-American elite is not huge, it is influential, as a planned televised serialisation of Mr Graham’s book will show. The most prominent black families long formed invitation-only clubs where they socialised, created professional networks and presented their children at debutante balls. A prime example is Jack and Jill of America, founded in 1938, a society which claims 40,000 members in 247 chapters, and which is devoted to shaping children into future leaders in business, society and politics.

It continues to go strong. This week it held its 44th national convention—a four-day, virtual shindig. It is unabashedly for the most successful. Danielle Brown, its president, dislikes the word “elite”, but says 98% of members’ children attend university. (That matters: rising higher-education rates best explain why the earnings of top-paid African-Americans have kept climbing in the past half century, even as those of most black workers steadily fell.) Almost everyone goes on to thrive professionally. “They are pretty much at the top of wherever they go,” she says.

Her outfit, as any rich club must, does plenty of charity work. This year its members helped to pay for 247 needy students to finish college, she says. It also promotes civic duties, the virtue of voting and the benefits of a sound financial education. That is all worthy—but in contrast to the occasionally riotous efforts of Black Lives Matter (BLM) activists, it can look terrifically staid. At its “cotillion” dances demure teenagers, in white Cinderella ball gowns, vie to deliver the deepest curtsy as pearl-wearing older ladies look on.

Not all alumni are relaxed talking of their past. Few politicians brag of belonging to an elite group. Cory Booker, a senator from New Jersey, rarely brings up his youthful time in Jack and Jill. Don’t expect Ms Harris, member of a similarly august group of women volunteers, The Links Inc, to mention it on the stump. Yet many of the most radical leaders or their children—including those of Malcolm X and of Mr Lee—had links to Jack and Jill or similar outfits.

How do high-society African-Americans respond to upheavals from the covid-19 pandemic, killings by police, and BLM protests of recent months? For Mrs Brown, BLM is “representative of the civil-rights movement, with a new name”. She praises protesters for their “vigilance” and for stirring public—including white—concern over matters that were previously ignored. But BLM, in her view, is just one of a “wonderful plethora” of groups, clubs, sororities, voter-registration outfits and charities: “We need different people doing different things.”

Lerry Knox, a wealthy Chicagoan who runs an international infrastructure-investment fund, and Farissa Knox, who runs an ad agency, also in Chicago, see it in a similar light. The ongoing BLM debate “over white supremacy” is welcome. “I support what BLM is doing. It’s a narrative that needs to be spoken,” says Mrs Knox. But the couple prefer to invest their personal funds and time in local groups that educate black residents on the benefits of completing census forms, sitting for jury duty and, especially, registering to vote. Structural changes, they say, will come from institutions, including the companies they lead, or from judicial reform and getting new people elected to office. Rage voiced on the streets can dissipate fast.

Yet even the wealthiest align with street protesters in their fury over threats and harassment from police. Mr Knox is blunt about the risks any African-American man faces in public. Mr Graham recounts being stopped and hounded by a plainclothes policeman near his home, while collecting his daughter from school—even though he was the chairman of his county police board. He describes how rich black families, on moving into mostly white neighbourhoods, learn to visit local police stations to hand out photos of their families, in an effort to stave off trouble. “We have to be proactive,” he says. “It is absolutely demeaning to act in this way, but we have too many stories of what happens when you don’t. Don’t assume we’ve bought our way out of this treatment.”■

 

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@Get These Nets Oh God, I'm glad you didn't post this article in any other thread so no one will see it.

Otherwise, get ready for the...

Some poorer black readers, in turn, raged at the wealthy.

Is this the full article? Seems missing bits and pieces?

And LOG is such a clout chaser.
Knew it was just a matter of time before he came out proclaiming Kamala as one of his own.

The picture in the article is of the Young Men Illinois Club of New Orleans. The Young Men Illinois Club along with the Original Illinois Club are where the elite blacks and creoles of New Orleans socialized and had their Mardi Gras balls and parties so they didn't have to socialize with the more egalitarian people of Krewe Zulu (Desiree's father was president of the Zulus and Desiree herself was crowned Queen of the Zulus). I believe the clubs were started from Pullman Porters from up north that settled in NO.

