The $15 Trillion Wealth Truth

Summary

Podcast Summary: Money And Wealth With John Hope Bryant

Episode: The $15 Trillion Wealth Truth
Date: March 26, 2026
Host: John Hope Bryant
Production: Black Effect Podcast Network & iHeartPodcasts

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Episode Overview

In this compelling episode, John Hope Bryant delivers his trademark "straight talk" by examining the immense yet routinely overlooked economic engine of slavery in America—and how its legacy shapes today’s wealth gap, particularly for Black Americans. Detailing how the underpinnings of America's economic might were built on the value and labor of enslaved people, Bryant demystifies the $15 trillion “wealth secret” and makes a passionate case for financial literacy, ownership, and inclusive capitalism as tools for closing today’s racial wealth gap.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Economic Legacy of Slavery

[03:02, 19:48, 37:34]

• Not a Moral or Political Discourse:
  Bryant insists this discussion is “not about blame” or victimhood, but about understanding the math and mechanisms of wealth creation in American history.

  “This episode is not about blame... That’s a distraction. This is not about making anybody feel guilty even. It’s not about victimhood. I’m no victim. I’m a victor. And so are you.” — John Hope Bryant [19:48]

• Slavery as America’s Largest Economic Asset:
  In 1860, the single largest financial asset in the US was enslaved people—valued at $3 billion in 1860 dollars (equivalent to $10-15 trillion today, and possibly as high as $40 trillion with missed opportunity costs).

  “The market value of enslaved people had grown to $3 billion in 1860 money... That was more valuable than all of the currency, all of the precious metals, all of the railroads, all of the banks, all of the insurance companies of that day—hold on together.” — John Hope Bryant [06:35]

• Wealth Creation Spectrum:
  The economic engine included plantation owners, merchants, banks (as loan underwriters with enslaved people as collateral), insurance companies, textile manufacturers, shipping companies, and global financial institutions.

  “Any bank that’s older than 175 years old had a stake... because they put loans on plantations and part of the collateral was the barn, the land, the machinery, and part—unfortunately—of the machinery were slaves.” — John Hope Bryant [05:40]

• The ‘Green’ Motivation:
  Bryant argues that, above all else, the driving force behind these systems was not race or politics, but profit.

  “It wasn’t really racial... it was green. It’s always been green.” — John Hope Bryant [07:24]

• Cotton as King:
  By 1860, cotton comprised over half of all American exports, and the US produced around 75% of the world’s supply—almost all picked by enslaved hands.

  “Cotton wasn’t just agriculture. Cotton was the energy source of the global economy. It was the oil of the 19th century.” — John Hope Bryant [22:00]

The Roots of the Wealth Gap

[19:48, 37:34, 53:12]

• From Wealthiest to Poorest:
  States like Mississippi were once America’s richest thanks to slavery-driven cotton; today they’re among the poorest.

  “Let that sink in. The richest state [1860]...because the Mississippi Delta produced some of the most profitable cotton plantations in the world.” — John Hope Bryant [22:39]

• Asset Ownership vs. Labor:
  Wealth from enslaved labor accrued to the elite few—not the workers themselves. Very few white Southerners were slaveowners; wealth was concentrated.

  “So when we talk about Southern wealth in 1860, we’re really talking about the wealth of a very small elite class.” — John Hope Bryant [25:48]

• Systemic Obstacles to Black Ownership:
  Upon emancipation, newly freed Black Americans had no capital, land, or access to credit, and often lacked access even to basic education (literacy was forbidden). Post-Civil War policy reversals (like the rescinding of 40 acres and a mule), sharecropping, redlining, and segregated systems shut Black people out of wealth creation.

  “For generations, Black labor had helped produce enormous wealth, but ownership of that wealth belonged to someone else.” — John Hope Bryant [40:18]

  “You can run really fast. But if you’re on quicksand, it’s hard to get traction that matters.” — John Hope Bryant [43:34]

Slavery’s Place in Global Capitalism

[12:13, 22:00, 28:18]

• Transatlantic Value Chain:
  Bryant traces how a single cotton shipment created profits at every turn: plantations, banks (New York and Montgomery), insurance (insuring shipments), textile mills (UK), and global merchants.

  “Plantation to the banks, to the ships, to the factories—money is being made at every step.” — John Hope Bryant [03:55]

  “When we talk about slavery, we’re also talking about global capitalism. Cotton plantations, New York finance, British factories, global markets—all connected.” — John Hope Bryant [28:18]

• Financial Innovations Built on Slavery:
  Traits such as securitization and credit markets were developed out of slavery’s economics; slaves could be mortgaged, insured, used as loan collateral, or traded.

  “They could be mortgaged, insured, used as loan collateral, bought and sold in financial markets. Basically a form of what we call today securitization.” — John Hope Bryant [20:39]

• Roots of Wall Street:
  Many famous investment firms (e.g. Lehman Brothers) got their start in the cotton/slavery economy.

Modern Reckoning & Steps Forward

[37:34, 53:12]

• Recognition by Modern Banks:
  Bryant commends banks like the precursor to Truist (formerly SunTrust) and JPMorgan Chase for publicly acknowledging their ties to slavery-era profits.

  “The CEO there, Bill Rogers, owned this history and didn’t have to.” — John Hope Bryant [37:34]

• Collapse and Aftermath:
  The abrupt loss of the South's largest asset class ($3 billion, or $15 trillion today) devastated the region’s economy and left newly freed Black people with nothing.

  “You lose $15 trillion overnight, see how you’re feeling. Whether you’re moral or not, it ‘is.’” — John Hope Bryant [38:05]

• The Freedmen’s Bank Story:
  Bryant shares how he helped inspire the renaming of the U.S. Treasury Annex as “The Freedmen’s Bank Building,” to honor the post–Civil War institution aimed at teaching freed people about money—a monument both to possibility and unfinished business.

