Robert F. Smith is the richest Black man in America, but until a few years ago he was relatively unknown by most Black people
I recently asked a group of kids who Robert Smith was and they had no clue. Odds are you’ve
probably never heard of him either. For those who are not familiar with him, here’s a brief
overview:
He grew up in Denver, is 55 years old, and is worth 4.4 billion dollars (more than Oprah). He gave
$20,000,000 to the African American National Museum, is helping pretrial detainees that can’t
afford bail, he gave $2,500,000 to prostate cancer research for African American men, his charity
has committed $50,000,000 to improve the representation of women and people of color in
scientific research at Cornell University and he is the first black American to sign the giving
pledge, vowing to give away half of his net worth in his lifetime to causes focused on helping
African Americans and women.
He did not get rich by way of sports or entertainment. He amassed his fortune from being the
CEO of a private equity fund.
I feel like Big Meech, Larry Hoover…” – B.M.F (Blowing Money Fast) by Rick Ross
Movies were made about notorious drug dealers like Alpo and Rich Porter, Songs were made
about wanting to be Demetrius “Big Meech” Flenory of the Black Mafia Family (BMF) and Larry Hoover, the former leader of the Black Disciples Nation. But neither was made about the richest black
person in American history (who’s still alive). He’s pretty much unknown. He’s been
invisible in plain sight for 20 years. Pretty disturbing if you think about it.
We immortalize people who made a million dollars on the streets, that’s either dead or doing 100
years in jail but are clueless about someone who made billions in the corporate world and is still
living. That’s not by accident though, the latter is way more dangerous to the status quo than the
former. It’s not a mystery why one is promoted over the other, but he’s on the cover of this
year’s Forbes’s annual billionaire edition; so obviously he’s not in hiding. So, we have to ask,
who’s fault is it really that he’s not championed by the culture…
