Of Blood and Sweat: Black Lives and the Making of White Power and Wealth

Description

A sliver of the US population retains much of America’s wealth. From the time native lands, and native people, were seized and commercial trade was established, the European institutions that shaped America continue to profit from the toil of others.

Of Blood and Sweat details the trajectory of how Black lives and labor created White power and wealth in agriculture, politics, jurisprudence, law enforcement, culture, medicine, financial services, and other fields. This engaging work unravels the role Black people played, directly and indirectly, in creating American institutions of power and wealth—while never allowed full participation in them. From early rebellions to the present day, Black people have taken the struggle for racial equity and justice through the courts and to the streets. In depicting these efforts from precolonial Africa through post-Civil War America, a consistent theme emerges: Trace the history of almost any major American institution of power and wealth, and you’ll find it was created by Black Americans, or created to control them.

Painstakingly researched and comprehensively documented, Of Blood and Sweat is a compelling look at the past with broad implications for present-day calls for racial equity and justice and the abolishment of systemic racism.