  “I’m the only American citizen ever to trigger the renaming… of a bank on the White house campus in U.S. history through our work at Operation Hope...” — John Hope Bryant [39:36]

• Redlining & Systemic Barriers:
  The federal government, through the FHA, institutionalized redlining, shutting Black Americans out of homeownership and financial growth.

  “Redlining happened in earnest and happened by...the federal government that actually created redlining. The FHA. I can’t make this up.” — John Hope Bryant [41:21]

• Why Understanding the System Matters:
  Bryant stresses that to win in today’s system, one must “understand how wealth was built yesterday”—not with emotion, but with strategy and by “upgrading our own software.”

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Ownership & the Path Forward

[46:35, 53:12]

• The New Civil Rights Movement: Financial Literacy
  The next civil rights frontier, Bryant argues, is about wealth—credit, entrepreneurship, homeownership, and upskilling for the future, not just jobs or wages.

  “The lesson here is not about victimhood, it’s not about blame, it’s about ownership... The next civil rights movement in America must be about money and wealth. That financial literacy is a civil rights issue of this generation.” — John Hope Bryant [45:55]

• Inclusion Isn’t Subtraction:

  “Adding a chair doesn’t hurt anybody... It grows the table, it grows the economy.” — John Hope Bryant [54:42]

• Agency & Asset Mindset:

  “Today, the greatest untapped asset in America is still human potential... I don’t want a handout, I want a hand up. I want the James Brown version of affirmative action. Open the door. I’ll get it my dang self.” — John Hope Bryant [53:40]

• Your Brand Matters:
  Personal and community reputation, education, and ownership are essential for changing perceptions—and outcomes.

  “Watch your brand—your personal brand, your family brand, your community brand. Watch your brand, your reputation.” — John Hope Bryant [54:33]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Why the South Collapsed Post-Emancipation:

  “You lose $15 trillion overnight, see how you’re feeling.” [38:05]

• On American Race and Capitalism:

  “Race—the racial word—’white’ was literally made up in America 400 years ago, in a world that’s billions of years old... It was for commercial reasons.” [10:35]

• On the Black Labor-White Wealth Paradox:

  “Black labor produced the wealth, but ownership belonged to someone else.” [40:18]

• The Maxim for the Future:

  “To live in a system of free enterprise and not to understand the rules of free enterprise must be the very definition of slavery.” —Ambassador Andrew Young, quoted by Bryant [58:12]

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Actionable Takeaways

[53:12-end]

• Learn financial literacy and teach it to others
• Focus on ownership: credit scores, entrepreneurship, homeownership, investing
• Understand the system, not just its narrative
• Upgrade your personal and collective “software” to compete
• Advocate for inclusive capitalism

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Timeline of Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment | |-----------|-----------------------------------------------------| | 03:02 | Opening — the “taboo” truth: slavery’s economics | | 05:00 | How the cotton/slavery economy moved global wealth | | 12:13 | Profit chains: plantations, banks, insurance | | 19:48 | Slavery as the greatest American asset: numbers | | 22:00 | Cotton’s global significance and “King Cotton” | | 25:48 | Wealth concentration in the South | | 28:18 | From Southern economy to Wall Street and UK | | 37:34 | Reckoning: banks’ public acknowledgement | | 39:36 | The Freedmen’s Bank and Bryant’s legacy project | | 41:21 | Institutionalized redlining and barriers | | 45:55 | Ownership and financial literacy as civil rights | | 53:12 | Human potential, the new “untapped asset” | | 54:42 | Inclusion: “growing the table” | | 58:12 | Ambassador Young’s maxim on free enterprise |

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Conclusion

Bryant’s episode reframes the legacy of slavery not as a matter of historical guilt, but as an economic reality with enduring, systemic impacts. He urges listeners—especially in the Black community—to recognize the power of financial literacy and ownership as key to closing the racial wealth gap. By understanding how wealth was constructed in America, listeners are empowered to engage in “good capitalism,” build assets, and write themselves into the next chapter of America’s economic story.

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“Understanding money is not just about the numbers. It’s about understanding the systems that create opportunity. Once you understand that system, you can learn how to win in it.” — John Hope Bryant [54:54]

Transcript

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[John Hope Bryant]

