“OUR RICH BLACK HERITAGE” - Anthony Overton ll

Even today, it still perplexes me that there was very little mention of successful Negro Businessmen when I attended school. Nevertheless, with in the past 5-10 years, I have discovered that there were several. One of the most successful, of the many successful Negro businessmen that I learned about was actually born in Monroe, Louisiana on March 21, 1865. His name is Anthony Overton ll{ there is actually a picture of him located at The Monroe African American museum, here in Monroe }. By the way, his father, Anthony Overton Sr. was instrumental in starting one of the 1st schools for Negroes in Monroe( after the American Civil War ). During the era of Reconstruction He attended public school in Monroe before the family moved to Kansas in the 1870s. After several successful businesses and not so successful, Anthony Overton relocated his business to Chicago in 1911. Within two years the company manufactured 62 products and had a sales staff of 32 full time employees as well as over 400 door-to-door sales people. Anthony Overton was a great banker, manufacturer, and the first Negro in America to lead a major business conglomerate. Additionally, He later went on to start a newspaper( The Chicago Bee ), an advertising magazine[ the Half-Century Magazine ]. He also ran a Insurance Company{ The Victory Life Insurance Company }. Plus,Anthony Overton oSo What’s amazing about all that Anthony Overton ll achieved? Well for one, since there was no Internet or cellphones in his day that allowed people to communicate and conduct business all across the world and back ; He and his salesmen had to go door-to-door( repeatedly having doors shut in their face ). Two, he got hundreds of black people to “NOT ONLY” buy his company’s many products and read his newspaper, but he also was able to succeed in getting thousands of black people to purchase life insurance from his insurance company and put their hard earned dollars in his bank! Which stands out even more so when we you look at the deteriorating & debilitating conditions presently going on in our black communities( all over America ).Needless to say, the present generation of black people had better unite,organize,make plans, and execute those plan meticulously & methodically !