 

[invalid]

Spoiler: Original Illinois Club and Young Men Illinois Club

Queens Of The Black Carnival
The Illinois clubs: where tradition still takes center stage
02/01/2018
Kelly Parke

You are part of Carnival history, that dates back to 1895; well over a hundred years,” said past President E.J. Roberts in his address to this year’s Original Illinois Club debs, pages and heralds during their September orientation. One of the eight young debs would be chosen as the club’s 117th queen.

From the signature waltz, the “Chicago Glide,” to the elaborate feathered headpieces donned by maids of the court, both the Original Illinois Club and Young Men Illinois Club serve as the groundbreakers in black Carnival, giving New Orleanians of color the initial invitation to partake in the traditions celebrated by white Carnival insiders.

Zulu is the most recognized black Carnival organization. However, the first queens and debutantes of color were presented by the Original Illinois Club (OIC), which later spun off the Young Men Illinois Club (YMI). The Original Illinois Club is the oldest African American Carnival organization in North America, rich in history, tradition and pageantry.

Interestingly, the narrative of the OIC began with a transplant from Tennessee. Wiley E. Knight set the stage for young women of color to be presented to society. Recognizing the need to introduce social graces and etiquette to young people of color, a cadre of Pullman porters on the notable Illinois Central Railroad, led by Knight formed The Illinois Club. In turn, Knight became one of the founding fathers of black middle-class society. According to the organization, the African American Pullman Porters were trailblazers in various areas, including the civil rights movement as it is known today. These gentlemen also formed the first trade union in the black community.

In 1894, Knight opened a studio on Cadiz Street, in which many children of prominent black families took part, and the rest, is history—as in Black Carnival History. Just 23 years after the debut of Rex royalty, the first Illinois Club ball was held. Both organizations amazingly continue to provide this stage for black Carnival royalty, 91 and 123 years respectfully, excluding only the years of war, the civil rights movement, and hurricane Katrina.

Like the Original Illinois Club, YMI does not hold a street parade, chiefly focusing on the formal societal debut of young African American women during the Carnival season.

‘When you think of African American organizations, you think of Zulu and NOMTOC. You think of a parading organization,” 2017 OIC Ball Captain, Gregory Perrault Jr. said. “We aren’t a parading organization, and that was never the intention. Our focus was and is to present eligible young African American women to society. That’s what we prepare for. The ball is the highlight.”

Perrault, at 31 years old, is the youngest member of the OIC. He was recommended for membership by H. Kenneth Johnston, who at 82 years old, is the eldest member. Johnston, like the organization’s forefather, relocated to the Crescent City because of his career. The Birmingham, Alabama native and his family moved to New Orleans to pursue a position in education in 1967. He became a member of the OIC in 1974 and reigned as the club’s centennial king in 1995.

“When I joined, there were about 40 members, and in order to become a member, someone had to leave the city or die, and that person had to be recommended. “Johnston states. The club currently has 20 members, which includes locals, along with gentlemen from Shreveport, Grammercy and parts of Mississippi.

The 1920’s saw local people of color take advantage of professional opportunities that became available, and as a result, many professional men became interested in joining the club. Over the years, as the black middle class grew, these clubs played an integral part of the fabric of the local black community. In the late 1920’s, it was reported that a dispute caused some OIC members to form what became the Young Men Illinois club. The newly formed group held its inaugural tableau in 1927.

According to YMI Ball Captain Lawrence Robinson there’s been nothing but admiration and respect between the two, despite the split. “By the time [of my joining] they had begun to recognize each other at each of the balls,” he said. “We call for the members of the OIC to toast at our balls, and vice versa.”

When he initially became a member, there were still members who were also part of the original group. “There were members of the Original Illinois Club that were in the Young Men Illinois when I joined,” Robinson said. “One of the members, I remember, we called him ‘Old Man Thomas’, he was about 87 at the time, so he was one of the original members of the IC.”