Money Wealth with John Hope Bryant, a production of the Black Effect podcast network and iHeartRadio. Hey, hey, it's John Hope Bryant and this, this is the Money and Wealth podcast series on Black effect network on iHeartradio season three. And we are about to get popping here with a really important episode that deals with a theoretically taboo issue that I don't think needs to be, which is the legacy of slavery. But not in the way in which you may think. I'm not dealing with the ethical issues or the moral issues or, you know, or the responsibility issues. All those things historians have covered in much, much greater degree in accuracy than I ever could. That's not my focus. My focus is, and I think this is a conservative number, the $15 trillion plus secret that was hiding in plain sight. I think the number is as shockingly high as $40 trillion when you think about missed economic opportunity. But this is the $15 trillion secret. The economics of slavery and the wealth gap. Imagine it's 1858. A cotton planter in Mississippi has just finished his harvest. Bales of cotton, thousands of pounds of it, are loaded onto steamboats heading down the Mississippi River. That cotton travels south to New Orleans, the busiest cotton port in America. But the journey doesn't stop there. Merchants in New Orleans or New Orleans, depending on how who you're from, where you're from and how you pronounce it. Arrange financing with banks in New York. Insurance companies ensure the ship the shipment. The cotton is loaded into a transatlantic ship bound for Liverpool, England. Weeks later, it arrives in the largest cotton trading market in the world. From Liverpool, it travels to textile mills in Manchester, England, where machines spin it into fabric. That fabric is sold across Europe and around the world, and even back in America and the Americas. Now, here's the extraordinary part about this. At every step of that journey from the plantation to the banks, to the ships, to the factories, money is being made, wealth is being gained. Plantation owners profit. A little segue here, only 3 to 5%. Let's be liberal and say 5% of all whites in the south owned more than 50 slaves. So it was just a small portion of the European population that were slave owners. So I want to give proper context here. Wasn't every white person or even most white people who own slaves, it was the elite class for whom. For. For whomever. That fact is important. Plantations owners profited, merchants profited, banks profited. Any bank that's older than 175 years old had a stake in a hand in, in all likelihood, the slave trade because they took back, they put loans on plantations and properties, and part of that security for that loan, part of the collateral was the barn and the land and the machinery, and part, unfortunately, of the machinery were slaves. So you'll find banks that are certainly 200 years old, the oldest banks in America who have human beings on their books. Don't blame the leadership of the day had nothing to do with it. But it is a sad fact that everybody was involved in this business. And this only gets deeper and more interesting. And for those who are interested in blame, there's enough to go around. By the way you had, I mean, how do you think the slaves got from the central of Africa to the coast? Right. It was blacks that are capturing other blacks and tribes. They didn't know they were selling them to slavery. But my point is that tribes captured other tribes and they didn't know what they were doing, but they, some of them sold them unconsciously in a slavery. You had Indians and in India slave traders, you had Arab slave traders, you had, I'm sure, Asian. I don't have that fact handy, but I'm sure they were involved in some way. And you could put quotation marks and say that Asians were also related to Indians and certainly Europeans. Of course, I'm going back to the Asian example for a minute. There was something that hit my brain about why there might be a natural or unnatural connection there. But the point is, everybody was in the business, so to speak. It was unfortunately rather normal at that time, and people just wanted to profit from it, morals aside. So insurance companies profited after banks, textile manufacturers profited. So my point of the racial thing was it wasn't really racial. It wasn't, as I keep saying, black or white as in race or red or blue as in politics today. It was green. It's always been green. We just need to turn bad capitalism into good capitalism, right? Bad debt financing slaves into good debt financing, the purchase of companies and growing industries and us going from being an asset to owning assets and us being African Americans. My second great grandfather and second great grandmother were slaves. My. My grandfather on my father's side was a sharecropper. R.B. smith. My. My next book, Capitalism for All, lays all of this out about Where Do We Go from here? Which was Dr. King's last book before he was assassinated. So banks profited, insurance companies profited, textile manufacturers profited. Entire global economy was on the move. All. All connected to one shipment of cotton. Let that sink in. And almost all of that cotton was picked by enslaved labor. By 1860, cotton made up more than half of all American exports. I'll say that again, and I'll say it a little slower so it sticks. By 1860, cotton made up more than half of all American exports. And the market value of enslaved people had grown to $3 billion in 1860 money. Just for context, that's more valuable than all of the currency of that day, all of the precious metals of that day, all of the railroads of that day, all of the banks of that day, all of the insurance companies of that day. Hold on together. The largest financial asset in the United States. Enslaved people. Free, talented labor. I say talented because some would have you believe that slaves were some lazy are blacks are lazy. They would say today, but they would say back then, slaves were lazy, they were inhuman, they were untalented. No one goes halfway around the world at enormous expense as an entrepreneur or business builder to take a risk on useless assets. You do that because you have no choice or you believe is the best choice. And we were agricultural geniuses who could take dead soil and bring it back to life. And where was the cotton rooted best? Where did it grow best? In hot, humid soil hard to cultivate and bring back to life. The Caribbean, Latin America. But specifically, the best area, it appeared, the southern states of the United States of America. And my poor white brothers and sisters then from Europe, who were brought here as indentured servants along and put aside, along with blacks, by the way. There were white indentured servants as well. There were blacks. The first indentured service were black and white. That's a whole nother podcast I did explaining how race is literally made up in America in the last 400 years. And sorry made race the racial word. White was literally made up in a world that's 5 billion years old. And human existence, which goes back modern human existence, A few hundred thousand. Couple hundred thousand years old, and then primitive human, couple hundred. Let's just say, let's just be easy and say a couple million years ago, but an enlightenment 3,000 years ago, traders 6,000 years ago, but somehow in the global world, the racial word white was created 400 years ago in America. It was for commercial reasons, by the way, to separate blacks and whites who were getting along because they could not have them be friends, because they said, you can have a race riot, you cannot have a class ride because we're the class. So you want to know an answer to something? You keep following the money. And nine times out of 10, you take the emotions out of it, by the way, and follow money, you'll get your answer. So Africans who became African Americans, 400,000 slaves who turned into 4 million because they cultivated this group, because they were so profitable. They were the only group that could take this dead soul and bring it back to life and produce these crops of gold, cotton, tobacco, et cetera. Anyway, the largest financial asset in the United States was, without question, enslaved labor. The equivalent of 10 to 15 trillion dollars today, some would argue 21 trillion dollars. I'm giving you the conservative number, which means that to understand wealth in America today, you first have to understand how wealth was built in America yesterday. So today we're going to talk about the economics of slavery from a non emotional, non blaming, non polarizing perspective. Just the math. I like math because it doesn't have an opinion. Again, my quoting my friend Melanie Hobson, who's at her. That's her quote. It's a great quote. Very illuminative. This is a story that Americans were never taught in school. Not to assign blame, as I said, but to understand the system. Because once you understand the system, you can learn how to win in it.

