Black pioneers

To close out Black Business Month, we look back on 7 pioneers who helped shape Black entrepreneurship into the juggernaut it's become today.

Journalist and businessman Claude A. Barnett transformed his love for reading into a thriving news wire service for African-Americans, which was the first of its kind. For nearly five decades, the Associated Negro Press informed and enlightened the African-American public and beyond. Claude Albert Barnett was born September 15, 1889 in Sanford, Fla., and primarily […]

Jill Brown-Hiltz made history 40 years ago by becoming the first Black woman pilot for a major commercial airline company. She is also the first Black woman admitted to the U.S. Navy’s pilot training program as well. Born Jill Elaine Brown in 1950, the Baltimore native’s family were all big fans of aviation. By the […]