Another dual member was Duplain Rhodes Jr., known as one of the city’s most distinguished black professionals, Rhodes also served as one of YMI’s founders. “My dad was born in 1899, so his legacy has gone on for a long time in the club.” Stephanie Rhodes Navarre said. “Where the club was concerned, he was truly a long-standing member.”

“They wanted men of character and they were all men of character,” Dr. Karen Becnel Moore, said of the YMI. In 1966, Becnel Moore was the first queen of color to be presented in the Municipal Auditorium. “They wanted men of vision who had the same goals and mission and objectives. This was a chance for them to give back to the community by inviting young women to be introduced to society-and make [young ladies] aware of the fact that this was not just a party time. This was a chance for you to become aware of your society, and the people around you who were contributing to your growth and development.”

Early on, the choice for queen was based strictly on club member seniority. However, YMI later adjusted its protocol. Today, if a member wishes for young lady to be queen, he must submit her name and the year for which the family would like her to reign. The race to the crown and scepter usually begins once a female is born.

As Ball Captain, Robinson holds the key, or in this case, the list. “I have a list right now,” he said, smiling. “I had two members who literally called me from the hospital when their daughters were having babies. And they said, I want year 2031… and I’m saying, is this crazy?” It’s not crazy, it’s tradition. Another tradition: YMI queens solely basking in the spotlight, as the group does not crown a King. “That’s the way it’s always been,” Robinson said.

Both organizations take pride in bestowing elaborate presentations annually, with thoughtful detail and a captivating theme. Over the years, locations such as the Alario Center, The Morial Convention Center, the Orpheum Theater and the Municipal Auditorium helped set the stage for the balls, but neighborhood gymnasiums and halls served as the sites in which early royalty was celebrated.

“We were still not intergraded in the city, so places like Rosenwald Auditorium, that’s where they put the balls on,” H. Kenneth Johnston said. “Members didn’t know any different, so those were the grandest places in the world. They had people who would come and decorate those places beautifully. That was the Municipal Auditorium for us.”

Of course, men now have the choice to join other multicultural organizations, as young women have more options in which to be presented to society. Despite the progress, the Illinois Clubs believe they are still necessary.

“I think the responsibility of the organization is more important than ever,” Johnston stated. “No matter what happens in society, identity remains a most important element. In saying that, no matter how things change, there will always be young ladies who will need to be formally presented. It’s very important for that vessel to remain in place for young black girls, provided by the black community. It will always be relevant.”

Lawrence Robinson believes there will be more members to continue the storied legacy. The group has 45 members and he’s confident the goal of 50 members will be met. “The Original Illinois Club and Young Men Illinois have only recently received the respect and recognition they deserve for their contributions to Carnival in New Orleans, and not just African American Carnival,” Mardi Gras expert and publisher of Arthur Hardy’s Mardi Gras Guide, Arthur Hardy said. “These organizations are essential to the celebration and their future looks even brighter than their past.”


Royal Families

To be a Carnival queen in New Orleans is not only an extraordinary feat, but also often a birthright. Numerous African American families have extensive lineages in carnival, and carnival royalty.

“I was designated to be queen in 1973,” says Belva Missore Pichon. “When a girl child is born, daughters of members are designated to be queen. When I was a child, they would tell me things about it, but not until my teenage years did I really get excited about it. It hit me when I was about 13 or 14, then it had a different meaning; with much more excitement.” Pichon and her father, Joseph O. Missore Jr., reigned as Original Illinois Royalty in ‘73, and again as Zulu royalty in 1979.

Six descendants of OIC member (and YMI founding member) Duplain Rhodes Jr. were either Original Illinois or Young Men Illinois queens, and two of his great granddaughters are princesses in the 2018 YMI court. All three of YMI member Emile Bagneris III’s daughters (Brittany, Lauren and Jessica) reigned as queens. The family legacy will likely continue as Brittany’s adorable daughter, Lily (a prospective queen), makes her royal debut as a page in the 2018 court.

 

[get these nets]

@Get These Nets Oh God, I'm glad you didn't post this article in any other thread so no one will see it.