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[John Hope Bryant]

so welcome back to Money and Wealth, everybody. And today I'm going to talk to you about something that most Americans were never taught, not because it isn't important, but because it's uncomfortable. Today, we're going to talk about the economics of slavery. Now, let me be clear before we get into this. This episode is not about blame. I've said this a half dozen times. I want to underscore it in case people are clipping this in segments. Is not about blame. That's a distraction. This is not about making anybody feel guilty even. It's not about victimhood. I'm no victim. I'm a victor. And so are you. This episode, and certainly my forefathers and foremothers, my family, who were enslaved themselves, my second great grandmother left slavery, left escaped slavery and went on to buy a house. Didn't have a mortgage on it, had a border renter, which means she turned into a capitalist. It's such an inspiring story. My second great grandfather, George Young, on my father's side, that was my mother's side, the lady on my father's side went on to answer Abraham Lincoln's call for the Emancipation Proclamation and went on to protect the people of Memphis, Tennessee, in the black regiment, one of 7,000 black officers. He was protecting people who were not really all that thrilled about protecting him. So there's my social media justice bones and my capitalist bones all in one story. So this episode's about Understanding the economics of America. Because if you want to understand wealth in America today, you have to understand how wealth was built yesterday. And once you understand this story, we can talk about how to build wealth going forward. Let me start with a statistic that shocks me and will shock you the first time you hear it. In 1860, just before the Civil War, the single largest financial asset in the United States of America was enslaved people. And the wealthiest city in America was Noxious Mississippi. I'll repeat that. The wealthiest city in America and some would say the wealthiest city in the world at that time was noxious Mississippi. Small footnote, part of Wall street started in Montgomery, Alabama. That's where some very well known investment houses, including names you, you would know today, began there, because that's where the money was being made. So the single largest asset was not railroads. It was not banks or land or factories or even even just sort of talented human capital, human beings. It was enslaved. Historians estimate nearly 4 million enslaved people in America had a combined market value of about $3 billion in 1860. Now, that number might not sound enormous today. We mentioned a billion. It doesn't sound enormous. We're living in strange times, by the way. But when economists compare it to the size of the economy at that time, it would have been somewhere between 10 and $15 trillion a day, conservatively due to, and to give you some context for that, the U.S. economy is about 30 trillion. We're the largest economy in the world. The market value of the stock market, let's just say 50 trillion plus. Yeah, it's a big number, right? And this is, you know, let's just say half of the US GDP. So the largest concentration of wealth in America in 1860 was an asset class, if you want to call it that, quotation marks, worth the equivalent of, say, $15 trillion today. That means enslaved people represented more wealth than all the railroads, all the factories, all the banks in the country combined. And here's the part that most people don't know. Enslaved people were treated not just as labor, but as a capital asset. They could be mortgaged, insured, used as loan collateral, bought and sold in financial markets. Basically a form of what we call today securitization. This is why historians today say something important. Slavery wasn't just a social system. It was an economic system. And I'll go one step further and tell you that the Civil War was an economic dispute. It was the south resisting Northern economic domination. The north was moving to industrialization, factories and all that stuff. And the immigrants of that day, the left Behinds and the thrown aways of that day who came in America, the Polish, the Italians, the Jews, whoever you want to think about of that day, who were not considered sort of the upper class. They were coming in and trying to strive and grow and build things, but they're heading north along with industrialization. So those economies were growing and the Homestead act gave land away, heading west. And so the west and the north were growing. And the south was stuck in an old model of slavery, even though it was where half of all millionaires, more than half of all millionaires lived in the South. Specifically, Mississippi. Do you know Mississippi was the wealthiest state in America before the Civil War? It's a poorest state in America today, and I've got family there. So I want them to come up from where they are now. And that's why, again written this book, Capitalism for All is coming out soon. That hopefully is a business plan for all of us. Now, let's talk about cotton, because cotton was the engine of that economic system. By 1860, cotton made up about 60% of all U.S. exports. Think about that. More than half of everything sold to the world came from one product, cotton. And almost all of that cotton was grown and processed by enslaved labor. In fact, the United states produced roughly 3/4 of the world's cotton supply, which means the global textile industry, the biggest manufacturing industry on earth at that time, depended on American cotton. They call it king Cotton. Actually, it was the gold of that time, the platinum of that time, the AI of that time, if you want to call it that, artificial intelligence, the capital market king or queen. And that cotton came primarily from places like Mississippi, where my family's from, Alabama, where my family's from, Louisiana, where Ambassador Andrew Young's family is from, and Georgia, where, again, my family is from. This is why people at the time called cotton, again, King Cotton. Cotton wasn't just agriculture. Cotton was the energy source of the global economy. It was the oil of the 19th century. And that cotton economy created enormous wealth, which leads to another surprising fact. Most Americans today think of Mississippi as one of the poorest state states in the south, and. And really, it's the poorest state, arguably in America, in the country. But this fact is worth underscoring. Again. In 1860, Mississippi was actually the richest state in America per capita. Let that sink in. The richest state, why? Because the Mississippi Delta produced some of the most profitable cotton plantations in the world. Some plantation owners controlled thousands of acres of land and hundreds of enslaved workers. They were even a town called, as I mentioned earlier, but I'm going to underscore here. Natchez, Mississippi. N, A T, C, H, E, Z. If you'd like to look it up for yourself. At that time, Natchez was one of the highest concentration of millionaires in the United States of America, the richest city in America. But there is something important to understand here. That wealth was extremely concentrated. Only a small percentage of white southerners actually owned enslaved people, as I mentioned earlier. And an even smaller percentage owned large plantations. So it's no different than the uber wealth you see today. It's just the uber wealth we see today, I believe is more responsible, more authentic, more. I mean, for what you ever think about it, they're not engaging in slavery, at least not the folks I do business with and not out in public. It's not a mainstream industry. No legitimate business person of any ilk is doing that today. So we have made progress from immoral ends to at least neutral ends, if not moral ends. I'm trying to move us into a moral economy. Good capitalism. How capitalism can serve all of God's children and take the bottom third and lift them up and put the ladder to the bottom and so you can climb their top so that folks don't resent rich people. They want to become one. Back to the story. So when we talk about Southern wealth in 1860, we're really talking about the wealth of a very small elite class. But that elite class controlled massive economic power. Now here's where the story gets even more interesting. Because the cotton economy wasn't just southern, it was global. Let me explain how the system worked. Cotton grown on plantations in Mississippi or Alabama would be shipped down the Mississippi river again in New Orleans as an example. From New Orleans, it would be exported to Liverpool, England. Liverpool was the financial center of the global cotton trade. If you didn't know that, by the way, did you know that Birmingham, Alabama was named after Birmingham, England, because it was an industrial center in the world of Birmingham, England for cotton. And Birmingham, Alabama was an industrial center in America for slavery. And cotton and railroads ran through it, just like in Birmingham, England. Anyway, how interesting. Today the mayor of Birmingham is a black man who is doing. Actually Mayor Woodfin, who's a very good man and doing a very good job. I think he just won his third re election, which is unprecedented in a very diverse place like Birmingham and Operation Hope. I don't think he would mind me saying this is responsible. Well, he's responsible for him becoming a homeowner. But we facilitated it through our Hope Inside program that Mayor Randall Woodfin partnered with in the. For the employees of the city of Birmingham full circle and through and and with a mortgage through Regions bank, our partner in that area for hope inside good capitalism. Doing well by doing good. I think he's the first homeowner homeowner in his family and now a father. So we can have rainbows after storms. In fact, as a scientific fact, you cannot have a rainbow without a storm first. So it would be exported to Liverpool, England. Liverpool was the financial center of the global cotton trade. And from Liverpool, cotton went to textile mills in Manchester and other industrial cities in Britain. Those mills turned cotton into fabric. Okay. And that fabric was sold all over the world. But there was another piece in the system. Finance banks in New York financed the cotton trade. Investment banks in places like Montgomery, Alabama facilitated portions of that financing activity. Specifically as it relates to cotton banks in New York financed the cotton trade. Insurance companies insured shipments. Shipping companies transported goods. Merchants issued credit. Some of the early financial firms that later became part of Wall street actually began in the cotton economy. Let's give you some examples. Lehman Brothers. Lehman Brothers started in Montgomery, Alabama as a cotton trading business. Cotton was so valuable that in some cases it actually functioned like currency. So when we talk about slavery, we're also talking about global capitalism. Cotton plantations, New York finance, British factories, global markets, all connected. Now here's another economic reality that rarely gets discussed. When slavery ended in 1865, the wait was worth it.

