From Disruption to Destiny
Pre-1500s
The Age of African Power
Before colonization, African nations like Mali, Ghana, Songhai, and Great Zimbabwe were global powers—rich in gold, innovation, and culture. Timbuktu was a center of scholarship. Trade routes connected Africa to Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. Black excellence was not a dream—it was reality.
1500s–1800s
The Transatlantic Nightmare
A global economy rises on the trafficking of African lives. Over 12 million are stolen—sent to plantations in the Americas and the Caribbean. Entire societies are destabilized. Wealth is extracted from African blood.
1600s–1800s
Colonialism and Economic Extraction
Africa and the Caribbean are carved up. Colonizers seize land, strip resources, and rewrite histories. Cotton, sugar, gold, diamonds—all extracted by Black labor, none owned by Black people. The Caribbean becomes a plantation machine. Africa becomes a mine.
1800s–1900s
Resistance, Independence & Recolonization
Haiti rises first—defeating Napoleon and declaring freedom in 1804. African leaders and Caribbean rebels resist colonial powers. Independence movements surge, but global powers impose debt and control through force and policy.
1865–1930s
Black Wealth in the Americas Rises—and Is Attacked
In the U.S., post-slavery Black Wall Streets bloom: Tulsa, Durham, Rosewood. In the Caribbean and Latin America, Black communities build banks, papers, and schools. Across the diaspora, prosperity is punished through mob violence, state neglect, and systemic sabotage.
1940s–1970s
Post-Colonial Hopes and Global Suppression
Nations gain formal independence. Leaders like Nkrumah and Lumumba preach Pan-Africanism and self-determination. But assassinations, coups, and foreign control sabotage sovereignty. The IMF and World Bank impose new chains through debt and austerity.
1980s–2000s
Displacement and Diaspora
Migration rises—Africans, Caribbeans, and Afro-Latinx people seek opportunity in Europe, the U.S., and Canada. But racism travels too: policing, economic exclusion, and gentrification displace Black families around the world.
2010s–2020s
Awakening Without Access
Movements like #BlackLivesMatter echo from Ferguson to Paris, Accra to São Paulo. The world hears our cries—but justice is uneven. Symbolism increases. Ownership and equity remain elusive. Visibility is not victory.
2025
The Rise of Black Wealth Exchange
Not just an American platform. Not just an economic tool. A unifying force to rebuild what was denied. We begin by organizing in America—where fragmentation runs deep and healing is essential. But our reach extends across the diaspora. This is not a moment. This is the movement.