Otherwise, get ready for the...

Is this the full article? Seems missing bits and pieces?

And LOG is such a clout chaser.
Knew it was just a matter of time before he came out proclaiming Kamala as one of his own.

The picture in the article is of the Young Men Illinois Club of New Orleans. The Young Men Illinois Club along with the Original Illinois Club are where the elite blacks and creoles of New Orleans socialized and had their Mardi Gras balls and parties so they didn't have to socialize with the more egalitarian people of Krewe Zulu (Desiree's father was president of the Zulus and Desiree herself was crowned Queen of the Zulus). I believe the clubs were started from Pullman Porters from up north that settled in NO. I have a cousin that was president of the Original Illinois Club. His son is now the Sire Archon (President) of one of the three Boule chapters here in Chicago. Let me see if I can find an article on them.

The Economist is notorious for weird editing of general interest articles. Has to deliberate at this point. The most famous example was the article that lead to Jay Z boycotting Cristal. The head of the parent company said some comments that offended people, but the words that drew the biggest reaction weren't his quotes. They were attributed to him by reporters who wrote about it.
The comment from this article about poorer people is not a quote from LOG. It's written as though those are his thoughts.
TLR in general isn't that discerning when it comes to facts, so yeah, many would run with the "talking down to us" angle.
If they release a longer version of the article, I'll edit the post and tag you.

I like LOG and find his antics and "stage"persona to be entertaining.
The "soon to come" adaptation of his book that he's been talking about for years seems like a go for now. Kamala's campaign and the NYT article about her secret army had something to with his project finally seeing the light of day (as did the international success and award nominations of the Self Made series)
LOG can say,with accuracy, that he was the first one to give the general public a glimpse into this world.
His self promotion/clout chasing is legendary and effective. Those from the NYC metro area will remember the promo he cut for HOT97 radio.
They would play 3 straight records about drugs,murder, and sex. Then you'd hear.
"This is Lawrence Otis Graham sitting here with FunkMasterFlex, and this station represents us, the upper crust"
Then you'd hear 4 more songs about drugs, murder, and sex.

Thanks for the info about the story of the photo.

Spoiler

The Coli appears at the top of some google searches. Expect major parts of this thread to be lifted by lazy columnists and writers if Biden/Harris tickets wins. Lot of sites/podcast/channels steal content from this site.
Might want to future proof the thread in regards to family references.

 

[Apollo Creed]

breh got on his head

 

[ogc163]

breh got on his head

LMAO Yo I just busted out laughing.

 

[get these nets]

****Black Elite AfroCentric Edition****

Mary Ann Shadd Cary of Wilmington and Chatham was a teacher, journalist, and leader of the black Canadian emigration movement of the 1850s. Mary was the daughter of Abraham and Harriett Parnell Shadd, who were prosperous abolitionist from Wilmington, Deleware. After moving their family to Chatham, Ontario, they took up many anti-slavery causes. Mary graduated from Howard Law School, returning to Chatham to teach the children of escaped slaves. Following the steps of her activist family, she began to write of the hypocrisy of the United States, which had identified as a democracy, yet supported slavery. She eventually abandoned teaching and turned to journalism, taking over the Provincial Freeman in Windsor, Ontario in 1853. As the primary editor of the Freeman, Shadd traveled throughout Ontario and parts of the United States writing essays about her travels, revealing her support for sex and race equality.

Google home page 10/09/20 , her birthday

 

[get these nets]

Rest in Peace

 

[get these nets]

Unlike the Coli, for many, there seems to be no question with respect to Kamala's loyalty to the black community because she has embraced many of the "accoutrements" of "blackness" deemed as "important" among the black establishment.

In addition to choosing to attend Howard University, she chose to pledge Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority.

That would be enough for many of these folks.

But she was also inducted into the Links, Inc.

And if anyone knows anything about the Links, they would not have inducted her if her blackness and service to the black community was not the top most priority.

So I also think her induction sealed the deal for many people.

 

[yung Herbie Hancock]

A lot of mullatos