[State Farm Insurance Narrator]

Positive affirmations and all the hard work. The keys to your dream home from the vision board have been secured. I see you. A whole new future awaits your planning. From top notch decor but on a budget to the late night backyard summer cookouts, life feels good. Now comes time to fill it with memories. What will you host first? Maybe a movie night, Game night. Stories that make us laugh and space tournaments that make us cry. First you need to get movies and new furniture. And what about party favors? Will there be a theme? Of course it's a theme. Because you're always doing the most. Oh yeah. The food to cook or to order out. Don't forget to put it in the group chat so everyone can already see who all going to be there. All the planning can be stressful, but ensuring your home shouldn't be. And that's where State farm comes in. Because State Farm agents can help you choose the coverage you need. Just call, go online or check out the app. Any agent is ready to help so you can focus on showing off your new home. If you know, you know like a good neighbor, State farm is there Pressure

[Nissan/Verizon Advertiser]

has a way of revealing what remains steady. In the latest Nissan campaign, the Nissan Rogue was tested to the extreme to demonstrate that it's built to last through durability and reliability challenges inspired by real tests conducted by Nissan engineers. Brutal potholes, a steady force of water, even a jet powered sandstorm. Each challenge inviting a deeper look at how quality, durability and reliability hold hold their ground in real world conditions. Every test was 100% real. No CG, no AI. To see how the Rogue held up, visit nissan-duordability.com March is the month of

[Shopify Small Business Owner]

momentum for small business owners. We've got our plans ready to put into action and Shopify is here to help us. Whether you're finally ready to invest in yourself or if you already have a business, take it from us. Shopify can handle any anything you throw its way. That's one of the reasons we shifted our stores at the Black Effect there. Shopify has helped power my brand embellished for years. Why not let it work for you too? One login gives you access to everything that matters. Thousands of templates mean you don't need to be a designer and your site still looks uniquely yours. They even have Shopify Sidekick AI that actually works, helping with marketing, forecasting and strategy. You can sell on social media and even directly through ChatGPT. Starting a business is hard, but it's worth it. Trust me, I should know. But you gotta start somewhere and Shopify will help you turn momentum into something that lasts. If you have a business idea, whether it is big or small, Shopify is the best platform for that business. Check out shopify.com bem to see why millions of businesses have chosen them to build their empires and maybe even start yours.

[Movie Trailer Narrator]

Critics and audiences agree.

[Nissan/Verizon Advertiser]

What the hell is this place?

[Movie Trailer Narrator]

Only three letters describe they will kill you. Wtf?

[John Hope Bryant]

Splendid.

[Movie Trailer Narrator]

USA Today calls it bloody and bonkers.

[John Hope Bryant]

Are you ready to die?

[Movie Trailer Narrator]

IGN declares it's electrifying. Action, cinema and popcorn entertainment to the max.

[John Hope Bryant]

How many of you are there?

[Movie Trailer Narrator]

It begs to be seen in a packed theater.

[Nissan/Verizon Advertiser]

Please remember to clean up the blood.

[Movie Trailer Narrator]

Wow. They will kill you. Now playing only in theaters. Rated R under 17.

[Angela Yee (Planned Parenthood Advocate)]

Not admitted without parent Planned Parenthood health centers save lives. But the Trump administration and its backers in Congress are blocking patients from using Medicaid at Planned Parenthood Health Centers for one simple reason. They want to shut Planned Parenthood down. Yet across the country, Planned Parenthood Health centers are still there, opening their doors to care for their communities. That's because Planned Parenthood believes Controlling your own body is the most basic freedom and they'll never stop fighting for it. One in four people in the US have been to a Planned Parenthood health center for high quality health care like birth control, cancer screenings, STI testing and treatment, abortion and more. Planned Parenthood is still the country's largest sex educator and a trusted source of unbiased sexual and reproductive health information. Millions of people. Planned Parenthood will never stop working to get people the information they need and they will never stop fighting so that every person is free to make their own decisions about their bodies and futures. At Planned Parenthood Care continues to learn more, visit I'm4pp.org

[John Hope Bryant]

and by the way, I want to commend there's one particular bank I'm thinking about two banks where they acknowledged their history, where they had some involvement with slavery. So the precursor to Truist Bank, SunTrust, the precursor to all those, I think was Trust, I think was Trust Company. Anyway, I don't know the name before SunTrust, I can't remember it off the top of my head. But the CEO there, Bill Rogers, owned this history and it didn't have to. I'm 99% sure that my friend Jamie Dimon and JPMorgan Chase own their history because there are records of enslaved people in those banks records as well. And there are many others who would fit this criteria. And the leaders have stepped up and acknowledged in most of those cases. Now here's another economic reality that rarely gets discussed also. When slavery ended in 1865, the loss to the south was almost complete. The south lost its largest asset class almost overnight. The $3 billion slave asset market disappeared. If you want to joke about it, it's not funny. But you wonder why people are upset. In the traditional south, you lose $15 trillion overnight, see how you're feeling. Whether you're moral or not, it's an is. I mean, the children of those people are like, I didn't do anything about this. Why, why am I broke now? Why, why can't I get my carriage Mercedes? Mercedes was a carriage, was a Mercedes that day. Why can't I get my farmhouse mansion? The farmhouse was a mansion of that day, and so on and so forth. Why can't I get my horse as in horsepower, you know, the Ferrari of that day. Because what my daddy and my granddaddy did ain't nothing to do with that. So the economy collapses. That collapse devastated the southern economy. But something else happened too. 4 million newly freed people entered the economy with no capital at all. In fact, they had no land. They had no financial assets. They had no access to credit. It was even illegal to teach them to read before the end of slavery. So now you're walking in with no literacy. And there was, by extension, of course, no access to banks. And you may or may not know, but I'm tied in a little bit here. Operation Hope is tied in a little bit here to this history. We went into the Treasury Department in 2015, 2016, I think it was 2015. We started this conversation. I'm going to thank Janae Roscoe and my team for pointing me in this direction, and then black women in the Treasury Department for encouraging me to pursue this. But we ultimately got the United States government to rename the U.S. treasury Annex Building. That's across from the Treasury Department, across from the White House, across from l' Enfant Plaza. We got them to rename that the Freedmen's Bank Building in honor of freed slaves who put all their money in a bank chartered to teach freed slaves about money after the Civil War. And I'm the only American citizen ever to trigger the renaming or inspire the renaming of a bank on the White house campus in U.S. history through our work at Operation Hope and my instigation and inspiration by Janee Roscoe and these black women at treasury who encouraged me to do it. And Secretary Jack Lew made it happen, along with others who were supportive. This was during the Obama administration, and it sits to this day. It stands to this day as a tribute and a testimony to unfinished business which we are, in our own way at Opera Shop trying to finish. And that was the legislation for the Freedmen's bank was signed in the law March 3, 1865, on the last day of Abraham Lincoln's first term after he won reelection, in large part because of the extended history of Atlanta, because the last battle in the war, the Civil War, was the Battle of Atlanta, where the Union army burned Atlanta to the ground to cut off the infrastructure and the momentum and the confidence of the Confederate army, which worked, and the march to the sea that followed that had former slave people, now formerly enslaved people, following Secretary of War as General Stanton into freedom. And they went to Savannah, Georgia, and General. The general who was sent there, I believe. I believe it was General Sherman, negotiated with 20 former black slaves for, you know, what they wanted after slavery. And they said, we want land. We want to do for ourselves. And that led to 40 acres and 40 acres and a mule. And because they worked it so hard, they said, my God, they're so industrious. Give them a mule. That was January, February 1865, March 1865. Here comes the bank, the freedmen's bank charted to teach free slaves about money. Abraham Lincoln promised his blacks the right to vote. And Booth said, that's a bridge too far. You'll never give another freedom another speech. And he was assassinated April 1865, a month after he signed the Freedmen's Bureau act, which gave created infrastructure, hospitals, schools, et cetera for newly enslaved, newly freedom enslaved formerly enslaved people, including the bank that then Frederick Douglass went on to try to run after Lincoln's assassination. And unfortunately without Lincoln as a protector, it the bank failed in 18 and it failed in total in 1877, although it was failing for some time after. It was gamed by mainstream interests in Washington D.C. who use it as their own personal piggy bank, along with local cashiers in offices throughout the country who are financially illiterate. That just proves that good intentions alone doesn't matter. So there was no access to land or financial assets or education or credit. Now think about what that means economically. For generations, black labor had helped produce enormous wealth, but ownership of that wealth belong to someone else. In fact, even after the 40 acres and the mule, when General, when President Johnson, I believe his name is, took over after Abraham Lincoln, a southern segregationist, he gave the land, he reversed 40 acres of the mule within two or three years and gave that land back to the segregationist families who owned it before. So if you wonder why you have this wealth gap today, I'm telling you part of that story. It's not that black people didn't work hard. You can run really fast. But if you're on quicksand, it's hard to get traction that matters. This is why economic opportunity after the Civil War became so important. The recon, the first reconstruction, second reconstruction was a civil rights movement. I believe we're in the third reconstruction today. I cover that also in my book that's coming out now. Capitalism for all. But many of those opportunities were limited, limited by black codes, sharecropping systems, segregation, redlining. Redlining happened in earnest and happened by people. Think it happened by banks? Nope. It happened. Banks discriminated against for sure. But it was the federal government that actually created redlining. The FHA and I can't make this up. And it literally sent a signal to banks that we're not insuring areas that have these red line that are in these red lines, red marked areas. So go invest someplace else will insure those. Well, that was the suburbs, other areas. And so the urban areas where blacks had migrated to were considered redlined and had no and got no access to capital. So the banks don't like risk and they were uncomfortable blacks to begin with, but they certainly weren't going to do it if it weren't incentivized to lend. And so they lent were people who looked like them where areas where their mortgages were guaranteed by the federal government. Think about that. It really is common sense why they did what they did and didn't do, why they did and didn't do what they didn't do. You don't have to be a racist to make that decision. Although being a racist probably helped make those decisions. And back those in those days, banks were family owned and privately owned. Do you know, by the way, there was currencies like hundreds of currencies. It wasn't a U.S. currency to, you know, a unified U.S. currency at that time. This was in 1800s you had, you know, the bank of Joe's currency and Jack's grocery stores currency. It was a mess anyway. All of this affected access to capital and ownership for obvious reasons. So now let's bring this conversation to today because history only matters if it helps us understand the present. The lesson here is not about victimhood, it's not about blame, it's about ownership. The lesson is about ownership. For centuries, black labor produced wealth but did not control the capital. Which is why today I often say something simple. The next civil rights movement in America must be about money and wealth. That financial literacy is a civil rights issue of this generation. If you don't know better, you can't do better. In a blind town, a one eyed man's king, if you don't. It's an old Southern saying. No matter how much I love you, my son, or my daughter, if I don't have wisdom, I can only give you my own ignorance. And so out of love, we pass down bad habits from generation to generation. So the agenda today is not just about jobs. It's not just about wages. It's about ownership, about credit scores, 700 credit scores plus to be particular, to be specific, because the computer just says yes at 700 plus when you go to it at midnight to ask for a $30,000 loan with a job. It's about entrepreneurship, it's about home ownership, it's about investment, it's about mastering artificial intelligence and upskilling for the jobs of the future, which haven't come yet. But that's a different podcast for another day. Because the real power in capitalism is ownership of Assets. And that asset starts with you. That is why financial literacy matters. This is why credit score literacy matters. This is why entrepreneurship literacy matters. This is why AI literacy matters.

[State Farm Insurance Narrator (Alternate)]

You've been working in the garage with your dad every week, Monday to Sunday, trying to get the old school up and running. Today, after all the hard work, y' all finally finished it. So you have that feeling of accomplishment. You did it. Then your dad throws you the keys and says those three magic words. All yours, son. Yep. That same car belonged to your grandpa and that your dad helped him fix. It's yours. Three generations right there, keeping the tradition alive. But if you ask dad to really keep the tradition going, you need to get insurance. And you already know you need to get State Farm. Because your agent, well, he gets tradition, too. His dad was an agent, his grandpa too. So he gets you. Generation to generation. Remember to choose the agents that your family counted on. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.

[Nissan/Verizon Advertiser]

Peace of mind starts with knowing what supports the journey is steady, grounded and dependable, especially during seasons of change. That's why Nissan engineers push their vehicles to the limit, to demonstrate quality, reliability, and durability, making those principles a foundation across every vehicle built. That commitment has earned recognition from J.D. power, ranking Nissan number one in new vehicle quality among mainstream brands. Because when trust is built into the foundation, it creates more space to move through life with clarity, confidence, and intention, getting the most out of the journey wherever it unfolds. For J.D. power 2025 U.S. initial Quality Study Award information, visit jdpower.com forward/awards. Awards based on 2025 model year, newer models may be shown.

[Angela Yee]

March is a month where we stop hitting reset and start making moves that actually count. This is when resolutions either fade or turn into real results. That's why I'm partnering up with Shopify to help all of our small business owners out there making them happen. If you're ready to bet on yourself this year, Shopify makes that first step so simple. Already have a business. Shopify can handle it all. That's why I moved my store over there. Whether you're selling just a few products or a full catalog, Shopify manages everything and grows with your business. 1 Login, access to everything that matters, thousands of site templates. You don't need to be a designer, and your site still feels like it's completely yours. Like, it is amazing. I designed my site probably in about an hour, and I'm not a girl that does, like, all the coding and all the things. I just know what I like. They even have Shopify Sidekick. Now this is AI that actually works. It helps you with marketing, forecasting and all of the business tools that you'll need. And now they'll even help you sell directly through ChatGPT and social media, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, you name it. Starting a business is hard, but trust me, it is worth it. March is your momentum month and Shopify will help you turn ideas into growth without losing speed. It's time for you to start to invest in your business, not someone else's. For a change, head on over to shopify.com ben and see what it feels like to be the one in control of your future.

[Movie Trailer Narrator]

Critics and audiences agree.

[John Hope Bryant]

What the hell is this place?

[Movie Trailer Narrator]

Only three letters describe they will kill you. Wtf?

[John Hope Bryant]

Splendid.

[Movie Trailer Narrator]

USA Today calls it bloody and bonkers.

[John Hope Bryant]

Are you ready to die?

[Movie Trailer Narrator]

IGN declares it's electrifying action cinema and popcorn entertainment to the max.

[John Hope Bryant]

How many of you are there?

[Movie Trailer Narrator]

It begs to be seen in a packed theater.

[Nissan/Verizon Advertiser]

Please remember to clean up the blood.

[Movie Trailer Narrator]

Wow. They will kill you. Now playing only in theaters. Rated R Under 17 not admitted without

[Angela Yee (Planned Parenthood Advocate)]

parent Planned Parenthood Health Centers Save Lives but the Trump administration and its backers in Congress are blocking patients from using Medicaid at Planned Parenthood Health Centers for one simple reason. They want to set Planned Parenthood down. Yet across the country, Planned Parenthood health centers are still there, opening their doors to care for their communities. That's because Planned Parenthood believes controlling your own body is the most basic freedom and they'll never stop fighting for it. One in four people in the US have been to a Planned Parenthood health Center for high quality health care like birth control, cancer screenings, STI testing and treatment, abortion and more. Planned Parenthood is still the country's largest sex educator and a trusted source of unbiased sexual and reproductive health information for millions of people. Planned Parenthood will never stop working to get people the information they need, and they will never stop fighting so that every person is free to make their own decisions about their bodies and futures. At Planned Parenthood, care continues. To learn more, visit I'm fourpp.org.

[John Hope Bryant]

The untapped economic power of you Let me close with this thought. In 1860, the most valuable asset in the American economy was enslaved people human potential that was exploited but not empowered. Today, the greatest untapped asset in America is still human potential. But now we have an opportunity to do something different to unlock that potential through education, through financial literacy, through access to capital. True capital access. Not a program, but a platform for prosperity. Because not because people Feel bad or guilty or feel sorry for you. No. They see you as a market opportunity and want to benefit from you. And fair exchange is no robbery. I don't want to hand out. I want to hand up. I want the James Brown version of affirmative action. Open the door. I'll get it my dang self. Can I get an amen? This is about ownership agency, your own. This is about how you feel about yourself. Because we're not human beings, I believe, having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience. Energy matters. Your view of yourself matters. The market brand of you facing the world, how they see you matters. That's why I'm trying to reset the record. So people, institutions, companies, individuals see you as an asset waiting to be born, not a liability that to be to be ignored or avoided at all costs. Watch your brand, your personal brand, your family brand, your community brand. Watch your brand, your reputation. I've always said when I leave a room and I want anybody to say, but I like that guy, but I respect that guy, but I'd love to do business with John o'. Brien. But you never want a but of any material substance next to your name you want. And that's why I'm all about inclusive economics. And that's why inclusive capitalism is important. That's why good capitalism is important. Doing well and doing good. Doing well by doing good. Expanding the ownership society is, to quote my friend Stephanie rule, like expanding the table and adding a chair doesn't hurt anybody, doesn't take anything from anybody. It grows the table, it grows the economy, expands our ownership society. We're not tearing down a system, we're making sure everybody has a stake in it so no one wants to tear it up. People tell me, oh, I hate rich people. No, you don't. You hate rich people until you become rich. What you hate is a game system. What you hate is a system that is rigged. So no matter how hard you work, you can't get by or get ahead. People resent that system. And that's what we should want to refine and we should want to reset. And we have to do that in part by upgrading our own software. So no one has even at least a good excuse to leave us out of this party called success. So this is John o', Brien, and this has been Money and Wealth of the Black Effect network on the iHeartradio platform, season three. I want you to remember something. Understanding money is not just about the numbers. It's about understanding the systems that create opportunity. And once you understand that system, you can learn how to win in it. I want you, all of you, black, white, red, brown, everybody, to win at scale. Finish Dr. King's unfinished work. He was working with poor whites and poor everybody else in the Poor People's Campaign. He said, I'm here to redeem the soul of America from the triple evils of war, racism and poverty. He knew that if America couldn't be great and sustainable unless everybody had a seat at that table called opportunity. Let's finish that work on the 250th anniversary of America. Recast the software, upgrade our software as an individual, as institutions, and as a nation, to look forward in a way that gives everybody an opportunity to fulfill their God given potential in this system. It's interesting. Ambassador Andrew Young has a quote. He's on that balcony when Dr. King was assassinated in 68. He has a quote. My mentor, Andrew Young, our global spokesman at Operation Hope. To live in a system of free enterprise and not to understand the rules of free enterprise must be the very definition of slavery. So let's ungame this system. Let's get you the tools to succeed. Coincidence is God's way. Remaining anonymous. So on the 250th anniversary of America is also the 100th anniversary of Black History Month. Thank you, Mr. Woodson. Yeah, we're sitting in a moment in history. What are we gonna do about it? I'll see you next time. Money and wealth with John o' Brien is a production of the Black Effect Podcast Network. For more podcasts from the Black Effect Podcast network, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

[State Farm Insurance Narrator]

You've been working in the garage with your dad every week, Monday to Sunday, trying to get the old school up and running. Today, after all the hard work, y' all finally finished it. Even better. Your dad says all yours, son. Yup. Same car that belonged to your grandpa and that your dad helped him fix is yours. To really keep the tradition going, you need to get State Farm insurance just like them, generation to generation. Remember to choose the agents that your family counted on. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.

[Angela Yee (Planned Parenthood Advocate)]

This is Angela Yee from Angela Yee's Lip Service. One in four people in the US has been to a Planned Parenthood health center for life saving, life changing care. We're talking about birth control, annual exams, cancer screenings, STI testing and treatment, and more high quality expert judgment free care. And despite lawmakers efforts to shut them down, they're not going anywhere. Care continues at Planned Parenthood so that you can get the unbiased, high quality health care that you need. To learn more, visit I'm4pp.org Think Verizon is expensive?

[Nissan/Verizon Advertiser]

Think again. Anyone can bring their AT and T or T mobile bill to a Verizon store today and we'll give you a better deal. So bring us your bill. Walk in, run in, pogo sticking, teleport if you can, ride on the back of a rollerblading yak or flying on the wings of a majestic falcon. Any way, you can bring your AT and T or T mobile bill to a Verizon store today and we'll give you a better deal on the best Network based on RouteMetric's best overall mobile network performance US 2nd/2025 all rights reserved. Must provide very recent postpaid consumer mobile bill in the name of the person redeeming the deal. Additional terms, conditions and restrictions apply.

[John Hope Bryant]

Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway is stock up savings time now through March 31st. Spring in for store wide deals and earn four times the points. Look for in store tags to earn on eligible items from Hunts, Nerds, Pillsbury, Lowry's, Breyers, Quaker and Culture Pop. Then clip the offer in the app for automatic event long savings. Stack up those rewards to save even more. Enjoy savings on top of savings when you shop in store or online for easy drive up and go pick up or delivery restrictions apply. See website for full terms and conditions.

[Angela Yee]

At CVS it matters that we're not just in your community, but that we're part of it. It matters that we're here for you when you need us, day or night, and we want everyone to feel welcomed and rewarded. It matters that CVS is here to fill your prescriptions and here to fill your craving for a tasty and yeah, healthy snack. At cvs, we're proud to serve your community because we believe where you you get your medicine matters. So Visit [e-mail] or just come by our store. We can't wait to meet you. Store hours vary by location. This is an I Heart Podcast. Guaranteed human.